Boise State received the fourth and final bye in this week's College Football Playoff rankings, leaving BYU out of that mix and the Big 12 on the list of power conferences with a gripe.

The Southeastern Conference is cracking down on its players falling down and feigning injuries.

Texas has apologized after fans littered the field with water bottles and other trash after an interception for the top-ranked Longhorns against No. 5 Georgia was initially wiped out by a pass-interference penalty before officials changed the call.

Texas and everyone else are finding that Georgia is still the top dog in the Southeastern Conference.

The Longhorns took back the Golden Hat Trophy from the Sooners with their 34-3 win on Saturday.

Longhorns’ head coach Steve Sarkisian announced his decision to start the top prospect in the Class of 2023 during media availability on Thursday.

After the first shake-up of the college football season, the Southeastern Conference grabbed six of the top seven spots in the AP Top 25, a first in the 88-year history of the rankings.

Georgia is No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason college football poll for the second straight year.

Alabama football teams will soon be playing on Saban Field.

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey unofficially opened the league’s first football season as 16-team league in North Texas.

Deciding where to go to college is always an interesting journey for high school students, but when the decision can also impact your chances of making the NFL, the decision is monumental.

The San Antonio Spurs traded one of their two first-round picks on Wednesday night.

Winning the national championship validated what already was obvious.

The NCAA baseball tournament moves to the best-of-three super regionals this weekend.

The Alamo Bowl has been denied an attempt to be able to select either the Texas Longhorns or the Oklahoma Sooners for its bowl games in 2024 and 2025 as they begin play in the Southeastern Conference, according to a report from the Action Network.

Alabama and the rest of the football fans in the Southeastern Conference are about to find out what Big East basketball is all about.

South Carolina, Iowa, USC and Texas are the top four teams in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll, a day after all four were chosen as the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament that begins later this week.

South Carolina is the the top overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Denzel Aberdeen scored a career-high 20 points in helping Florida rally from an 18-point deficit and beat Texas A&M 95-90 at the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals.

Johni Broome had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 12 Auburn to an 86-55 romp over 15th-ranked South Carolina at the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The brother of LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson was arrested and charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct after getting involved in his sister's scuffle with South Carolina forward Kamilla Cardoso.

Dalton Knecht had 26 points with five 3-pointers as No. 4 Tennessee won its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title since 2018 with a 66-59 victory over No. 17 South Carolina.

South Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford and UCLA would be the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament if it began now.

South Carolina will try to wrap up the Southeastern Conference regular-season crown this week while Stanford attempts to move closer to winning its 27th regular-season Pac-12 title.

The Southeastern Conference has fined South Carolina $100,000 for fans storming the court after the Gamecocks 79-62 win over No. 6 Kentucky on Tuesday night.

The Heisman Trophy race is looking wide open for 2024.

Georgia tight end Brock Bowers and right guard Tate Ratledge have returned from injuries to start for the No. 1 Bulldogs against No. 8 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

No. 9 Alabama hasn’t been making anything look easy this season.

The Kentucky Wildcats no longer preside quite so comfortably over the Southeastern Conference, which is harder to do these days.

Carson Beck threw for 261 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score as top-ranked Georgia shook off both an early kickoff and losing star tight end Brock Bowers to a left foot injury before halftime in beating Vanderbilt 37-20 Saturday.

SEC East Division control – for now -- is up for grabs as top-ranked Georgia hosts No. 20 Kentucky in a prime-time showdown between two of the conference’s three unbeaten teams.

The Southeastern Conference is leaning on help from high-profile transfers to replace some of the departed star power at quarterback.

The Southeastern Conference on Wednesday announced the first schedule of games for the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners when they join the league for the 2024 football season.

The Southeastern Conference will play eight league games in 2024 when it expands to 16 teams with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas, but beyond that the schedule model is to be determined.

A month highlighted by gambling-related firings and potential NCAA infractions in college sports motivated the Southeastern Conference to put extra emphasis on the issue at this week’s spring meetings.

The Southeastern Conference began four days of meetings on the Florida Gulf Coast for a second straight year, debating what to do with its football schedule.

After a three-day pause, the madness will resume on Thursday with the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament.

South Carolina has joined an exclusive group, going wire-to-wire as No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.

Alabama is No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll of the season Houston is No. 2 and Big Ten champion Purdue was third.

March Madness isn’t just about filling out — and later trashing — brackets.

Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and headlining the South Region bracket.

Alabama is the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament after cruising through the end of a season clouded by a murder case.

Brandon Miller scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama smothered No. 18 Texas A&AM 82-63 for its second Southeastern Conference Tournament championship in three seasons.

South Carolina remains No. 1 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll for a 37th consecutive week.

