The College Football Playoff was supposed to provide some certainty in a sport that, for too long, based its rewards on unreliable polls. And to the extent that there’s no debate over the team crowned as national champions, it’s worked.But if there’s one thing fans have learned over the last few years, it’s that little in modern college football is certain. And after one round of expansion, from four teams to 12, there’s now more discussion and debate over the next round of growth.Some, including many fans, are happy leaving the field at 12. The SEC, arguably the most powerful conference, wants to move to 16, while maximizing the number of at-large teams. That would, in their view, allow for more teams to reach the field based on strength of schedule instead of conference affiliation. Strength of schedule=more SEC teams, the thinking goes.Then there’s the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and independent Notre Dame.INSIDE THE FIGHT: NIL ARMS RACE FUELING NEW PUSH FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EXPANSION This week, several reports confirmed that the majority of power conferences and the Irish want a 24-team playoff field. While that number has been met with justified skepticism from most fans, there’s apparently…

U.S. shipbuilder Davie Defense Inc. announced on Wednesday that it has finalized its contract with the U.S. Coast Guard to build and deliver five Arctic Security Cutters.The contract, first announced mid-February, will bring the total amount of cutters being manufactured to 11 to meet President Donald Trump’s executive orders to expand the icebreaker fleet, Military Times previously reported. Davie Defense, the U.S. arm of the UK-owned maritime group Inocea is set to construct three of the ships at the company’s Gulf Copper facilities in Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas. The other two will be built at the company’s affiliate shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. During an April 28 House subcommittee hearing on the Coast Guard’s fiscal 2027 budget, Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., questioned the use of Finland’s shipyard in building the latest cutters and whether it was a contradiction to the April 2025 Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act aimed at revitalizing U.S. maritime industry.Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard, responded that the contract was well within the signed 2024 ICE Pact — a trilateral agreement between the United States, Canada and Finland to combine collective knowledge, resources and expertise to produce…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A prominent Washington tech entrepreneur is joining the growing exodus of business leaders fleeing the Evergreen State, citing a “dramatic” shift in the state’s tax climate following the passage of a controversial new “millionaire tax.”Jesse Proudman, the founder and CTO of the privacy-focused generative AI platform Venice.ai, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the state he once called a “startup sanctuary” has become increasingly hostile to the very people who fuel its economy.”I started three companies here in the state. I have been an entrepreneur my whole life here,” Proudman said. “The business climate when I started my first company was very entrepreneurial-friendly, and the startup community was looked upon as a contributing member of the city. Over the last number of years, that has changed dramatically.”Proudman, who previously founded the private cloud company Blue Box and the crypto-investing platform Makara, is now serving as a spokesperson for Let’s Go Washington. The political committee is currently spearheading a massive signature-gathering effort to repeal the tax measure before it can take root.STARBUCKS CUTS JOBS IN SEATTLE AS FORMER CEO HOWARD SCHULTZ BLASTS ‘SOCIALIST’ MAYOR The tax, pushed through by the Democratic-controlled legislature…

The remains of the second U.S. Army soldier who was reported missing in Southern Morocco last week have been recovered, the Army said in a statement Wednesday.The Army identified the remains of Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington, 19, of Tavares, Florida. Collington served as an air and missile defense crewmember and was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, according to an Army release.The recovery ends an 11-day search effort for Collington and 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., of Richmond, Virginia, after the soldiers entered the ocean on May 2 near the Cap Draa Training Area during a joint military exercise.According to reports, one of the soldiers fell into the water during a hike along the oceanside cliffs after training that day had concluded. The other soldier purportedly jumped in to help, and initial rescue efforts for both failed. On May 9, Key Jr. was recovered in the water approximately one mile from where both soldiers reportedly entered the ocean. The Royal Moroccan Armed Forces moved his remains by helicopter to Moulay El Hassan Military Hospital in Guelmim, Morocco, and the Army said plans are in motion to repatriate…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! A case of clade I mpox — a more virulent version of the virus that causes monkeypox, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — has been confirmed in the U.S., as global health officials also monitor newly reported hantavirus cases in Europe.The Connecticut Department of Public Health (CDPH) said Wednesday that the state’s first identified case of clade I mpox was detected in a person who recently traveled to Western Europe, where officials continue to monitor infectious disease activity.The World Health Organization (WHO) has also reported new hantavirus cases in Spain and France, drawing attention to the rare but potentially severe disease, which can cause serious respiratory complications in humans.Hantavirus is typically spread through contact with infected rodents and can lead to severe respiratory illness, though cases remain rare, according to the WHO.While health officials said the mpox case “does not pose a risk to the general public,” they still encourage those who may be at risk to receive the JYNNEOS vaccine.NEW MPOX STRAIN CONFIRMED IN US STATE FOR FIRST TIME Mpox symptoms can include fever, swollen lymph nodes and a characteristic rash, according to CDC.”Mpox hasn’t gone…

Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned on Wednesday that Iran is “frighteningly close” to obtaining a nuclear weapon, nearly three months after the United States launched a war to irrevocably halt the Islamic Republic from crossing that ominous Rubicon.Wright, referring to Iran’s current stock of nuclear material, told the Senate Armed Services Committee, “They are weeks — a small number of weeks — away to enrich that to weapons-grade uranium.” But the energy secretary added that a months-long weaponization process would still be required beyond that point.Iranian nuclear activity steadily increased in the years since President Donald Trump abrogated the Obama-era accord in his first term. Nuclear analysts contend this decision removed key guardrails and freed the regime to enrich uranium at higher levels, expand production, and develop more advanced centrifuges. Tehran is estimated to have amassed approximately 12 tons of uranium at varying degrees of purity. Uranium is generally said to be of “weapons-grade” when it is enriched to 90% purity or higher. At present, Iran is believed to have come close to this threshold but not reached it. The Islamic Republic’s leadership has long insisted it does not intend to develop a nuclear weapon and instead wants to keep…

After waiting for its chance for nine years, the TOPS Badger Creek has hit the shelves at last. It’s an outdoors task-smasher with a bold blade shape rendered in an unusual – for TOPS – stainless steel. The following bit of news will not surprise you: TOPS CEO Leo Espinoza likes big blades. His is the creative mind behind such monstrosities as El Chete and the Tundra Trekker, and while the Badger Creek is not in the same size class as those pieces, Espinoza gave it a similarly striking profile as its older, bigger siblings. The Badger’s 6-inch blade is a pirate-y clip point with ample width and a harpoon-ish swedge about a third of the way down the spine. TOPS is offering this one with a dangler sheath On the piratical note, the Badger Creek does seem like a good choice for cutting grapnel lines and clenching in between your teeth as you swing on the ratlines, but, if your day-to-day is less exciting than that, it will perform just as well, if not better, in the great outdoors, both as a trekking companion and a rock solid camp knife. TOPS is making this one from N690 steel, too,…

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson says his office will move quickly to retry Alex Murdaugh after the state Supreme Court threw out the disgraced lawyer’s murder convictions, stressing prosecutors still believe they can secure a guilty verdict.”The Supreme Court, in its order today, basically laid the blame on this reversal on the shoulders of former Colton County Clerk of Court, Rebecca [Becky] Hill, and it was her conduct that has led to this decision today, not the conduct of anyone else,” Wilson told Fox News Digital.Wilson said the Palmetto State plans to retry Murdaugh and will push for a speedy trial as prosecutors evaluate next steps.ALEX MURDAUGH’S DOUBLE MURDER CONVICTION UNANIMOUSLY OVERTURNED BY SOUTH CAROLINA SUPREME COURT”We are disappointed in the court’s decision. We respect this court, we respect the members of the court, but we strongly disagree with their reasoning,” Wilson told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on The Story. The South Carolina Supreme Court vacated Murdaugh’s 2023 convictions in the killings of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, ruling that misconduct by former Colleton County Clerk Becky Hill tainted the jury process.At issue were allegations that Hill made improper comments…

HONOLULU — U.S. Army leaders assembled in Hawaii this week emphasized the importance of a multi-pronged effort, from the foxhole to the factory, necessary to deter near-peer adversaries across the vast Indo-Pacific. Speaking at the 2026 Land Forces Pacific Symposium and Exposition, U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of United Nations Command, ROK/U.S. Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, called the joint military-industrial approach “the ultimate guardian of peace.”Delivering the symposium’s opening keynote, Brunson cited military strength, industrial sustainability and allied collaboration as primary components needed to create “a true fortress for all our nations and interests here in the Indo-Pacific.” “Sustainment is not the tail,” Brunson said, referencing industrial networks capable of supporting far-reaching, forward combat operations across the region. “It’s the teeth of our deterrence,” he said. “Strategic concepts only survive as long as they are backed by industrial endurance.”U.S. Army Gen. Xavier T. Brunson speaks at LANPAC in Honolulu, Hawaii, May 12, 2026. (Sgt. Daniela Lechuga Liggio/U.S. Army)Brunson’s “fortress” reference is a nod to a “fortress chain” of defense burden sharing among regional allies, such as South Korea, who have been ramping up industrial capabilities — weapons replenishment and equipment repair principally among them — to…

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