www.dailypostathenian.com FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2021 | SPORTS DAILY POST-ATHENIAN | B3 Titans wrap up minicamp, o season with reminder training camp coming up

BY TERESA M. WALKER ny Firkser. Left tackle Tay- AP Pro Football Writer lor Lewan, who tore his right ACL last October, has NASHVILLE — No bowl- no timetable for his return ing. No golfing. No skeet but said Wednesday he is shooting. at the conditioning point The Tennessee Titans of his recovery instead of wrapped up their three- rehab. day minicamp Thursday by Outside linebacker Bud running, meeting and run- Dupree says he’s recover- ning some more. No prac- ing well after tearing his tice — but the kind of in- right ACL last Decem- person experience every- ber, but the timetable for one in the NFL missed in his debut on the Titans’ the offseason a year ago. practice field hasn’t been Coach Mike Vrabel said shared with reporters. Far- they ran to make sure ley told reporters during everyone knows where the rookie minicamp in they are with condition- May he hopes to be ready ing and where the Titans for training camp. want them for the start of And for a second straight training camp in late July. training camp, the Titans There’s also no compari- have a competition at kick- son possible to 2020, when er, with Tucker McCann the offseason program was and undrafted rookie Blake conducted virtually. Haubell of State, who “We have to be well ahead was not seen at minicamp, of where we were last year vying for the job. McCann with some of the younger spent last season on the DARRON CUMMINGS | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS players that are coming practice squad after four- Ohio State running back Trey Sermon (right) scores past Northwestern defensive back JR Pace (5) during the second half of the into our program for the time Pro Bowler Stephen Big Ten championship game on Dec. 19 in Indianapolis. The proposed 12-team Playoff will make winning a con- first time,” Vrabel said. Gostkowski was signed ference more important than ever before, with six spots reserved for league champions. The Titans didn’t get Sept. 3. much from their rookie Vrabel said there’s no class in 2020, with their rush to put both kickers top draft pick no longer in into situations to better the NFL after Isaiah Wil- evaluate them, which will son was traded to Miami come in training camp and in March. Cornerback Kris- preseason. tian Fulton started two “We have to make a deci- games but played only six, sion at that point in time, CFP ripple effect while running back Dar- if that’s what’s best for the rynton Evans played five. team and one of those guys Both were limited by inju- moving forward,” Vrabel ries. said. “But everything that This year, top draft pick we’ve seen thus far, you Playo expansion will push conferences to reconsider divisions Caleb Farley is recover- know, those guys are con- BY RALPH D. RUSSO grows to 12, ideally confer- getting to Indianapolis and hope to be chosen for the ing from back surgery in tinuing to prove and work AP College Football Writer ences will want to create being able to hang a banner playoff and divisions are March but has been busy with the timing and the title game matchups that for being a division win- more likely to prevent that learning the defense. Farley operation.” ROSEMONT, Ill. — The bolster their chances to ner is a big deal for North- than help. and the rest of the rook- The Titans worked this proposed 12-team College get more than one team in western. Using the final CFP stand- ies are sticking around to offseason in coaches’ offic- Football Playoff would the field because the other The 2018 Wildcats ings for each playoff sea- finish the team’s program es and meeting rooms relo- make winning a conference six slots will be filled by a reached the Big Ten title son here is how many times designed to help them tran- cated to the indoor field more important than ever, selection committee. game with an 8-4 record, both the winner and loser sition from college to the due to the team’s headquar- with six spots reserved for The ACC did that last having lost all three of their of a conference’s title game NFL. They’ll also continue ters being renovated since league champions. year by scrapping its divi- nonconference games. The would have made a 12-team working out. last season ended. It’s part Every major college foot- sions. Divisions are back in proposed 12-team playoff playoff: Questions still to be of a construction project ball conference plays a title the ACC in 2021 and Notre plan is not friendly to that SEC — 4 (2017-20) answered include who that started in December game, but how the partici- Dame is gone, returning sort of division winner. Big Ten — 4 (2015-17, ‘19). replaces Jonnu Smith, now 2019 to more than double pants are determined — to its cherished indepen- The six highest-ranked ACC — 3 (2015, ‘17, ’20). with the Patriots, at tight the size of the facility. division winners or best dence. But the future of conference champions are Pac-12 — 3 (2104, ’16, ’19) end. Training camp is when Vrabel compared the overall records — differs. conferences being split guaranteed a spot in the Big 12(asterisk) — 2 (2019- the Titans will learn more progress of the construc- On Thursday at the Big into divisions is uncertain. playoff and the top four get 20) about the tight ends vying tion to players returning Ten Conference office out- “My initial reaction would byes. But no league has an The Big 12 title game was to take Smith’s starting from injuries with the team side Chicago, the college be, you know, divisional automatic bid. Under that restored in 2017. spot, a group led by Antho- not sharing timelines. football leaders who man- play has been pretty fun,” structure a conference age the playoff opened two Northwestern coach Pat championship game upset days of meetings they hope Fitzgerald said. “You look can do more damage than will end with consensus across the conferences, it’s good to a league. around the core piece of created some new rivalries. Would that 2018 North- the plan: How many teams? It’s enhanced some long- western team, ranked 21st is the permanent, Already, though, the trick- standing rivalries. It’s been by the playoff committee clog-free gutter solution!* le down issues are starting great for a lot of fan bases heading into the Big Ten to pop up, including finding in some leagues.” title game, have made a the optimal way to deter- Among Power Five con- 12-team playoff and given mine a conference champi- ferences, the Big Ten, SEC, the Big Ten an addition- on while also best position- ACC and Pac-12 use divi- al playoff team? Or would ing the league for playoff sions to determine their they have just cost the participation. championship game match- Buckeyes a bye and still During the first seven ups; the Big 12 goes with the been left out of the field? seasons of the CFP, a con- top two teams in the regu- The prospect of a champi- ference has twice placed lar-season standings. In the onship-game upset costing more than one team in the Group Five, the American a conference a playoff team 16 YEARS BACKED field of four. In 2017, Geor- has no is even more of a threat in BY THESEAL gia and Alabama, which divisions but the others do. the Group of Five confer- didn’t even win its division, Fitzgerald’s fondness for ences. Looking back at what made it from the Southeast- divisions becomes appar- the playoff field would ern Conference. Last year, ent when looking back at have looked like with 12 the Atlantic Coast Con- those Northwestern teams. teams dating back to 2014 ference, benefitting from The Wildcats won the Big — the CFP’s debut season Notre Dame’s pandemic- Ten West and played Ohio — only once would more induced league participa- State in the conference title than one team outside the tion, placed both the Fight- game twice in the last three Power Five conferences ing Irish and Clemson in years. have made the field. And the playoff. Using the final CFP rank- that was last season, which Notre Dame became the ings from those seasons, was anything but typical first team to lose a confer- the Wildcats would not because of the pandemic. ence title game and reach have reached the playoff The goal for those con- the playoff. in either year after losing ferences is to have a cham- If and when the playoff to the Buckeyes. But just pion that is also the best $99 INSTALLATION FR ABC talk show host Kimmel to be FORALIMITEDTIME PLUS GIFT CARD ON ACOMPLETE WITH IN-HOME title sponsor of inaugural LA Bowl LEAFGUARD SYSTEM!† ESTIMATE!** BY GREG BEACHAM LA Bowl, the first college the former site of the Hol- AP Sports Writer football game to be played lywood Park racetrack. at the year-old arena. 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