Zia Cooke scored 24 points and Aliyah Boston added 18 as No. 1 South Carolina pulled away in the final two quarters to beat Tennessee 74-58 for the SEC championship.

Robyn Benton scored 20 points, Adebola Adeyeye had 11 points and 17 rebounds and No. 14 Kentucky beat 11th-seeded Florida 72-57 in an SEC Tournament game marred by a scuffle.

Alabama is the new No. 1, rising to the top spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time in 20 years.

Kamilla Cardoso had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Zia Cooke scored 17 and No. 1 South Carolina beat third-ranked LSU 88-64 in a showdown of the last two unbeaten teams.

Aliyah Boston collected her record-setting 73rd double double with 13 points and 14 rebounds as No. 1 South Carolina moved to 20-0 with a dominating 92-46 victory over Arkansas on Sunday.

TCU’s unlikely run to the College Football Playoff championship came at a fortuitous time for the Big 12.

Two college students have won $100,000 in tuition after a confusing finish in the SEC championship game’s halftime competition.

The third in-person meeting of conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff since August ended without a resolution on expansion, but not without optimism.

Stetson Bennett went 16 for 23 for 284 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead No. 1 Georgia to a 48-7 victory over South Carolina.

The Big Ten has announced its new, seven-year media rights deal with Fox, NBC and CBS that is believed to be the richest ever struck with a college sports conference.

The Southeastern Conference’s slogan, “It just means more,” could soon refer to the number of football games the league schedules.

UMass has found a leader for its basketball program, hiring Frank Martin as its new coach.

South Carolina has fired Frank Martin after 10 seasons as men's basketball coach with just one NCAA Tournament appearance.

South Carolina finished the season where it started — at No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll.

South Carolina has expectedly earned the No. 1 overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Kennedy Chandler scored 19 points, Zakai Zeigler added 11 and No. 9 Tennessee held off fifth-ranked Kentucky 69-62 in the final minutes to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament final for the third time in the last five years.

South Carolina is still No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll despite suffering its second loss of the season.

Dre’una Edwards hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4.2 seconds left, and the Kentucky Wildcats rallied from 15 points down to upset top-ranked South Carolina 64-62 to win their first Southeastern Conference women’s tournament championship since 1982 and second all-time.

Freshman guard Zakai Zeigler, whose family was left homeless by a fire in New York City last weekend, made two key free throws in the final seconds to help No. 13 Tennessee hold off No. 14 Arkansas 78-74.

Aliyah Boston notched her 22nd consecutive double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds as top-ranked South Carolina beat Arkansas 76-54 in the Southeastern Conference women’s tournament quarterfinals.

Auburn remains No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the second straight week.

The move by Texas and Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference is generating plenty of chatter in the Big 12.

South Carolina has named former grad assistant and North Dakota State passer Zeb Noland as its starting quarterback for the Gamecocks' opener against Eastern Illinois this weekend.

The Southeastern Conference has extended the contract of Commissioner Greg Sankey, whose league is set to grab even more prominence and wealth with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas.

The commissioners of the Pac-12 and Big 12 are discussing how the two conferences might benefit from working together or maybe even merging.

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby says losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC could slice the value of the league's next television deal by 50 percent.

The board of regents for the University of Texas has voted unanimously to accept an invitation for the Longhorns to join the Southeastern Conference.

After the boards of regents for the universities of Texas and Oklahoma voted Friday to accept invitations to the Southeastern Conference, the league announced the Big 12 rivals would start competing in the SEC in the fall of 2025.

Southeastern Conference university presidents voted to invite Texas and Oklahoma to join the league and create a 16-team powerhouse on the field and at the bank.

Texas and Oklahoma have made a request to join the powerhouse Southeastern Conference.

Oklahoma and Texas took the first formal step toward moving to the Southeastern Conference.

The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Oklahoma are expected to leave the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. The move throws the athletics future of several other Texas schools into uncertainty.

Southeastern Conference regular-season and tournament champion Arkansas is the No. 1 national seed for the NCAA baseball tournament.

Southeastern Conference regular-season and tournament champion Arkansas is the No. 1 national seed for the NCAA baseball tournament.

The Southeastern Conference matched its record with seven teams among 16 regional hosts for the NCAA baseball tournament.

A big two has emerged within the Power Five.

Alabama players celebrate after beating LSU in the championship game of the NCAA college basketball Southeastern Conference Tournament Sunday, March 14, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. Alabama won 80-79. 6 Alabama won the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time since 1991, holding off a late flurry to edge LSU 80-79 Sunday. Alabama, the reigning national champions in football, won its seventh tournament title overall, second in the SEC only to Kentucky's 31. Alabama did it by adding two more SEC titles in basketball after Nick Saban's squad won both the SEC and national championships a couple months ago. About 20 minutes before tip-off, Alabama and LSU players had to be separated at midcourt.

