Super Bowls or else: Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Sean McDermott arrived in Buffalo in 2017, envisioning the day of looking out his office window and seeing a throng of fans celebrating a Super Bowl victory.

That possibility ended on Monday, when McDermott was abruptly fired by team owner Terry Pegula following a nine-year tenure in which the coach transformed the Bills into perennial contenders but fell short of reaching the Super Bowl.

The move came two days after a heart-wrenching 33-30 overtime loss at Denver in the divisional round of the playoffs. Buffalo became the league’s first team to win a playoff round in six consecutive years but not reach the Super Bowl.

Two girls games postponed

The Conotton Valley at Leetonia and Edison at Oak Glen girls basketball games were postponed Monday due to the winter weather.

Classes at all area schools are canceled today, except for Oak Glen, which is on a two-hour delay. Fans should check to see if their game is still scheduled tonight before going.

Ohioans on Bevo Francis watch

Mount Union sophomore Chance Casenhiser and John Carroll graduate student guard Luke Chicone have been named to the Top 100 Watch List for the Bevo Francis Award, given annually to the player who has the best season in small college basketball.

Casenhiser has led the Purple Raiders to the best start in program history at 16-0. He leads the team in scoring (19.4) and is second in assists (2.6).

Chicone is on the list for the third season for the Blue Streaks, who are 13-4. He leads the North Coast Athletic Conference in scoring (23.3), assists (6.4) and steals (2.8). His freshman season, he averaged 12.5 minutes off the bench for Youngstown State in 26 games.

The list will be narrowed down to 50 players on Feb. 15 and then 25 players on March 15.

The Clarence “Bevo” Francis Award is named in honor of the Wellsville High School All-Ohioan who led little Rio Grande College to national prominence from 1952-54.

Nationally-ranked Miami visits Kent State

OXFORD, Ohio — The Miami (Ohio) men’s basketball team is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time since a three-week stint in 1998-99.

The Redhawks are ranked No. 25 after a 19-0 start, which matches the Mid-American Conference mark set by Western Michigan in the 1975-76 season.

Miami will play at Kent State at 7 p.m. today. General admission tickets are $15.

Tonight’s will be the 157th meeting between the two programs. Miami leads in the series 96-60 all-time. Miami is currently on a four-game winning streak against the Golden Flashes, as the RedHawks’ last victory over Kent State (72-64) came during the MAC Tournament semifinals on March 14, 2025.

Brown, Menough are top guns

ALLIANCE — United’s Auston Brown took the 135-pound title and Salem’s Paige Menough won at 140 pounds Saturday at the Top Gun Girls Tournament at Alliance High School.

United’s Taylor Simmons was second at 120 pounds, while the Golden Eagles’ Hadley Taylor was second at 170.

West Branch’s Grace Bates was second at 155.

United finished fourth as a team, while Salem was sixth.

Austintown Fitch was the team champion.

Titans hire Saleh as coach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans agreed to hire Robert Saleh as their coach, hoping he can speed up their rebuild and end the franchise’s skid of four straight losing seasons, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Monday night.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced.

Saleh spent this season as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, his second stint in that job after spending three-plus seasons as coach of the New York Jets. He did not have a winning season with the Jets and was fired after a 2-3 start in 2024, going 20-36 overall.

Tennessee went 19-49 over the past four seasons under Mike Vrabel — who was fired after the 2024 season — and Brian Callahan, who lasted just 23 games before being fired on Oct. 13 after a 1-5 start. That made the Titans the first team with a coaching vacancy, only to wind up as one of 10 NFL teams looking for a coach and the fourth to hire one.