Here are the Top 10 Most Read sports stories of 2022

Throughout the past year, Orlando Sentinel reporters have fed readers a steady diet of stories about the Orlando Magic, high school sports, personnel changes, the brightest moments and biggest heartbreaks.

But what readers seemed to love most was information - and commentary - about college football.

Whether it was the University of Central Florida Knights or the University of Florida Gators, half of the top 10 most-read sports stories of 2022 looked at what was going on behind the scenes.

Here are the Orlando Sentinel’s Top 10 Most Read sports stories for 2022:

10. Juwan Howard is symbolic of a society where clenched fists have replaced handshakes

In the wake of Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard striking an opposing coach in the face when he should have been shaking his hand has sparked the requisite amount of social media questions and debates over the last few days.

Should Howard have been fired or was a five-game suspension enough?

9. Steve Spurrier: Billy Napier’s army of UF staff members shows how college football has changed

Running off at the typewriter …

It’s no secret that new Florida Gators coach Billy Napier has essentially been given a blank check in order to hire as many staff members as he needs to compete with Georgia, Alabama and the other big-boy programs in college football.

8. Jump on the Paolo bandwagon because the Magic are now going places

I’m not only jumping on the Paolo Banchero bandwagon.

I’m driving the dad-gum thing!

7. UCF AD: Big 12 will be ‘aggressive’ in battle with Pac-12

Terry Mohajir doesn’t seem worried in the least about the most recent upheaval in college football and what it could mean for his athletic program as it gets ready to enter a new conference.

6. NCAA’s transfer portal has become big, fat joke

Did you hear the joke about the guy who entered the NCAA transfer portal?

So did 2,999 other guys, so they decided to enter also.

5. Magic issue statement after Jonathan Isaac’s remarks on vaccine, kneeling

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac once again drew attention for comments he made off the court.

Isaac, who hasn’t played since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the “NBA bubble” in August 2020, spoke at the ReAwaken America Tour hosted by Clay Clark on Saturday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

He touched on why he chose to stand for the national anthem in the “bubble,” his thoughts on the Black Lives Matter organization and why he chose not to get the COVID-19 vaccine — a topic he touched on during the preseason.

4. Simone Johnson, Dwayne Johnson’s daughter, debuts on Orlando NXT show

Simone Johnson, the daughter of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, made her first speaking appearance in front of fans during NXT’s live event Saturday night at Engelwood Neighborhood Center in Orlando.

3. Sexual-assault accusations steal away from Ben Roethlisberger’s career

Ben Roethlisberger probably shouldn’t be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he will.

Big Ben retired Saturday. His next stop is Canton and his production tells us he deserves it, with 64,088 passing yards and 418 touchdowns. And if you add postseason numbers, the yardage is more than 70,000 with 454 scores.

2. UCF mourns after former TE Jake Hescock, 25, dies of cardiac arrest

Former UCF tight end Jake Hescock died Sunday, according to his family.

Hescock, 25, suffered cardiac arrest while jogging Tuesday in Boston, Mass. A passerby provided CPR and he was brought to a hospital before being placed on life support.

1. Jayden Gibson situation with Florida shows why NCAA needs recruiting overhaul

Jayden Gibson was supposed to be enrolling for the spring semester at the University of Florida in a few weeks.

That’s where he wanted to be to start his college football career. It’s where his heart was. It’s where his mother and father went to college and where they met. Kelvin Gibson was even a walk-on football player for the Gators.