Instead of providing answers, Week 13 of the college football season brought more confusion for the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

With Pittsburgh pulling off the 42-28 upset win over No. 12 Georgia Tech, the final week of the regular season will determine who is headed to the ACC championship game on Saturday, Dec. 6, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

If the Yellow Jackets had beaten the Panthers on Saturday, Nov. 22, they would have clinched a spot in the championship game. Instead, Pitt now needs to beat Miami — and needs one of SMU or Virginia to lose in Week 14 — to get into the conference title game. All three teams enter the final week with one ACC loss.

Meanwhile, two-loss teams Georgia Tech, Miami and Duke all remain alive, but will need serious help to have a chance to get to the championship game.

Here’s a look at the ACC standings after Week 13:

ACC football standings after Week 13

Here’s a full look at the ACC standings after Week 13 of the college football season.

• T-1. Southern Methodist (8-3, 6-1 ACC)
• T-1. Pittsburgh (8-2, 6-1 ACC)
• T-1. Virginia (9-2, 6-1 ACC)
• T-4. Georgia Tech (8-2, 5-2 ACC)
• T-4. Duke (6-5, 5-2 ACC)
• T-4. Miami (9-2, 5-2 ACC)
• 7. Wake Forest (8-3, 4-3 ACC)
• 8. Clemson (6-4, 4-4 ACC)
• 9. Louisville (7-4, 4-4 ACC)
• T-10. California (6-5, 3-4 ACC)
• T-10. North Carolina State (6-5, 3-4 ACC)
• 11. Stanford (4-7, 3-5 ACC)
• T-12. Virginia Tech (3-8, 2-5 ACC)
• T-12. North Carolina (4-7, 2-5 ACC)
• 15. Florida State (5-6, 2-6 ACC)
• 16. Syracuse (3-8, 1-6 ACC)
• 17. Boston College (1-10, 0-7 ACC)

For much of the 2025 college football season, the Big 12 has been wildly unpredictable.

Though Texas Tech — with a 10-1 record and a 22-point win over its fellow first-place team BYU to its name — has established itself as the class of the conference, there was a packed cluster of teams behind the Red Raiders and Cougars entering Week 13 of the season, with four teams with two losses in league play.

This weekend offered some much-needed clarity.

While Texas Tech was enjoying its bye week, several other teams near the top of the conference standings either greatly enhanced their Big 12 championship game outlook or saw it get severely diminished.

No. 11 BYU went on the road and knocked off Cincinnati 26-14, improving the Cougars to 7-1 in conference play while knocking the Bearcats down to 5-3 and eliminating them from title game contention. No. 14 Utah kept its championship game and College Football Playoff dreams alive with a thrilling, come-from-behind 51-47 victory against Kansas State.

Arizona State stayed among the group of two-loss teams in Big 12 play by thumping Colorado 42-17 while No. 24 Houston missed what would have been a game-tying kick in the final minute in a 17-14 loss to TCU, knocking the Cougars out of the Big 12 championship race.

Barring massive upsets next week, with Texas Tech playing 4-7 West Virginia and BYU taking on 5-6 UCF, it will be a rematch between the Red Raiders and Cougars with a conference championship on the line.

So where do things stand now?

Here’s a look at the Big 12 standings after Week 13:

Big 12 football standings after Week 13

Here’s a full look at the Big 12 football standings after Week 13:

• T-1. Texas Tech (10-1, 7-1 Big 12)
• T-1. BYU (10-1, 7-1)
• T-3. Utah (9-2, 6-2)
• T-3. Arizona State (8-3, 6-2)
• T-5. Houston (8-3, 5-3)
• T-5. Arizona (8-3, 5-3)
• T-5. Cincinnati (7-4, 5-3)
• T-8. Iowa State (7-4, 4-4)
• T-8. TCU (7-4, 4-4)
• T-8. Kansas State (5-6, 4-4)
• T-11. Baylor (5-6, 3-5)
• T-11. Kansas (5-6, 3-5)
• T-13. UCF (5-6, 2-6)
• T-13. West Virginia (4-7, 2-6)
• 15. Colorado (3-8, 1-7)
• 16. Oklahoma State (1-10, 0-8)

AI-assisted summary
• Despite a previous blowout loss, the Texas Longhorns’ playoff hopes are not entirely extinguished.
• A decisive 52-37 victory over Arkansas, led by Arch Manning’s four touchdowns, keeps Texas in the conversation.
• The team’s chances rely on a potential upset of undefeated Texas A&M and chaos among higher-ranked teams.