6 Alabama, a 73-68 winner over Tennessee in the other semifinal, on Sunday looking to improve their NCAA Tournament seeding even more by knocking off the SEC's regular-season champ. AdArkansas (22-6) snapped a 12-game SEC winning streak that tied the program record set by the 1993-94 team that also ended in the SEC Tournament in the semifinals. LSU took advantage after Arkansas guard Davonte Davis made a pair of free throws with 11:42 left tying it up at 52. The Tigers LSU reeled off 12 straight points to take the lead for good, and Gaines capped the spurt with a layup with 7:25 left. UP NEXTArkansas learns its NCAA Tournament seed and opening opponent Sunday.

6 Alabama rallied from a big deficit in the final 17 minutes to beat Tennessee 73-68 Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals. AdTop-seeded Alabama (23-6) faces the LSU-Arkansas winner in Sunday’s championship in search of its first SEC Tournament title since 1991. The Volunteers trailed 69-68 when Davonte Gaines missed two foul shots with 25 seconds left. Yves Pons’ 3-pointer got Tennessee within 69-68 with 41.4 seconds left, but Quinerly added two free throws and Ellis two more with 3.7 seconds left to seal a tense game. Alabama: The Crimson Tide have thrived from long distance all season and weren’t about to change, even without Primo.

6 Alabama blew out Mississippi State 85-48 on Friday in an SEC quarterfinal. Alabama followed a couple of small early runs with a 17-0 surge over nearly five minutes for an eventual 43-13 cushion just before halftime. The Tide also swarmed the Bulldogs defensively, scoring 24 points off 14 first-half turnovers and holding them to 30% shooting overall. “To get beat this badly was really, really a bitter pill,” he said. Alabama drained 3s in bunches to put this game away early and protected the ball.

But things began spiraling downward for the Wildcats long before Thursday's disappointing 74-73 setback against Mississippi State that sealed their fate: No NCAA Tournament this year. AdDigesting the reality and enduring a losing season at college basketball's winningest program will make for a long offseason for the Wildcats. “But at the end of the day, you've gotta win games and you've gotta be tough and you've got to play winning basketball. The Wildcats rebounded to win their first three SEC games, only to seesaw between a four-game skid and three-game winning streak. One of the main issues for the Wildcats was putting up points, as Kentucky ranked 200th in Division I in scoring.

Aliyah Boston had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead South Carolina, which only a week ago lost at No. South Carolina, though, righted things in a big way at the SEC Tournament. Boston then followed with a pair of foul shots and South Carolina held on for its 14th straight victory over Georgia. But when Jenna Staiti picked up her second foul at the end of the first quarter, South Carolina found Boston down low. South Carolina: It didn't take long for the Gamecocks to assert their dominance once more on the SEC.

(Sarah Stier/Pool Photo via AP)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The list of players in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol dropped to a season-low three, despite the additions of Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby and Nashville’s Ryan Johansen. San Jose’s Tomas Hertl is the only other player on the list after entering his seventh day in the protocol. ___Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby will miss Tuesday night’s game against Philadelphia after being placed on the COVID-19 protocol list. The news comes a day after the NHL had a season-low four players in the COVID-19 protocol. AdTuesday night’s game will be the first game with fans in attendance at PPG Paints Arena since last March.

2, its highest ranking ever in The Associated Press women's college basketball poll, a day after winning its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title. 5 South Carolina on Sunday to win the conference title and then moved up a spot in the Top 25. AdBaylor, South Carolina, Maryland, UCLA and Indiana were the next five. The Aggies snapped a seven-game losing streak to South Carolina on Sunday. ___More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, center, celebrates with teammates Patrick Marleau (12) and Mario Ferraro (38) after scoring a goal against Minnesota Wild during the first period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The San Jose Sharks have returned to practice and are set to play the St. Louis Blues as scheduled on Saturday night after having one game postponed because a player tested positive for the coronavirus. Tomas Hertl was placed on the COVID-19 list on Wednesday, leading to the team canceling practice that day and postponing Thursday’s game against Vegas. With no other players or staff testing positive since then, the Sharks were allowed to return to practice Friday and will host St. Louis the next night. ___The Atlantic Coast Conference will expand use of KINEXON SafeTag contact tracing devices by equipping players, coaches and Tier 1 personnel for its upcoming men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

Texas head coach Shaka Smart directs his team against Kansas State during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)NORMAN, Okla. – The wintry weather blast in Texas and Oklahoma has led to another postponement for the Dallas Stars while adding to the list of Top 25 college basketball games now on hold. 12 Texas and No. The postponement of the Alabama game makes it five straight games called off for the Aggies. Earlier in the week, the Oklahoma men’s game at Oklahoma State was moved from Feb. 25 to March 1.

