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There is only one quarterback -- Indiana's Fernando Mendoza, the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner who helped the Hoosiers claim the national title -- worthy of a first-round grade.

But quarterbacks rise as the draft closes in and reality hits the teams without a certifiable QB at the center of their plans.

Which one -- or two? -- could rise in 2026?

Quarterbacks are on the road to the draft with the NFL Scouting Combine next week, arriving in Indianapolis on Wednesday and Thursday for medical evaluations. They'll conduct media sessions on Friday and be on the field Saturday for position drills, agility tests and the 40-yard dash.

Pro days often take precedent at this position. Indiana's Fernando Mendoza plans to hold off on throwing until the on-campus workout and pro day in Bloomington on April 1.

1. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana

Tall, well-built pocket passer with quick release and rapid, high-level processing speed. Wins with excellent anticipation, accuracy and ball placement.

2. Ty Simpson, Alabama

Well-rounded with adequate arm strength, accuracy, even as a one-year starter who battled inconsistency and ended the season hurt (ribs).

3. Taylen Green, Arkansas

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If he runs a 4.5 and would consider changing positions, there will be some interest. Green might prefer to utilize his genetic lottery-winning trains -- exceptional size and speed -- to give QB a try. He's the very definition of boom-or-bust.

4-T. Carson Beck, Miami

Wins with accuracy and ball placement and is tough as a blitz-beating pocket passer. Arm strength isn't elite.

4-T. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU

NFL bloodlines and ties with current Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier. He's a known commodity to pro teams and two-year starter in the SEC. But injuries led to sloppy mechanics and poor production last season, when he wound up sharing the QB1 role. Earned back some points with a strong Senior Bowl, but the final grade depends almost entirely on which team is doing the math.

5. Cade Klubnik, Clemson

With footwork and athletic tools, Klubnik is a pro system QB candidate because of his accuracy on short and intermediate throws. His height, top-end arm talent and deep ball accuracy limit his ceiling.

--Finding a wildcard at quarterback has forever been a front-office mission in the NFL. This year's mid-round find could come from North Dakota State. Cole Payton, a pocket passer who thrived in the FCS with an attack mentality, can also move if the system calls for mobility or RPO-based action. Trust he will be opening eyes during QB throwing sessions at Lucas Oil Stadium. The southpaw stuck with NDSU despite hearing from Nebraska and other FBS programs late in his senior season and it has begun paying off. He got a lot of attention in Mobile at the Senior Bowl for his timing and arm talent.

--Field Level Media

The NCAA president reiterated his support for a plan to expand the annual basketball tournament in the near future, something he's long been in favor of. What that looks like, or when it happens, remains to be seen.

"We're still talking to the various players in this one," he said on Thursday,via ESPN. "I said all along that I think there are some very good reasons to expand the tournament.

"So, I would like to see it expand."

The NCAA tournament men's field currently sits at 68 teams, with the last expansion coming back in 2011. That brought in the "First Four" round, which cuts the field from 68 to 64 for the first round. The women's NCAA tournament officially expanded to 68 teams in 2021, too. That marked the most notable expansion in the tournament since it doubled in size from 32 in 1985.

But expanding the tournament further is an idea that has been thrown around in recent years. The NCAA basketball selection committeesmet last summer and learned that expansion, if approved, would likely start during the 2026-27 campaign. That would likely expand the field to either 72 or 76 teams. It's unclear if the women's tournament would expand at the same time.

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Baker insisted Thursday that he wasn't worried about how the NCAA would fund the expanded tournament. The biggest challenge has long been simply a logistical one with the basketball calendar. Several major men's conference tournaments run right up to the selection show — the Big Ten championship game ends moments before that show starts and teams are announced — and the NCAA tournament ends the week that the Masters starts. That doesn't leave much time for added games.

There wereseveral notable teams that were just barely left out of the tournament last season, including both Indiana and West Virginia. An expanded field almost certainly would have meant they would have been included.

"From my point of view, the more teams we can get into the tournament and make it work logistically and mathematically, the better," Baker said. "It gives more kids the opportunity to experience that."

But of course, expanding the field wouldn't eliminate the snub conversation. It would just push it back by four, or eight, spots.

Regardless, the NCAA seems set on expanding the tournament in the future. Whether that happens in 2027, or a few years down the road, remains to be seen.

