March Madness is in full swing and college sports fanatics from the West Coast to the East Coast are tuning in to watch their teams battle it out over the next few weeks.

But once the season is over, the chaos of the modern NIL era returns. Players walk away from contracts just to chase a new shiny opportunity.

Coaches are left begging their alumni to donate to their collectives so that they can “afford” to constantly be re-recruiting their roster. It’s a complete disaster.

College athletics used to be about education, now it’s sadly all about money.

It’s not uncommon nowadays for 17-year-old high school students to sign brand deals with brands like Nike, be gifted sports cars, and to have their bank accounts flooded with more money than you can imagine. America is a capitalist country. If you work hard, the sky is the limit for what you can achieve. But we’ve got to have some rules around this.

Now, I’m all for college athletes getting paid. But unfortunately, the current system has created an unlevel playing field. Sports like football and basketball are thriving while women’s sports and Olympic sports are being hung out to dry.

At this point, I don’t even blame the athletes. The system is fundamentally broken.

You’ve heard me say it: NIL is the Wild West, and it is in need of some major reining in. There is no accountability and absolutely ZERO loyalty in college athletics today. The arbitrary transfer windows don’t line up with the expanded college football playoffs, leading players to announce their intent to transfer before the playoffs are even decided.

This not only interrupts the team dynamics, but it also undermines what student-athletics is supposed to be all about: education.

RELATED: Tuberville proposes Student-Athlete Act to end transfer portal chaos

As you all know, I spent nearly 40 years coaching. I’m not a politician, but in my current role as Alabama’s senior Senator, I’m asked often about my thoughts on NIL.

Over the past few years, my team and I have met with dozens of coaches, administrators, athletes, and other stakeholders with one goal in mind: how can we protect student-athletes while preserving college sports?

I’m excited to announce that I am introducing a bill this week that I believe will solve many of the problems plaguing college athletics today. My bill is called the Student-Athlete Act and has two main provisions.

First, it would clarify eligibility rules to allow student-athletes to have five consecutive years to play five consecutive seasons.

After that, you’re done. We’re not doing this COVID free year of eligibility anymore. We can’t be having 25-year-old “students” who graduated three years ago still competing in the NCAA. A student-athlete gets five years to get an education, compete, and then move on.

Second, student-athletes can transfer ONE time without penalty, after that, they have to sit out a year if they choose to transfer again. I truly think that the unregulated transfer portal is the worst thing to happen in the history of college sports. Look, this is a free country. If you get a better opportunity somewhere else, you owe it to yourself to consider it.

But if college athletics is truly about education, we have to prioritize coursework and help set these kids up for success in life. Every time a student transfers, they lose credits, have courses interrupted, and often are set back in their timeline to graduating. There’s no question that transferring multiple times has a negative impact on a student’s education.

This is not to mention the tragic impacts that the unregulated transfer portal has had on the culture of college sports. When I was coaching, the players in my locker rooms were brothers. If someone needed help moving, they knew that their teammates would show up to help.

If someone had a death in the family, they could count on their brothers to be there for them. That type of bond between student-athletes requires time, trust, and consistency.

That kind of trust is hard to build if you’re worried that the person you share a locker room with isn’t going to show up the next day.

We have a President in the White House who is an avid sports fan. He has attended some of America’s most-watched sporting events over the years — he’s even visited Bryant-Denny Stadium a handful of times.

I have spent a lot of time talking to him about this issue and he’s in agreement that we have to do something about college sports. And as a friend of the President’s and a former Coach, I have full confidence that we can work this out for the betterment of our universities and our players.

The game clock is ticking, but we aren’t going to wait until the clock gets to zero.

Now is the time to move the ball forward and get something done for the future of college athletics.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) has proposed a new bill which would get a handle on the chaos that the NCAA transfer portal has produced over the last half decade.

