Texas A&M hire Duke coach Mike Elko to replace Jimbo Fisher, AP source

Indiana head coach Tom Allen was let go by the program. Texas A&M is working on a deal to hire Duke coach Mike Elko.

Indiana head coach Tom Allen was terminated by the program on Sunday, according to sources from the Associated Press.

Texas A&M is reportedly in negotiations to hire Duke coach Mike Elko, replacing Jimbo Fisher with his former defensive coordinator for four years in College Station, a source familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been finalized, said Elko had emerged as the top target for the school.

Another source with knowledge of the situation told the AP on Sunday evening that Elko has informed Duke about his talks with Texas A&M. That source also spoke on the condition of anonymity because Duke has not publicly commented on the matter.

The Houston Chronicle initially reported that Texas A&M was expected to hire Elko as head coach.

Elko left the Aggies to take his first head coaching job at Duke after the 2021 season and went 15-8 in two seasons. The Blue Devils had won just 10 games combined in the three previous years.

Texas A&M fired Fisher earlier this month, paying a record buyout of more than $75 million to move on from him with two games left in his sixth season with the Aggies.

Elko, who also had stints as a defensive coordinator at Wake Forest and Notre Dame, led defenses that ranked in the top three of the Southeastern Conference in his final two seasons with A&M.

This season at Duke, Elko led the Blue Devils to a 4-0 start, but they struggled after quarterback Riley Leonard was injured at the end of a close loss to Notre Dame.

Texas A&M's search seemed to take a twist this weekend. There were reports that the school was close to a deal with Kentucky's Mark Stoops on Saturday, but it didn't get done.

Stoops even posted a statement on social media acknowledging he had been contacted by another school about a "potential opportunity" but said he would be staying put. He did not mention Texas A&M.

The Aggies ended their season Saturday at 7-5 with a loss at LSU. With the transfer portal opening in a week and the early signing period for high school recruits coming up later in December, school officials wanted to move quickly to get a new coach in place.

They landed on the 46-year-old Elko, a New Jersey native who became a key recruiter for Fisher in Texas and directed the defense that was the best part of Fisher's most successful team in 2020, which went 9-1.

Allen out at Indiana

Tom Allen spent four seasons steadily taking Indiana up the Big Ten ladder. Then everything came crashing down in college football's rapidly evolving world.

Three consecutive losing seasons and a three-year conference record of 3-24 cost Allen his dream job on Sunday, when the two sides reached a financial settlement to part ways.

"It has been my greatest professional honor to serve as Indiana's head football coach for the past seven years," Allen said in a statement released by his agent. "Representing this university and this state has meant more to me than you can imagine. Our entire journey here has been based on a simple concept - Love. Each. Other. It's what we've done, it's what we'll always do. I continue to believe it's a recipe to change the world."

Allen had four years remaining on a contract he received in 2021 and was owed $20.8 million. But the athletic department said Allen agreed to take two payments worth $7.75 million, all of which will come from donor funds. It's the biggest buyout ever paid by a Big Ten school, surpassing the $15 million Scott Frost received from Nebraska last year.

Houston fires Holgorsen

HOUSTON -- The Houston Cougars fired coach Dana Holgorsen on Sunday, a day after finishing his third losing season in five years.

"Over the course of his five seasons with the Cougars, Dana made strides in our football program in many ways and laid the groundwork for our transition to the Big 12 Conference," Houston vice president of athletics Chris Pezman said in a statement. "Ultimately, the results on the field fell below our standards of excellence. We are grateful to Dana for his efforts and commitment to our student-athletes and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors."

The Cougars ended the year with three consecutive losses, capped by a 27-13 defeat at UCF on Saturday. Houston was 4-8 overall and 2-7 in Big 12 play in its inaugural season in the newly configured conference.

Houston's disappointing finish, which included losses in five of its last six games, leaves the team out of a bowl for the first time since Holgorsen's first season in 2019.

He finished 31-28 in five seasons in Houston.

Assistant Corby Meekins will be Houston's interim head coach while the Cougars search for a replacement.

Mountain West title game set

UNLV will host Boise State in the Mountain West Conference championship game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday after a computer ranking was used to break a three-way tie for first place.

Boise State, UNLV and San Jose State each finished the regular season 6-2 in conference play. Because all three teams did not face each other and no team was included in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, the tie was broken by an average of four computer rankings from Anderson & Hester, Colley Matrix, Massey and Wolfe.

San Jose State beat UNLV 37-31 on the road Saturday for its sixth straight win after a 1-5 start, but the computer rankings listed UNLV first among the three teams tied for first, allowing the Rebels to host the championship game. Boise State was second and San Jose State third.

"It's unfortunate. I think we were one of the top two teams in the league," SJSU athletic director Jeff Konya told The Associated Press. "I'm sure the other institutions and athletic directors and administrations would say similar things for their program and advocate there. It's unfortunate that somebody was going to be the third wheel, and apparently the computer decided it was us."

The Mountain West said in a statement that when divisional play was eliminated in 2022, the tiebreaker system was reviewed and changed to ensure the two teams with the strongest body of work are in the championship game.

The CFP ranking (or computer rankings if no team is ranked in the CFP) became the third tiebreak after win percentage in conference play and head-to-head matchups.

BRIEFLY

TEXAS-EL PASO: UTEP fired football coach Dana Dimel after his fifth losing season in six years. The Miners finished 3-9 after a 42-28 loss to undefeated Liberty before a sparse crowd at the Sun Bowl.

LOBOS: New Mexico has fired coach Danny Gonzales, who never won more than four games over four seasons.