If you thought Texas’ blowout loss at Georgia served as a playoff extinction-level event, you’re confusing this 12-team bracket with a beauty contest.

It’s not.

At the tail end of the bracket, it could be much more of a they’d-do-in-a-pinch type of affair.

If the selection committee finds itself in a pinch in a couple of weeks, facing a dearth of beauties, well, Texas still lurks.

And if the Longhorns don’t look like a grand prize, just knock back a six-pack and flip on game film of this 52-37 rout of Arkansas. This didn’t look half bad.

Let’s not turn this result into more than it is. This win serves as a blowout of a bad team, an opponent with an interim coach, a rival that lost to playoff-bound Notre Dame by 43 points.

But, the Razorbacks have had a way about hanging close against SEC opponents, before ultimately losing, and Texas changed the script by burying the Hogs.

“The season’s not done,’ Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said afterward on ABC. ‘You never know what can happen.”

Don’t take this as me stumping for Texas’ playoff bona fides. I had an eyewitness view of the Longhorns’ fourth-quarter meltdown in Athens, Georgia. Sarkisian did my job for me when he called his team’s disintegration against Georgia ‘a disaster.’ Couldn’t have said it any better.

The Longhorns did not resemble a playoff team that night, much as it did not in a loss at Florida or in white-knuckle victories at Kentucky and Mississippi State.

Texas languishes on the road. It’s pretty good at home, and it boasts wins against Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, a pair of top-15 teams.

The committee suffers from an affliction known as recency bias. If Texas’ final trip down the catwalk before Selection Sunday is an upset of undefeated Texas A&M in primetime on Black Friday, well, let’s just say hold off on shoveling the dirt on this season.

‘All eyes will be on us,’ Sarkisian said. ‘We’ve got to go compete.”

Need I remind you the first-team-out last season was three-loss Alabama? If Texas reaches 9-3, it’ll tout a resume superior to that of the 2024 Tide.

Texas checked in at No. 17 in the latest CFP rankings. Its playoff hopes would benefit from a dash of chaos inflected upon teams ranked ahead of it. Southern California losing this weekend helps. Look for Texas to be ranked no worse than No. 15 in next week’s pecking order. Add in a victory against Texas A&M, and you never know. If the committee finds itself in a pinch, the Longhorns might look fine.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

They could’ve avoided all this drama. Could’ve hired Lane Kiffin last year, and been a year ahead of the rebuild. 

Maybe even where Ole Miss is right now. 

If what should have been done last year at Florida was done immediately — Billy Napier fired, Kiffin hired — none of the crazy suffocating college football is playing out day after day.

The beauty of the College Football Playoff demolition derby is in full bloom, and the Heisman Trophy race — can you remember one with less juice? — would be at front of mind. 

Instead of where Kiffin, who has never won a Power conference championship, will coach in 2026 and be paid at the top of his profession.

Instead of Florida and LSU throwing around Monopoly money, desperately trying to recapture the magic of lost glory.

Instead of Florida, for the second time in four years, kicking a field goal in the second half of a blowout loss to extend its NCAA-record streak of avoiding a shutout. It was Tennessee last night, and Oregon State in Napier’s first season, and the record is now at 472 and counting.

But that Florida had to do it twice within the four-year Napier framework tells you all you need to know about the spectacular fail of a hire. 

Yet Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin doubled down last season after the Gators got hot and beat, ironically, LSU and Ole Miss. He ignored the obvious signs of ineptitude — too many to even explain now after the fact — and threw more good money after bad. 

If Stricklin makes the tough decision last fall, 2024 would’ve been the second-half collapse with an interim coach, and 2025 would’ve been Year 1 under Kiffin.

Think about the talented Florida roster with a coaching staff that includes Kiffin, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Charlie Weis Jr. (who Napier tried to hire after the 2023 season), and former Florida coach Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator (he was interested in the DC job this season). 

It’s not a stretch to think Florida could be the team in the CFP hunt, not Ole Miss. Florida could be the team, organically built through high school recruiting and supplementing from the portal (the one thing Napier crushed), as the team no one wants to play in December.

Instead Florida sustained its first home loss to Tennessee since 2003, and worst loss to Tennessee since Steve Spurrier’s first season at Florida in 1990. And we’ll go through the next seven days — Rivalry Week, no less — debating what Kiffin will do and how it will impact three programs.

Ohio State vs. Michigan. Texas vs. Texas A&M. Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. Alabama vs. Auburn. Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt.