This week, Tuberville proposed a bill he is calling the “Student Athlete Act Of 2026” which would prevent athletes from being able to transfer as many times as they want and return to a system where a second transfer would require sitting out a full season.

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“The transfer portal has made it easier than ever for athletes to move from one program to another, and repeated transfers have contributed to a system that often resembles unrestricted free agency rather than amateur competition,” Tuberville said.

During an appearance on Outkick, Tuberville spoke about the bill and shared his goals in what it would mean for the future of college athletics, a future that looks more and more precarious by the day.

“Sixty to seventy percent of them (college programs) don’t even look at high school athletes, they look at the portal and say ‘How can we win now? How can we bring players in?’ It’s going to bring the price down on a lot of these players in which to me, it’s ok because they’re going to be making money anyway,” Tuberville said. “I’m all for them making money. But for them to keep selling themselves for $50,000 to $100,000 more, I think it’s creating a huge problem.”

The bill also targets eligibility concerns as athletes increasingly remain in college longer to maximize NIL earnings.

It would give student-athletes a hard five years of eligibility to play five years of intercollegiate athletics, regardless of any sort of injury or hardship request to prevent the endless court cases regarding eligibility.

“I’ve talked to President Trump about it, he knows it and understands it. We can’t get into all the antitrust, the agents, we can’t do that,” Tuberville continued. “That’s gotta be handled by the NCAA. But one thing we can do is stop this transfer every year, and give these kids the chance to get a degree, and one time transfer if they have a death in the family, circumstances or don’t get along with the coaches…But, if you use it, it’s over with. But if you use it, you have to sit out a year, though most of them won’t do that anyway.”

Citing statistics of over 10,000 college football players entering the portal this year alone, Tuberville says the emphasis on education has been completely lost.

“This year alone, in 2026, we’ve had over 10,000 young men get into the transfer portal in college football, that probably will not get a degree when they transfer because once you transfer, it takes forever to get those hours back because most of them don’t transfer,” he said. “So, we’re trying to put education back into college sports, common sense.”

What happens next remains uncertain, but Tuberville’s proposal is promising — and likely to gain broad support from fans if it can clear the necessary hurdles.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is headed back to the Sweet Sixteen after a dominating victory on Sunday night over Texas Tech to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row.

Nate Oats has ushered in a golden era of hoops in Tuscaloosa and brought Alabama to its most successful run in program history, with potentially no real sign of slowing down.

That does not mean he doesn’t know how difficult it is to win this time of year, and he made sure fans understood that while speaking on Monday during the Hey Coach show.

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“This is not easy to do. Please don’t take it for granted,” Oats said of the fourth straight trip ahead of a very tall task against No. 1 seed Michigan. “Let’s get everybody supporting this team any which way we can. We’re gonna give it everything we got. Michigan is not gonna be easy. We’ve been underdogs before in this game. We’ve come out with some big wins in the past. And we’ve lost some of these Sweet 16 games, too.”

“I think our guys will be ready, and we’re gonna have to have an elite coaching performance, elite playing performance. But our guys are ready. Super excited to coach this game.”

The Tide will tip off on Friday evening against Michigan with a third Elite Eight run under Oats on the line, something the program had done just once before his arrival.

It should be a tremendous night of basketball in Chicago, and though Alabama is a massive underdog, fans should heed Oats’ advice and appreciate how far the program has come in less than a decade under the head coach.

The Auburn Tigers are moving on in the NIT, winning their first two games at Neville Arena to advance as one of the last eight teams remaining after handling Seattle University in a close 91-85 game.

It will now be an extremely challenging matchup against Nevada on Wednesday again on The Plains, with a trip to the semifinals in Indianapolis on the line.

It’s safe to say the Tigers have certainly shown up nicely in the event.

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“I want to thank our fans that came out tonight. Our guys felt their presence, and they’ve been phenomenal for us all year,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “To score 91 points against that team is good. As the game went on, guys made shots…We did a good job of making the easy pass and getting downhill. We shared it. We did a lot of good things offensively that we can build off.”

