AARON BEARD Sports Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

Duke wide receiver Que'Sean Brown (7) takes a knee before the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game against Virginia, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

Fans of other schools rejoice at ACC title game as Duke win increases CFP uncertainty

December 6, 2025

Duke’s overtime win against No. 16 Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game attracted its share of curious onlookers, given the league’s uncertain footing for College Football Playoff bids. The five-loss Blue Devils are unranked in the CFP. That raises at least the potential that the ACC could get shut out of the 12-team playoff. Sun Belt champion James Madison could secure the last automatic bid that goes to the five highest-ranked conference champions. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips had said this week that his league deserved two bids: one for No. 12 Miami as an at-large team and one for Saturday’s title-game winner.

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick protests a call during the second half of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Bill Belichick’s 1st season at North Carolina ends in a rivalry loss at NC State — and just 4 wins

November 30, 2025

Bill Belichick’s first season as a college coach ended with four wins at North Carolina. The Tar Heels lost Saturday night at rival N.C. State to close the schedule. The 42-19 loss to the Wolfpack marked UNC’s fifth defeat by 16 or more points this year. Afterward, the 73-year-old six-time Super Bowl-winning coach offered only terse responses to questions from reporters. Receiver Jordan Shipp said the players “didn’t expect the season to go like this of course.”

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips walks on the field before an NCAA college football game between Pittsburgh and Notre Dame in Pittsburgh, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Commissioner Jim Phillips says ACC freed to focus on future with legal fight resolved

November 18, 2025

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips says the league has been freed to focus on the future after resolving legal fights with two member schools earlier this year. The settlement with Clemson and Florida State came in March. That deal included a new revenue-distribution model that factors in TV viewership into payouts to league members. In an interview with The Associated Press, Phillips called the months since the settlement a “welcomed period” that “allowed us to get back to work” on league priorities amid the changing landscape of college athletics.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, center, visits with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, right, on the field before an NCAA college football game between Pittsburgh and Notre Dame in Pittsburgh, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

On the road again: AP joins ACC commissioner Jim Phillips as he racks up miles hitting league events

November 17, 2025

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips is regularly on the road each week for football games and other league sporting events. He’s hit more than 30 football games this year and visited the campuses of all 17 football-playing league members in the ACC’s coast-to-coast footprint. The Assocated Press shadowed Phillips on one such trip over the weekend. That started with attending Saturday’s football game with Pittsburgh hosting Notre Dame. Phillips also attended the ACC men’s soccer title match on Sunday in North Carolina. Phillips told the AP he’s “just thankful for what I get to do on a daily basis.”

North Carolina State running back Jayden Scott (4) runs the ball away from Georgia Tech defenders during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Scott, Bailey power NC State to 48-36 upset of No. 8 Georgia Tech for Yellow Jackets’ 1st loss

November 1, 2025

Duke Scott ran for a career-best 196 yards in place of injured Atlantic Coast Conference rushing leader Hollywood Smothers to help N.C. State stun No. 8 Georgia Tech 48-36 on Saturday night. That ended the Yellow Jackets’ unbeaten run after their first 8-0 start since 1966. Scott had a late 30-yard TD run that effectively sealed the win. CJ Bailey threw for 340 yards and accounted for three TDs for the Wolfpack. Haynes King threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more for Georgia Tech. This was N.C. State’s first win against a top-10 team since September 2021.

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick, left, and his son, Steve Belicheck, right, the defensive coordinator, watch in the closing minutes of the second half of an NCAA college football game against TCU, Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Belichick’s Tar Heels get short turnaround for Charlotte after opening-night flop against TCU

September 3, 2025

New North Carolina coach Bill Belichick says his Tar Heels need to move past the TCU blowout loss “as fast as we can” entering a short turnaround before playing at Charlotte. The Horned Frogs beat the Tar Heels 48-14 on Labor Day in Belichick’s college debut. It marked the most points ever given up in an opener for UNC and more than any Belichick-coached team in the NFL ever allowed. The six-time Super Bowl winner as an NFL head coach says the Tar Heels “need to learn some lessons” from the loss but move on to Saturday’s game.

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick, front, walks off the field after his team lost to TCU in an NCAA college football game Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Belichick’s college coaching debut at North Carolina ends in blowout loss to TCU

September 1, 2025

In his first game as a college coach, Bill Belichick’s North Carolina team started fast only to get blown out. TCU beat UNC 48-14 on Monday night. The Tar Heels scored a touchdown on the first possession, but then the Horned Frogs scored 41 straight points. That sent much of North Carolina’s sellout crowd fleeing for the exits long before the start of the fourth quarter. The 73-year-old Belichick is a first-time college coach. He won six Super Bowls as a head coach with the NFL’s New England Patriots.

TCU wide receiver Jordan Dwyer (7) hauls in a touchdown pass over North Carolina defensive back Marcus Allen (29) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

Belichick loses college coaching debut as TCU uses 2 defensive TDs to beat UNC 48-14

September 1, 2025

Bud Clark had a first-half pick-six and Kevorian Barnes had a 75-yard touchdown run on the first second-half snap to help TCU spoil Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut by rolling past North Carolina 48-14 on Monday night. The 73-year-old Belichick had won six Super Bowl titles in a 24-year run as head coach of the NFL’s New England Patriots. His Tar Heels scored on the first possession but TCU took over with 41 unanswered points. That included Devean Deal joining Clark with a defensive touchdown on a fumble return in a third quarter that turned the game into a romp.