Significant games, with significant CFP impact. All overshadowed by the Kiffin decision.

If only what should’ve been done eventually was done immediately.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

Georgia Tech entered its Week 13 matchup against Pittsburgh with a straightforward goal: Beat the Panthers and you’re in the ACC championship game.

The Yellow Jackets left the game not with a guaranteed conference title game berth, but with regrets about what could have been.

Pitt’s Ja’Kyrian Turner rushed for 201 yards and a touchdown and Georgia Tech’s Haynes King threw a pair of interceptions — including a backbreaking 100-yard pick-6 that caused a 14-point swing in the third quarter — as the Yellow Jackets fell 42-28 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.

The loss was Georgia Tech’s second in its past three games after an 8-0 start that had vaulted it into the top 10 of the major national polls. More consequentially, though, the setback knocked the Yellow Jackets from the ranks of ACC teams with only one loss in conference play, a crowded group that now includes Virginia, SMU and Pitt, the last of which now owns a critical head-to-head tiebreaker against Georgia Tech. Without a chance at a conference championship, coach Brent Key’s team will have a meager chance at an at-large berth to the 12-team College Football Playoff field.

What does the loss to the Panthers mean for the Yellow Jackets’ short-term outlook? Here’s a look at where Georgia Tech may fall in the US LBM Coaches Poll:

Georgia Tech rankings: Where will Yellow Jackets drop after Pitt loss?

Even before Saturday’s loss to Pitt, there were signs that Georgia Tech wasn’t being valued as much by voters in the major national polls as other teams with similar records.

With a 9-1 record, the Yellow Jackets were No. 12 in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll, making them the lowest-ranked Power Four team with one loss or fewer.

At least some of that had to do with Georgia Tech’s propensity for close games, even against subpar competition. Four of the Yellow Jackets’ nine wins had come by one score, a run that included a 27-20 win against a 3-7 Colorado team, a 24-21 victory against 6-5 Clemson and a 36-34 win last Saturday against 1-10 Boston College. What appeared to be good wins in the moment haven’t held up well over time, either. Wake Forest, at 8-3, has the most wins of any FBS team they’ve defeated this season.

Georgia Tech’s lone loss before Week 13 wasn’t easy to shake off, either, as it came against a North Carolina State team that had been 1-3 in ACC play entering the matchup.

It wasn’t just human voters that were skeptical of the Yellow Jackets, either. Georgia Tech entered this weekend at No. 36 of 136 FBS teams in ESPN’s SP+ rankings, with the No. 17 strength of record and No. 88 strength of schedule.

Key’s squad has gotten some help this week, which may mitigate the impact of the Pitt loss a bit. Three of the teams behind it in the Coaches Poll — No. 16 USC, No. 21 Missouri and No. 24 Houston — lost this week.

The Yellow Jackets are a tough-minded team that has consistently found ways to win, but it may see a sizable drop in the polls, especially since voters will likely try to contort their rankings so that an unranked Pitt team is ahead of them.

Final ranking prediction: No. 21

The top-10 women’s basketball matchup between No. 1 UConn and No. 9 Michigan, the first meeting between the two programs, lived up to the billing on Friday. 

The Huskies defeated the Wolverines 72-69 at the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, cutting Michigan’s gutsy comeback just short. 

UConn completely dominated the first half of the contest and built up a 20 point lead by the third quarter. Just when it looked like UConn was going to cruise to its fifth win of the season, Michigan upped the pressure and completely changed the momentum of the game with an 18-2 run to close the third quarter down by four points.

The Huskies showed their experience and quickly stretched their lead back to 13 points with 3:37 remaining, but the Wolverines never faltered and continued coming at the Huskies. Michigan sophomore guard Syla Swords knocked down three of her eight 3-pointers in the final minute of the contest, including a deep 3 with 13 seconds remaining to come within one point, 70-69.

What ensued next was utter chaos. Michigan fouled UConn’s Azzi Fudd with eight seconds remaining and Fudd made both her free throws to go up 72-69. Michigan’s Olivia Olson inbounded the ball to Swords, who was stripped in the backcourt by UConn’s KK Arnold. Ashlynn Shade then turned the ball over to Michigan’s McKenzie Mathurin, but the Wolverines weren’t able to get a final shot off.

UConn improves to 46-1 all-time at Mohegan Sun Arena. UConn is 136-56 all-time in games where both teams are ranked in the top 10. This was the first meeting between UConn and Michigan.

