Things to watch this weekend in the Atlantic Coast Conference:
No. 9 LSU (0-0) at No. 4 Clemson (0-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC).
The preseason ACC favorite gets an immediate test, coming in a Tigers-vs.-Tigers battle in Clemson's version of Death Valley.
Clemson returned to the top of the league last year and earned a berth in the expanded College Football Playoff, but more is expected this year for a team considered to be a national-title contender. LSU is picked to finish fourth in the SEC.
This pairs the two quarterbacks on The Associated Press preseason All-America team in Clemson's Cade Klubnik (first team) and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier (second team) and two players expected to be in the mix for the Heisman Trophy.
No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami: The ACC's annual scheduling partnership with the independent Fighting Irish has produced a must-watch matchup Sunday. The Hurricanes are picked to finish second behind Clemson in the ACC and feature another star transfer at quarterback in Carson Beck. The Irish are coming off a run to the CFP title game.
No. 8 Alabama at Florida State: It's a marquee matchup in terms of marquee programs. But the Crimson Tide entered the week as a big favorite (13.5 points in BetMGM's College Football Odds) against a retooled Seminoles team that won just two games last year and is picked seventh in the ACC this year.
Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech: The 6-foot-2, 234-pound redshirt senior is coming off an injury-shortened season after accounting for 2,900 yards of offense and 22 touchdowns in 2023. The Hokies will need a big game from him Sunday against No. 13 South Carolina in Atlanta.
Desmond Reid, Pittsburgh: The preseason AP All-American is an all-purpose threat who ran for 962 yards with five touchdowns, had 52 catches for 579 yards and four scores, and even scored on a 78-yard punt return last year. His Panthers open Saturday against Duquesne.
North Carolina coach Bill Belichick has 333 regular-season and playoff wins at the NFL level, including six Super Bowl titles as a head coach. Now he's preparing for his first game at the college level with Monday's visit from TCU. ... Belichick is one of three new ACC coaches this year. Wake Forest opens the Jake Dickert era Friday against Kennesaw State, while Stanford lost at Hawaii in Week Zero under interim coach Frank Reich. ... California and Oregon State meet Saturday in a reunion of former Pac-12 leaguemates who have faced off 77 times, with Cal winning 40 in a series going back to 1905.
No. 16 SMU, last year's league runner-up, opens Saturday against East Texas A&M. The Mustangs have won 11 games in back-to-back years, marking the first time the program has reached double-digit win totals in consecutive years since a run of four in a row from 1981-84 before the program was shut down due to the NCAA's “death penalty” punishment for rules violations. They are ranked in the preseason for the first time in 40 years.
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
FILE - Pittsburgh running back Desmond Reid (0) carries the ball during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Clemson, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed, File)
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) — A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people.
The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.
The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.
There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.
“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”
At the site of Wednesday's train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.
Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.
The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.
Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.
The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.
Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday's accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.
The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building's collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.
Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai's president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand's Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.
Associated Press writers Wasamon Audjarint in Bangkok and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
Relatives of victims and others wait at a hospital, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives wait at a hospital to receive bodies of victims, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Forensic workers inspect the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A cuddly toy lies on the ground at the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