The second-seeded Anisimova will meet the fourth-seeded Pegula, and the third-seeded Gauff will take on No. 7 seed Svitolina on Friday in the WTA 1000 tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

Gauff will be the most rested of the foursome after her 6-0, 6-2 victory against Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in 67 minutes on Thursday. The other three quarterfinal matches all went to three sets.

"Each match, I've gotten better," Gauff said. "I definitely wasn't in good spirits before entering this tournament, but you know, one match can change everything. I honestly didn't think I would be in the semis at the start of this, but I'm happy that I'm here."

Gauff, who overcame eight double faults, won the first 10 games of the match and converted six of nine break points. She finished with 15 winners and 19 unforced errors, compared to eight winners and 33 errors for Eala.

Anisimova survived a two-hour, 38-minute battle with defending champion and No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia, winning 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) to set up her clash with Pegula.

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Andreeva had a 3-1 lead in the final set before Anisimova took the next four games for a 5-3 lead. Not going away, Andreeva survived a match point and won the next three games. Anisimova jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak and finally prevailed on her fourth match point.

Andreeva, 18, doubled over in tears after her final backhand sailed long.

"It was such a tough battle, and I thought we played incredible tennis," Anisimova said. "Seeing Mirra down like that, it's understandable. We both fought so hard today, and it made me emotional seeing her like that. She was playing so well, she's the defending champion and I feel like we both won on the court today. These type of matches, it's always tough that someone has to lose at the end of the day."

Pegula outlasted 12th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in just under two hours, while Svitolina rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win against Croatia's Antonia Ruzic in just over two hours.

Pegula struck eight aces and saved four of six break points. Svitolina balanced five aces with seven double faults while saving 11 of 14 break points.

This is only the third time three U.S. players reached the final four at a WTA 1000 event since the format's introduction in 2009: Beijing 2025 (Gauff, Pegula, Anisimova) and Toronto 2024 (Emma Navarro, Anisimova and Pegula).

--Field Level Media

"An East Coast storm could develop as soon as Sunday Feb. 22, but the track of this potential nor'easter isn't yet determined, leaving impacts such as snow, rain, wind and coastal flooding uncertain from New England to the mid-Atlantic states," saidWeather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman in an online forecast.

Another forecaster, AccuWeather meteorologist Jon Porter, told USA TODAY Feb. 19 that "there's going to be a big storm, but it could be just off the Atlantic coast." He said a slight shift to the west will result in higher snow totals, but a slight shift to the east means lower snow totals.

Uncertainty isn't unusual

Porter said this level of uncertainty just a few days before a storm isn't unusual. "This is a pretty typical snow threat for the eastern U.S."

One reason for the uncertainty, he said, is that part of the energy that will fuel the storm is still off the California coast. He said once that energy comes onshore in the next day or so, it will be better sampled by the National Weather Service's balloon network. This will give better data for the computer weather models to digest.

"Small details will matter in determining the final outcome of the storm," he said.

Jose Castillo of Tarrytown, NY. walks through snow along Route 9 in Tarrytown during the early hours of the winter storm Jan. 25, 2026. The storm was predicted to drop up to a foot of snow on the lower Hudson Valley. A huge winter storm dumped heavy amounts of snow and ice across wide swaths of the U.S.

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See fun faces of people making the best of winter weather

Jose Castillo of Tarrytown, NY. walks throughsnowalong Route 9 in Tarrytown during the early hours of the winter storm Jan. 25, 2026. The storm was predicted to drop up to a foot of snow on the lower Hudson Valley. A huge winter storm dumped heavy amounts of snow and ice across wide swaths of the U.S.

Subtle changes in track mean drastic changes to impacts

Theweather service confirmswhat the private forecasters say: "There remains a strong potential for a coastal low by Sunday [Feb. 22] and early Monday [Feb. 23] for the East Coast, but the track of the low remains uncertain. A track closer to the coast would result in heavy coastal rain and inland snow from the Mid-Atlantic to New England, and strong winds near the coast with the potential for coastal flooding."

However, the weather service said a more offshore track would mean less inland precipitation and wind, and the heaviest precipitation near the Delmarva Peninsula and extending to eastern North Carolina.

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"Both scenarios remain equally plausible at this point, but potential remains for some possible impactful snow somewhere near the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast. This will continue to be monitored closely as even subtle changes in track could mean more drastic changes to impacts," the weather service said in anonline forecast discussion.

A National Weather Service forecast issued on Feb. 19 for Saturday, Feb. 21, through Sunday, Feb. 22, shows the potential for rain, mixed precipitation or snow from Texas to New England. Meanwhile, forecasts for Monday, Feb. 23, show a chance of snow throughout the Northeast.

