BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana judge has ordered that the Southeast Conference cannot punish LSU for playing RJ Luis Jr. between the Tigers' regular season opener on Nov. 3 and a hearing date on the matter that the judge has set for Nov. 13. State district Judge Ronald R. Johnson in East Baton Rouge Parish also ruled that LSU cannot cite SEC rules as a reason for leaving Luis off of its roster. Johnson in late August granted a similar preliminary injunction against the NCAA. Luis was briefly under contract with two NBA teams in 2025 but never played in a game. The SEC has previously accused LSU of showing an “ongoing defiance of the conference’s professionalism rules” by trying to play Luis.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — No. 17 Florida is listing its top two quarterbacks, starter Aaron Philo and backup Tramell Jones Jr., as questionable to play Saturday against third-ranked Georgia in Atlanta. Philo and Jones have split repetitions in practice this week, and coach Jon Sumrall says the starting decision will come down to “health and availability.” Philo sat out a victory at then-No. 7 Texas on Oct. 17 because of an injured throwing shoulder. Jones stepped in and won his first career start, but he's been dealing with “a couple of bumps and bruises” since.
UNDATED (AP) — College basketball fans don’t need to wait until March to see some high-profile matchups. They don’t even need to hold out for the start of conference play. This year’s men’s college basketball schedule features plenty of huge games long before Christmas. The most notable early-season games include a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament final as well as a matchup between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the preseason Top 25. Many of the top five teams will be facing off with one another over the next six weeks.
UNDATED (AP) — College football is seeing a surge in close games, with 30 one-score contests in conference play last week alone. This trend is the highest since at least 1973, according to Sportradar. So far this season, 128 conference games have been decided by eight points or fewer, with an average point differential of 13.9. The Power Four conferences have seen 69 one-score games, making for exciting matchups. This weekend's games include Miami at North Carolina, Ohio State at Southern California, and Florida at Georgia.
UNDATED (AP) — Florida coach Todd Golden has a prediction for the Southeastern Conference this season. He says it's “going to be as good as it was two years ago.” The powerhouse league put a record 14 teams into the NCAA Tournament in 2025. Auburn landed the overall No. 1 seed in the tourney that year and advanced to the Final Four along with the Gators, who ended up cutting down the nets in San Antonio. The SEC failed to maintain that level of dominance in 2026. But with the tournament expanding from 68 to 76 teams, could the SEC snag nearly 20% of the spots in 2027? The league opens the season with seven teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
UNDATED (AP) — Week 9 of the college football season features a pair of Top 25 matchups with No. 22 Arizona visiting No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 17 Florida meeting No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta. Fans must be wondering what's going to happen next in a season marked by upsets. A total of 10 teams in The Associated Press Top 25 have lost over the last three weeks. That includes two No. 1s and a No. 2 that were beaten by unranked opponents.
UNDATED (AP) — Women’s college basketball never fails to disappoint, with marquee matchups way before March Madness begins. The most anticipated early season game is a Nov. 24 rematch between preseason No. 1 South Carolina and second-ranked UConn from their Final Four matchup last season. Many people remember UConn coach Geno Auriemma’s meltdown in the handshake line when he yelled at South Carolina’s Dawn Staley. The two seem to have patched things up publicly after that incident. There’s no doubt that the rematch at Mohegan Sun two days before Thanksgiving will have a lot of eyes on the pregame and postgame handshakes.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama reserve defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. has been dismissed from the team in the wake of allegations he threatened a police officer who was involved in a previous arrest of Kirkpatrick in 2025. Kirkpatrick was arrested Friday on misdemeanor charges of doxing and harassing communications with police. He was suspended for Alabama's victory over Texas A&M on Saturday before Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer released a statement saying Kirkpatrick was no longer part of the team and had not lived up to the standards and expectations set for Alabama players. Kirkpatrick missed much of last season while suspended for his prior arrest. He rejoined the team in the spring and played in seven games this season.