12 Texas and No. The Big 12 has an extra week before the start of the conference tournament to try to make up some postponed games. The postponement of the Alabama game makes it five straight games called off for the Aggies. Two season-opening series involving Big 12 baseball teams scheduled for this weekend were canceled. Jacksonville State was supposed to visit Baylor, and Oklahoma was set to play Wichita State in Round Rock, Texas, just north of Austin.

(AP Photo/Brian Blanco, File)Alabama teammates Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith along with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Florida’s Kyle Trask have been named finalists for the Heisman Trophy. Jones and Smith are the eighth set of teammates to be finalists together since the tradition started in 1982. Smith is trying to become the first wide receiver to win the Heisman since Michigan's Desmond Howard in 1991. Jones or Smith would become Alabama's third Heisman winner, but first that is not a running back. Iowa State running back Breece Hall was sixth, followed by Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, BYU quarterback Zach Wilson, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book and Florida tight end Kyle Pitts.

25 San Jose State will face perennial conference powerhouse Boise State in the Mountain West championship on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus, File)Auburn hired Boise State's Bryan Harsin as its head coach on Tuesday, luring him away from his alma mater and into the powerful Southeastern Conference. “I’m incredibly excited and humbled for the opportunity to be at a place like Auburn University,” Harsin said in a statement. Harsin has a proven track record as a head coach, more so than any Auburn coach in recent memory. Boise State won at least nine games in each of his first six seasons.

Both teams flexed their muscles in winning their respective conference championship games. The last time Alabama was held below 35 points came in a 44-16 loss to Clemson in a CFP championship game to cap the 2018 season. Clemson’s 34-10 Atlantic Coast Conference championship game rout of Notre Dame improved Trevor Lawrence's record as a starting quarterback to 34-1. San Jose State and Ball State will face off in the Arizona Bowl on Dec. 31. San Jose State is seeking to complete its first unbeaten season since a 13-0 finish in 1939.

4 Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal originally scheduled to serve as the 107th Rose Bowl. It's still unclear whether the game in the Dallas Cowboys' stadium will be called the Rose Bowl, but the decision ended a streak of 78 straight years in Pasadena for a bowl game first played in 1902. The festive week of genteel celebrations around the Rose Bowl game already had been mostly canceled, interrupting a beloved annual holiday tradition for hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles-area residents and tens of thousands of visiting fans. Alabama's first bowl game was the 1926 Rose Bowl, and the Tide played in six early editions of the game. They haven't been back in the official Rose Bowl game since 1946, although they beat Texas on Jan. 7, 2010, in the BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl stadium.

Notre Dame was picked Sunday over Texas A&M for the final spot, ending what little drama there had been. Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State have also held the first four spots in the AP Top 25 since Oct. 25. The Atlantic Coast Conference is the second league to have two teams in the playoff, joining the SEC in 2017. After sitting second in the CFP rankings for a month, Notre Dame was blown out 34-10 by Clemson in the ACC championship. Barta said the disparate number of games played by contenders — along with far fewer cross-conference games than usual —- was a challenge for the committee all season.

Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller walks along the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Tennessee, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power Five conference football game, cleanly kicking a pair of extra points for Vanderbilt in a 42-17 loss to Tennessee on Saturday. Listed second out of three available kickers on the depth chart, Fuller came out to try the extra point. No woman before Fuller had appeared in an SEC game or for any Power Five team. Liz Heaston became the first woman to score in college football with two extra points for Willamette of NAIA on Oct. 18, 1997. Katie Hnida was the first woman to score at the Football Bowl Subdivision level with two extra points for New Mexico on Aug. 30, 2003.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida coach Mike White declined to do any postgame media interviews. Johnson, the Southeastern Conference's preseason player of the year, collapsed coming out of a timeout against rival Florida State and needed emergency medical attention Saturday. Johnson was taken off the floor on a stretcher and rushed to Tallahassee Memorial for evaluation. The team said he was in critical but stable condition and later said he would remain in the hospital overnight. Johnson, a 6-foot-5 junior from Norfolk, Virginia, averaged a team-high 14 points last season to go along with 7.1 rebounds.

So we can complain about this and this and that but, listen, we’re still getting to play football,” Fisher said. Last week, 15 FBS games were called off because of COVID-19, the most yet this season. Major college football conferences have been tweaking policies to provide their schools flexibility to schedule games on short notice. That probably won't work for LSU-Alabama, which was among four SEC games postponed last week. __Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

The number of games across major college football scheduled for this weekend that have already been called off is up to six, after three went down Monday, including Mississippi at No. So we can complain about this and this and that but, listen, we’re still getting to play football,” Fisher said. Major college football conferences have been tweaking policies to provide their schools flexibility to schedule games on short notice. That probably won't work for LSU-Alabama, which was among four SEC games postponed last week. __Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25