Dueling models

Two of the main weather models that forecasters use to predict weather − colloquially known as the American and the European models − can't seem to agree on the forecast. The American "GFS" model still shows a big storm for the big cities of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with 2 to 3 feet or more of snowfall, which is "unbelievable," said Weather Trader meteorologist Ryan Maue in an email to USA TODAY.

However, he said the European (ECMWF) weather model "is still NOT interested in the coastal storm having major impacts to the Mid-Atlantic or the Northeast. We're currently in the 2 inches to 4 inches category as the highest probability outcome," according to the European model, Maue said.

AccuWeather agrees with the Euro model, and as of Feb. 19 is calling for 1-3 inches of snow in Philadelphia and New York City, and 2-4 inches in Boston.

The weather service, pointing out the differences between the models, summed it up this way: "This continues to be a low-confidence forecast at this time as it pertains to extent of wintry weather and coastal winds."

AccuWeather's Porter said "we'll know more in the next 24 hours."

Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA TODAY, with a focus on weather and climate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Weekend nor'easter, snow storm in forecast, but there's a catch

Tiffany Score and Steven Mills filed a lawsuit against the Fertility Center of Orlando last month, asking that the reproductive health clinic identify the biological parents of the baby Score gave birth to in December, according to the complaint filed last month. The couple is also asking for information on what happened to their own embryos and whether or not someone else gave birth to their biological child.

According to the January complaint, Score gave birth to a baby girl on Dec. 11, 2025, but it was immediately clear that the baby was unlikely to be related to the couple. Mills and Score are both "racially caucasian" while the baby had the appearance of a "racially non-caucasian child," the complaint said.

"Genetic testing also proved that the baby was not Mills and Score's biological child," according to the complaint.

The couple said that they developed a strong bond with the baby girl, but that they feel a moral and legal obligation to unite her with her biological parents.

Score and Mills also feel they deserve to be relieved of the "ever-increasing mental anguish of not knowing whether a child or children belonging to them are in someone else's care."

A motion filed last week requested an emergency hearing in the case, after the couple alleged that the fertility clinic failed to identify the baby's parents to them, and that a person contacted them to say they had an embryo transfer at the same time as Score did last year.

"This patient, acting on her own initiative in response to published media reports about this litigation, self-reported to Plaintiffs as someone who also had an embryo transfer on April 7, 2025, and who birthed a baby in December 2025," the motion said.

The woman, who was not identified, has a last name similar to the couple's, the motion said. Photos of her and her husband also allegedly show they have a similar physical appearance to the baby girl who Score birthed in December.

But the woman gave birth to a baby boy, and Score and Mills were under the belief their remaining embryos were girls, the motion said.

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The motion alleges that the clinic did provide the couple with a report, but that it only detailed the clinic's processes and did not include information on who else might have received their embryo or who the baby girl's parents might be.

Robert T. Terenzio, an attorney representing Fertility Center of Orlando, submitted a letter to the court outlining a proposed protocol for investigating the situation in order to protect the privacy of the patients.

Among the items on the list was having the clinic work on an internal investigation separate from updates to the court. It also suggested providing the court with operational facts and aggregate information that do not contain identifiable information openly, but only providing information that contains personal identifying information under appropriate safeguards, according to the letter filed with the court.

Terenzio did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment on the matter on Thursday.

The Fertility Center of Orlando told NBC News affiliate WESH that it was "actively cooperating with an investigation to support one of our patients."

"Multiple entities are involved in this process, and all parties are working diligently to help identify when and where the error may have occurred," the statement said. "Our priority remains transparency and the well-being of the patient and child involved."

Judge Margaret Schreiber ordered weekly status hearings in the case during an emergency relief hearing on Tuesday, according to the court minutes.

The clinic was ordered to provide a certification that the patients were contacted, as well as to advise the court on who has waived their confidentiality and who has not. A report on the confidentiality matter will be sent directly to the court 24 hours before the next hearing.

Attorneys representing Score and Mills did not immediately respond to an email from NBC News requesting comment on Thursday. The couple told WESH on Wednesday that, until this week's hearing, the clinic had not provided them with a timeline or any verifiable information in the case.

"Faced with the prospect of a court order at yesterday's hearing, the clinic has now promised cooperation, but that promise has not yet been fulfilled," they said. "We hope it will be."