Azzi Fudd finished with a game-high 31 points, two steals and two blocks, while Sarah Strong added 16 points, 20 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and three steals. 

Swords had 29 points and nine rebounds in the losing effort, while Olson added 18 points and 10 rebounds.  

UConn vs. Michigan highlights

End of Q3: UConn 49, Michigan 45 

We have a ball game at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. 

Michigan trailed by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, but the Wolverines went on an 18-2 run to cut their deficit to four points. UConn had six turnovers in the third quarter, which fueled Michigan’s comeback and the Wolverines outscored the Huskies 18-4 in the frame.

Syla Swords scored nine points in the third quarter and has a team-high 17 points, while Olivia Olson is up to 12 points. 

The Huskies shot 2-of-15 from the field in the third quarter. UConn has not scored since the 6:19 mark.

Halftime: UConn 45, Michigan 27

UConn guard Azzi Fudd ended the second quarter with an exclamation point after knocking down a buzzer-beating jumper to push the Huskies’ lead over Michigan to 18 points at halftime. 

The Huskies have been utterly dominant. UConn is shooting 46% from the field and 6-of-17 from the 3-point line, while holding the Wolverines to 28% from the field and 5-of-17 from 3. That’s a major feat considering the Wolverines are averaging 99.2 points per game this season, the fourth highest-scoring offense in the nation. 

Fudd has a team-high 18 points and two steals for the Huskies, while sophomore forward Sarah Strong already has a double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals in 20 minutes of play. 

Michigan appeared to settle in during the second quarter, scoring 22 points in the frame compared to only five points in the first quarter, but the Wolverines are still struggling to take care of the ball with 10 total turnovers in the half. 

Michigan sophomore guard Olivia Olson leads the Wolverines with nine points (4-of-10 FG, 1-of-5 3PT), while sophomore guard Syla Swords added eight points (2-of-12 FG, 2-of-6 3PT).

UConn first meeting vs. Michigan

End of Q1: UConn 22, Michigan 5

UConn showed why it’s the top-ranked team in the nation following a dominant first-quarter performance. The Huskies came out with their foot on the gas on Friday and built a 17-point lead, while holding the Wolverines to five points through the first 10 minutes.

Michigan shot a dismal 2-of-20 from the field and 1-of-7 from the 3-point line due to the constant pressure applied by the Huskies. UConn forced Michigan into five turnovers, which the Huskies converted to five points.

Sarah Strong and Ashlynn Shade each scored six points for UConn in the first quarter. Strong is already up to nine rebounds, rounding out her stat line with three blocks, one assist and one steal in 10 minutes of play. Azzi Fudd added five points and two steals. 

Michigan’s Syla Swords has three points, while Olivia Olson added two points. 

UConn jumps to 10-3 lead vs. Michigan

The top-10 showdown between UConn and Michigan is underway at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, home of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, which is less than 30 miles from Storrs, Connecticut.

Both teams came out with early jitters and missed some shots early on, but Huskies forward Sarah Strong opened up the scoring with a layup nearly two minutes into the game. Strong has done a little bit of everything so far. She’s up to four points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block as the Huskies lead 10-3 with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter.

Michigan sophomore guard Syla Swords got the Wolverines on the board with a 3-pointer, Michigan’s only field goal so far. Michigan is 1-of-7 from the field.

What time is Michigan vs. UConn women’s basketball?

Top-ranked UConn (4-0) faces No. 6 Michigan (4-0) in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 21, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Michigan vs. UConn: TV, streaming

• Date: Friday, Nov. 21
• Time: 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)
• Location: Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut
• TV: FOX
• Stream: Fubo, ESPN Unlimited

UConn Huskies starting lineup

• (2) KK Arnold
• (12) Ashlynn Shade
• (21) Sarah Strong
• (22) Serah Williams
• (35) Azzi Fudd

UConn women’s basketball roster

Michigan Wolverines starting lineup

Head coach: Kim Barnes Arico

• (1) Olivia Olson
• (3) Mila Holloway
• (5) Brooke Quarles Daniels
• (12) Syla Swords
• (15) Ashley Sofilkanich

Michigan women’s basketball roster

Check out UConn’s championship rings

The ‘Power of Friendship’ lifted the UConn women’s basketball team to the program’s 12th national championship in April and the phrase has been commemorated forever in the team’s new bling.

Nearly seven months after the Huskies defeated South Carolina 82-59 in the 2025 NCAA championship game to win the university’s first title since 2016, Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers returned to Storrs, Connecticut, to receive the first national championship ring of her career alongside former teammates.