FILE - New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick holds up the Vince Lombardi Trophy as he celebrates after the Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Bill Belichick won big in the NFL. Can he do it as a rookie college coach at North Carolina?

August 29, 2025

North Carolina is set for its football debut under Bill Belichick. The Tar Heels open the season Monday against TCU. That will mark the first game at the college level for Belichick after spending his entire coaching career in the NFL. Belichick led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles during a 24-year run there. Now he’s recruiting high school players and meeting with school donors. It’s all part of a bet by UNC that the 73-year-old college rookie can elevate its football program. That includes paying Belichick $10 million guaranteed for each of the next three years.

North Carolina coach Bill Belichick speaks with a group of reporters during the Atlantic Coast Conference's NCAA college football media days, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Aaron Beard)

Bill Belichick’s arrival at North Carolina headlines the NFL’s sideline influence in the ACC

July 24, 2025

The Atlantic Coast Conference has three former NFL head coaches leading its football programs this fall for the most of any league. That includes the headliner of Bill Belichick at North Carolina. Belichick coached the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles. He’s a 73-year-old first-timer as a college coach with the Tar Heels. Boston College’s Bill O’Brien is in his second season after a previous stint with the Houston Texans. Stanford has also hired former Indianapolis and Carolina coach Frank Reich as its interim coach for the 2025 season.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, with ACC commissioner Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner Jim Phillips by his sides, looks on after winning the ACC championship NCAA college football game between Clemson and SMU, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman, File)

The ACC has moved past lawsuits and uncertainty. Commissioner Jim Phillips sees stable years ahead

July 22, 2025

The Atlantic Coast Conference is entering the 2025-26 sports season having moved past uncertainty from its legal fight with member schools Clemson and Florida State. Earlier this year, the league reached a settlement in those cases that reshaped the league’s revenue-sharing model. The league also saw ESPN pick up the option to extend its base-rights media deal with the league. That’s why commissioner Jim Phillips described recent months as “the restabilization of a great league” in an interview with The Associated Press. Phillips spoke at the opening of the league’s preseason football media days.

FILE - North Carolina coach Bill Belichick watches his team during an NCAA college football practice, in Chapel Hill, N.C., March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, File)

Tar Heels players embrace new world as part of coach Bill Belichick’s first college team

June 10, 2025

North Carolina’s football players are working in a new world since the arrival of NFL coaching great Bill Belichick to take over the Tar Heels program. Belichick won six Super Bowls as coach of the New England Patriots. UNC receiver Jordan Shipp described his first reaction to Belichick’s hiring as realizing the man he called the “greatest coach of all time” was about to be his coach. Shipp and defensive back Will Hardy said Belichick’s sense of humor caught them off guard amid his all-business demeanor.

Florida Panthers' Aleksander Barkov, right, celebrates his goal with Florida Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk (19) as Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov (52) looks on during the third period of Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Hurricanes’ Game 2 loss to Panthers offers an unwelcome repeat of conference-final history from ’23

May 23, 2025

The Carolina Hurricanes have found themselves in the same dire position in the conference-final rematch against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Carolina lost 5-0 on Thursday night to drop the second straight home game to open this series. It’s a rematch of the 2023 series won by Florida by four one-goal margins. But Carolina is struggling to consistently get to its game against a tested and deep roster. Carolina has lost 14 straight conference-final games going back to sweeps in 2009, 2019 and 2023. The past six have come against the Panthers, who host Game 3 on Saturday.

The Florida Panthers celebrate a goal by Gustav Forsling (42) during the first period of Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Bennett, Verhaeghe help Panthers roll past Hurricanes 5-0, take 2-0 lead in Eastern final

May 22, 2025

Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final. Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk also scored in another tone-setting opening 20 minutes for the reigning Stanley Cup champions, while Carter Verhaeghe had three assists. Bennett scored a second time by skating in to clean up an attempt at the right post in the final minute of the second period to make it 4-0, ending a long shift in Carolina’s end prolonged by Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns being stuck on the ice after breaking his stick. Aleksander Barkov scored midway through the third as punctuation.

Florida Panthers' Carter Verhaeghe (23) celebrates his goal against the Carolina Hurricanes during first period of Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Panthers look every bit like reigning Stanley Cup champs in routing Hurricanes to open Eastern final

May 20, 2025

The Florida Panthers showed their championship mettle from last year’s run to the Stanley Cup by taking control early in their 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes to open the Eastern Conference final Tuesday night. Florida scored two tone-setting goals in the first period and never trailed. They also got goals from five different players. That came roughly 48 hours after they had to win a Game 7 on the road to advance here. They beat a Hurricanes team that had won all five of their home games in the playoffs so far.

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) has his shot frozen by Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period of Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

Reigning Stanley Cup champ Florida Panthers beat Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Eastern final opener

May 20, 2025

Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad scored two tone-setting first-period goals while Sergei Bobrovsky remained strong in net as the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Tuesday night’s opener of their Eastern Conference final series. A.J. Greer added a goal by finishing off a perfect 2-on-1 transition chance in the second period for Florida. Sam Bennett and Eetu Luostarinen scored in the third period. Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake scored Carolina’s lone goals in the opener of a series that is a rematch of the 2023 Eastern final. Game 2 is Thursday night at Carolina.

AARON BEARD Sports Writer.