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Illini's Karras, Ferguson Named All Big Ten Third Team; CFB Notes

The Big Ten's offensive season awards were announced Tuesday afternoon by the league office.

Illinois senior runningback Josh Ferguson was selected by both the media and coaches to the Big Ten third team and offensive lineman Ted Karras was selected by the coaches to the third team.

Yesterday, Illinois safety Clayton Fejedelem was named a part of the second team all defense.

Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott is the offensive player of the year and Iowa's Kirk Ferentz is the coach of the year in the Big Ten.

The league on Tuesday announced Ferentz's honor and offensive awards, as determined by a vote of coaches and media.

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Elliott, also the running back of the year, leads the Big Ten with 1,672 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns.

Ferentz guided Iowa to a 12-0 record after going 7-6 in 2014. He also was coach of the year in 2002, 2004 and 2009.

Other offensive honors: Connor Cook, Michigan State, quarterback of the year; Aaron Burbridge, Michigan State, receiver of the year; Jake Butt, Michigan, tight end of the year; Taylor Decker, Ohio State, offensive lineman of the year.

>>Illinois Would Accept Bowl Bid If Offered

Illinois now says that if its football team is invited to a bowl it would go.

The Illini are among the 5-7 teams that could fill out available bowl slots but spokesman Kent Brown had said Monday the team wasn't sure it would accept a bowl invitation.

There are 40 bowls but so far only 75 teams have the six wins usually needed for bowl eligibility. Kansas State, Georgia State and South Alabama could get there with wins Saturday.

The NCAA has said teams with 5-7 records will be eligible for unfilled slots based on their Academic Progress Rates. Illinois is tied for the fifth potential bowl slot with Rice.

After a season of turmoil, Illinois last weekend named interim coach Bill Cubit as the permanent head coach.

>>College Football Playoff Top Five Remains Unchanged

The penultimate College Football Playoff Rankings for the 2015 season saw no change in the top four as Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Iowa all remained in place following decisive victories last weekend. The same cannot be said for those immediately below those teams, however.

While Michigan State did stay put at No. 5, the next two teams both lost, leading Ohio State to jump to No. 6 and giving the Big Ten half of the top six teams in the rankings. Two-loss Stanford checked in at No. 7 with two-loss Notre Dame still hanging on at No. 8 after a defeat at the hands of the Cardinal.

The only other teams competing in Power Five conference title games on Saturday -- North Carolina, Florida and Southern California -- are at No. 10, No. 18 and No. 20 in the rankings.

>>Georgia To Bring Alabama's Smart on As Head Coach

Georgia's coaching search appears to be over as Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, a former Bulldogs player, will reportedly be named UGA's new coach as early as next week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ESPN.

Following the firing of longtime Georgia coach Mark Richt on Sunday, it became obvious that Smart was by far the top option on the Bulldogs' list of candidates.

Smart still has the SEC Championship Game to prepare for as a member of Alabama's staff, and no announcement can be made by Georgia until after that game, according to the paper.

Smart went with Saban to Alabama in 2007, where he held the title of associate head coach and defensive backs coach before taking over as the Crimson Tide's defensive coordinator in 2008.

In 2009, Smart was named the winner of the Broyles Award, given to the nation's top assistant coach in the country. He is a finalist for that award again this season.

>>Oregon's Frost To Central Florida

UCF will name Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost its next head coach. CBS Sports' Ryan Bass first reported the news early Tuesday before it was confirmed by the school.

Frost is a proven offensive mind as a player and a coach. He compiled a 24-2 record as a national title winning quarterback at Nebraska and has been calling the shots during record-breaking offensive seasons at Oregon.

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