‘The power of friendship … is the reason that we did win it,’ said Bueckers, who helped design the ring alongside Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme. ‘We just went off of straight vibes and we stuck together through it all.’

From facing UConn to fueling them: Kayleigh Heckel’s seamless transition

STORRS, Conn. — If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

That may not be exactly how sophomore Kayleigh Heckel ended up playing for No. 1-ranked UConn, but it is true that she finished her freshman season at USC with a loss to the team she ended up joining after entering the transfer portal.

‘My last game at USC was against UConn,’ Heckel said in a video posted by UConn prior to the season. ‘The stakes were high, was the Elite Eight game, so excited to be on this side now.’ Read full story here.

UConn freshman Blanca Quiñonez latest target of Auriemma’s tough love

UConn freshman Blanca Quiñonez, who Auriemma jokes ‘leads the free world in turnovers,’ is the most recent recipient of Auriemma’s affection. The Ecuador native played in her second collegiate game Nov. 16, scoring 18 points but also turning the ball over five times.

UConn remains No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball poll

The defending champion Connecticut Huskies remain in the No. 1 spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, released on Tuesday, Nov. 18. UConn looks to become the first repeat champion since winning four straight from 2013-16.

USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

1. UConn (4-0)
2. South Carolina (4-0)
3. UCLA (5-0)
4. Texas (4-0)
5. LSU (5-0)
6. Maryland (5-0)
7. Oklahoma (4-1)
8. TCU (4-0)
9. Michigan (3-0)
10. Baylor (4-0)
11. USC (2-1)
12. North Carolina (3-1)
13. Tennessee (3-1)
14. Ole Miss (3-0)
15. Iowa State (5-0)
16. North Carolina State (2-2)
17. Vanderbilt (3-0)
18. Kentucky (5-0)
19. Louisville (3-1)
20. Iowa (4-0)
21. Oklahoma State (5-0)
22. West Virginia (4-0)
23. Notre Dame (3-1)
24. Duke (3-2)
25. Michigan State (4-0)

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

Jordan Stolz made it official: He’s going to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

The American phenom locked a spot on the U.S. speed skating team with his first-place finish in the 1,000 meters on Friday, Nov. 21 at the World Cup event in Calgary, Alberta. His time of 1:06.0 was 0.63 off his own world record.

Because Stolz was a medalist at the world championships in March, winning silvers in the 500 and 1,500 meters and a bronze in the 1,000, he was eligible to secure his place on the team ahead of the Olympic trials by finishing in the top five in the same distance at two of the first four World Cups.

Stolz won the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters at the first World Cup speed skating event in Salt Lake City last weekend. That meant his next top five in any of those distances would guarantee him a trip to the Olympics.

Stolz does still need to qualify to race the 500 and 1,500 meters. He’ll race both distances Saturday, Nov. 22 and will have another 500 meters Sunday, Nov. 23.

‘It’s not something I think that hard about,’ Stolz said after winning the 1,000 meters in Salt Lake. ‘I just try and focus on (how I’m) feeling physically. Each race, trying to make it feel a little bit better, get a little more comfortable.’

It was pretty much a given that Stolz would make the Olympic team. He swept the sprint distances at the world championships in 2023 and 2024, and was the overall champion in each of the three races last season.

But there is something to be said for having qualification out of the way already rather than having to wait until the Olympic trials, which are Jan. 2-5 in Milwaukee, and hope nothing goes wrong.

Like what happened four years ago, when Erin Jackson came into trials as the world’s best in the 500 meters, only to slip during her race and finish third.

Jackson made the team when Brittany Bowe, who’d won the race, declined her spot for Jackson. Jackson would go on to win gold in the 500 meters at the Beijing Olympics.

U.S. Speed Skating changed its Olympic qualifying procedures as a result. In addition to world medalists being able to secure their spots with two top-five finishes, a skater who is on the podium in the same distance at two World Cups qualifies for the team.

‘If you’re able to hit those benchmarks, then you deserve to have a spot on the team,’ Bowe said in Salt Lake. ‘I think it’s a great addition to have some sense of security going into the Olympic trials if you’re podiuming consistently or you’re on the world championships podium last year. So I do love the addition.’

AI-assisted summary
• Heavyweight boxer Cassius Chaney was scheduled to fight Anthony Joshua but the bout was canceled.
• Chaney is now serving as a sparring partner for Jake Paul ahead of Paul’s fight against Joshua.
• Chaney, who is the same height as Joshua, is helping Paul prepare at his training facility in Puerto Rico.

As Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua prepare for their fight Dec. 19 in Miami, Cassius Chaney is the central figure in an unlikely twist.

Chaney, a heavyweight boxer from Baltimore, was set to fight Joshua Nov. 22 in Saudi Arabia. Now he’s in Puerto Rico, helping prepare Paul to fight Joshua.

“Things sometimes just work out in weird ways,’’ Chaney told USA TODAY Sports.

During a press conference Nov. 21, Joshua mentioned that Chaney was in Paul’s camp.

Paul chimed in, saying,“Already whooped that (butt). Sorry, Cassius.’’

But Chaney sounded only grateful this week during an interview with USA TODAY Sports. The story started less than a month ago when, according to Chaney, he was contacted by Joshua’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing, and offered a chance to fight the former two-time heavyweight champion from Great Britain.

But last week, Chaney said, his fight with Joshua was canceled when Paul and Anthony agreed to their fight.

 “I was disappointed and I was upset,’’’ Chaney said.

Then came the twist.

In attempt to confirm Paul and Joshua had officially agreed to fight, Chaney said he called Danny Davis, who is Paul’s cutman and someone Chaney said he knows well.

“He actually worked on my hands a lot when I was in Philadelphia training,’’ Chaney said.

According to Chaney, Davis said he talked to Paul, confirmed the fight with Joshua was official and then invited Chaney to Puerto Rico to serve as a sparring partner for Paul.

Working with Jake Paul: ‘He’s open to information’

Chaney is 6-foot-6, the same height as Joshua. He is 38, two years older than Joshua. He is 24-3 and, like Joshua, has power – 17 of his 24 victories have come by knockout.

But while Joshua won an Olympic gold medal in 2012 before he turned pro and became a two-time heavyweight champion, Chaney has fought mostly in obscurity. Now he’s joined Paul’s high-end camp. During an interview with USA TODAY Sports this week, Chaney said he’s staying in a villa on Paul’s compound.

“Every room has a bathroom, like a mini mansion or something,’’ he said. “I’m actually the only person in this house. …

“The gym is awesome. It is like state-of-the-art. They have two (boxing) rings, a recovery room upstairs, everything – weights, red-light sauna, salt bath, cold tub, massage therapist, everything.’’

Chaney said he’s also been struck by something else – Paul.

“I know I’m stronger than him, but he’s doing pull-ups easier than me,’’ Chaney said. “I know I’m stronger than him, but he’s doing the bench press a little easier than me. He works hard.

“And he’s cool, too. You can go tell him, ‘Hey, man, try this out or try that out and maybe you should try this.’ And he’s open to information. The first day the coaches told me, ‘Hey, you go tell him what you think he needs to do and that type of stuff.’ So it’s very professional and open.”

Chaney said he’s already offered advice to Paul.

‘I told him that when he’s trying to throw his overhand right, he has to keep his eyes up,” Chaney told USA TODAY Sports. ‘Instead of dropping his head down, he’s looking for the overhand, but sometimes he drops his head down and he doesn’t see where the punch is going.

‘It’s better to see where the punch is going when he’s throwing it, so he knows if it lands or not. And he can tell if I’m throwing a punch back.”

Assessing Jake Paul’s skills: ‘He knows what he’s doing’

Although Paul is a significant underdog for his fight with Joshua, Chaney expressed hope for his new boss.

He complimented Paul for his boxing IQ and his athleticism.

“Jake, he knows what he’s doing,’’ Chaney said. “He’s definitely strong, but he has to be crafty and stay elusive.’’

While working with Paul, Chaney said, he realized he wasn’t truly prepared for the fight with Joshua that fell through. He said he thinks he had the power to drop Joshua but that watching Paul train has revealed more Chaney could have done during his own training regimen.

“For the resources we had, we were making it work,’’ Chaney said of his abbreviated training camp. “But you come down here and I get into the strength and conditioning with (Paul) and I’m like, ‘Yo, hold on.’

“This is what I need to be doing.’’

So what’s next for Chaney?

“I haven’t heard I’m going to be a millionaire so much in my life since the last three weeks,’’ he said. “So I’m like, maybe somebody knows something I don’t know, or people know something I don’t know.

“But one of the main things I’ve heard when I came down here straight up, you got to give yourself the best chance you can give yourself. And I’m happy I came down here getting to see the stuff that I need. You know what I mean?’’