Offensively, it was Kevin Overton and Elyjah Freeman leading the way with 23 points and 19 points respectively. Keyshawn Hall did not have a strong shooting night but found other ways to make an impact with 15 rebounds and five assists. 

“He did a good job of doing the things we ask him to do. Fifteen rebounds is huge,” Pearl said on Hall before praising the others as well. “[Overton] has been playing well offensively since SEC play got started…Every time he shoots it, we think it’s going in. He’s been a great spark for us offensively.”

The game on Wednesday will tip off at Neville Arena at 8:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday evening.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is headed back to the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth consecutive season, becoming one of just three programs in men’s college basketball who can say that along with Houston and Tennessee.

After pulling away late in the first round on Friday afternoon against Hofstra for a 20-point victory, it was the Texas Tech Red Raiders standing in Alabama’s way of a return to the second weekend of the tournament.

What followed was the Tide’s most inspired performance of the season and a thorough beatdown from start to finish, defeating Texas Tech 90-65.

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While much of the story will be the absurd three-point shooting — the team shot 19 of 42 from the three-point line — it was the defensive effort and offensive rebounding that really made the result so lopsided.

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“That was a fun game to be a part of. Texas Tech is a very good and they have done a lot to win the number of games they have and beat the teams they have this season,” Nate Oats said after the game.

“I give our seniors a ton of respect tonight. They came ready to go…All of our seniors had the mentality that they didn’t want to go home. I tell our guys all the time to lose yourself in the game, and everything will take care of itself. This is the fourth straight Sweet 16 we’ve been to, and these guys know what it takes to win.”

Alabama dominated on the glass, winning the overall rebound battle 47-35 as well as pulling down 18 offensive boards.

Scoring wise, it was Latrell Wrightsell leading the way with 24 points, while Houston Mallette came off the bench and made five threes for 15 points. It was not a prolific scoring night for LaBaron Philon with just nine points, however he still found a way to make a massive impact with 12 assists and six rebounds.

Next up for the Tide is the biggest challenge they have faced all season in No. 1 seed Michigan, who many have pegged as a favorite to win the national championship. Opening up as a double-digit underdog, Alabama will need a heroic effort to be able to even have a chance.

The game will be played on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. CST on TBS and TruTV.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week which will keep Army vs. Navy as a standalone broadcast as it has been for near the last two decades.

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The executive order, which is entitled “Preserving America’s Game,” says no college football game including potential CFP matchups are able to be broadcast at a time and date conflicting with the Army vs. Navy game, which has been played the week after conference title games as of late.

It’s a move that was first reported on by Alex Byington of On3.

“Trump’s executive order directs FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to coordinate with the College Football Playoff management committee, the NCAA, and its broadcast partners — namely ESPN, which owns the CFP broadcasting rights through 2032 — with the goal of establishing an exclusive window for the Army-Navy Game, during which no other college football game is broadcast. The EO also recommends the FCC consider reviewing the public interest obligations of broadcast licensees to determine whether those obligations would require that the Army-Navy Game remain a national service event,” Byington wrote in quoting the EO.

The order was first discussed in January with American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti thanking Trump for committing to protecting the game window

“We thank President Donald J. Trump and our legislators for their commitment to protecting the Army-Navy game. This game is a national treasure where the true commitment of our future leaders is on display. As collegiate athletics continues to moderize in an unchartered landscape, the support of our leaders in Washington is crucial,” Pernetti wrote in January on X. “Alongside our member institutions, we look forward to working together to enhance the experience for student-athletes. There are opportunities for change that provide creative, sustainable economic solutions, without compromising tradition, while protecting the mission of delivering educational opportunities through sports.”

The Auburn Tigers’ bid to play in the NCAA Tournament officially came to a close on Selection Sunday, with the team falling just short of the field in Steven Pearl’s first season following a dreadful stretch in February and early exit in the SEC Tournament.

