COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — PJ Haggerty tallied 22 points, Josh Irving had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Texas A&M defeated Oklahoma State 88-69 on Thursday night. The Aggies (4-0), who received votes in the Week 1 AP Top 25, have held their opponent under 70 points in each of their games this season. They allowed Oklahoma State to connect on just 30% of their shot attempts and 20% from deep. Jordan Pope and Zach Clemence also scored 14 points each, and Pope had a team-high six assists. Jalen Shelley had seven rebounds.
UNDATED (AP) — This weekend's Southeastern Conference action features a key matchup between No. 8 Texas and No. 24 LSU on Saturday night. Texas, ranked No. 6 in the College Football Playoff standings, has momentum after a 34-20 win over Missouri. LSU is eager to bounce back from a 31-13 loss to Alabama. The Tigers are a 4.5-point favorite. Meanwhile, No. 1 Georgia hosts Missouri, aiming to maintain its top ranking. Georgia's defense has been strong, allowing the fewest rushing yards in the conference. The SEC announced this year’s championship game will be the last, following the 24-team CFP expansion.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alabama and coach Kalen DeBoer can’t escape the memories of the Crimson Tide’s last visit to Vanderbilt even with all the roster changes in the transfer portal era. Not this week. The Commodores posted an upset so historic that fans celebrated by tearing down goalposts and dumping them in a river 2 miles from campus the last time the Crimson Tide played on Vanderbilt’s home field. DeBoer said this is a different team that will lean on its experiences and apply them now. No. 7 Alabama won last week at LSU to jump to third in the College Football Playoff rankings. Vanderbilt is coming off its Southeastern Conference win.
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The last time Georgia was atop the rankings, the Bulldogs got a stunning reality check. No. 1 doesn’t mean much if you can’t back it up on the field. Coming off perhaps its most impressive win of the season, Georgia is riding high again as it prepares to host Missouri. Yet there’s the lingering memory of what happened just four weeks ago, when the Bulldogs were newly anointed as college football’s top team. They were promptly upset at home by three-touchdown underdog Auburn 27-24. Georgia hopes to avoid the same fate against Missouri, which is a 15 1/2-point underdog.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Arch Manning has a chance to make a triumphant homecoming to Louisiana and keep No. 8 Texas firmly in contention for a College Football Playoff berth when the Longhorns visit No. 24 LSU. For LSU coach Lane Kiffin, Saturday night's game provides an opportunity to reassure increasingly restless Tigers fans that hiring him to a contract paying more than $1 million per month should still be seen as a good idea. The Longhorns are 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Southeastern Conference after beating Missouri last week. LSU is coming off of a 31-13 loss at home to No. 7 Alabama. Kiffin says being able to host another top-10 team this week is “a good thing” for his team.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Ninth-ranked Tennessee has won two straight home games against teams that were ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25. But after losing a thriller at unranked South Carolina the week following their victory over Alabama, the Volunteers are focused on avoiding another letdown this week at Texas A&M in the wake of Saturday’s rout of Kentucky. Tennessee jumped from 16th to ninth in the poll and 13th to No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings after its 34-6 win over Kentucky that snapped the Wildcats’ six-game winning streak. Now the Volunteers visit an A&M team reeling after a 17-9 loss at South Carolina last week that dropped the team to 4-5.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Billy Richmond III led five Arkansas players in double figures with 16 points and the 19th-ranked Razorbacks beat Robert Morris 76-53. Cooper Bowser added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Davion Thompson had 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Arkansas finished with 25 assists on 31 baskets. Coming off a blowout loss to then-No. 9 Virginia in Washington, the Razorbacks got off to a slow start, trailing for most of the first 15 minutes. Arkansas went on runs of 12-2 to close the first half and 16-1 midway through the second to break the game open.
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Tessa Johnson scored 13 points, Chloe Kitts had 12 points and 12 rebounds and No. 1 South Carolina pulled away for its 16th straight victory over state rival Clemson, 65-44 on Thursday night. The Gamecocks (3-0) looked out of synch in the opening half and were only up 30-21 at the break. That changed after halftime as South Carolina turned things up on both sides to outscore the Tigers 21-7 and hold its opponent to 0-of-7 shooting in the period. Johnson scored nine of her points in the third quarter while Kitts posted her second straight double-double and the 19th of her career. The Tigers dropped to 3-1.