While the Tigers are not going to the big dance, they did accept their bid to the NIT where they are the No. 1 overall seed and will face the South Alabama Jaguars on Tuesday night in a rare in-state postseason matchup.

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Things will tip off at Neville Arena on Tuesday night at 9:00 CST, and the winner is going to face the winner of No. 4 Seattle University and No. 5 St. Thomas (MN). If Auburn wins on Tuesday, the second round game would be at Neville Arena as well.

South Alabama finished the season 21-11 overall and 11-7 in the Sun Belt Conference, failing to win the conference tournament which would have given them an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Auburn meanwhile finishes the year with a record of 17-16 and 7-11 in conference play, marks which were not able to get them into the tournament despite having one of the hardest schedules in the country.

While everyone is of course disappointed with the way things ended for the Tigers, the NIT represents an opportunity for a fresh start and to build some momentum into next year, while also providing Pearl with some additional coaching experience.

It should be a good one between the Tigers and Jaguars on Tuesday night.

In a rare example of the NCAA doing something right, an absurd request from the Big 10 Conference to suspend tampering rules and ongoing investigations with a complete moratorium on enforcement was denied by the association.

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“There have been no changes in tampering rules, and there is no moratorium on enforcement activity for possible tampering violations,” NCAA spokesperson Meghan Durham Wright said via On3’s Pete Nakos. “Any changes to the infractions process — or a moratorium on enforcement of certain rules — would need to be approved by the Division I Board of Directors. The NCAA is committed to enforcing the rules as agreed to by NCAA member schools and will always work with members to ensure fair competition and to protect student-athlete well-being in this new era of college sports.”

During a time in college sports where everyone feels things are out of control, especially in the area of tampering, the idea from the Big 10 felt like a step in the wrong direction.

Right now, the NCAA is not doing enough to prevent tampering or stop teams from abusing transfer rules. However, ongoing legal battles aim to address those issues rather than allowing the system to become a complete free-for-all.

“The fundamental structural problem is this: the current framework has chosen to impose significant negative consequences on student-athletes who enter the transfer portal — loss of scholarships, NIL arrangements, facilities access, academic support, and relationships with coaches — while simultaneously prohibiting the pre-portal communication that would allow those student-athletes to determine whether risking those consequences is worthwhile,” the Big 10 argued. “These rules were not designed for a world in which student-athletes are compensated market participants making annual decisions with significant economic consequences. The collision between the old rules and the new reality is producing outcomes that harm the very population the rules were designed to protect.”

The conference is correct in arguing that the rules need to be overhauled, but suspending them completely would lead to full-blown chaos at a time where folks are trying to bring the chaos to an end.

President Trump is supposed to be signing an executive order following this month‘s roundtable, which will face its own set of challenges. Still, in a time like this, steps in the right direction over the wrong one feel necessary.

The Alabama Crimson Tide received some rough news on Monday morning — star guard Aden Holloway was arrested, according to report from Bama247.

The story cited a spokesperson with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force who revealed that agents conducted a search of a residence in Tuscaloosa and recovered more than a pound of marijuana, paraphernalia and cash.

Holloway was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and failure to affix a tax stamp, both of which are felonies in the state of Alabama.

He was transported to the Tuscaloosa County Jail with bond set at $5,000 and was bonded out later this morning according to the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Alabama is set to play their first round game in the NCAA Tournament on Friday against Hofstra, and Holloway — a junior guard who is the second leading scorer on the team with 16.8 points per game — obviously now has a status that is in question.

The University of Alabama declined initial comment on the story.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was one of those in attendance last week at the roundtable event hosted by President Trump, and when it was his turn to speak, he issued a stern warning to lawmakers that things cannot continue the way they have been in college sports.

While talking to Paul Finebaum, recapping what happened at the event, Sankey made some significant headlines by reiterating the fact that coaches in the conference are fed up with the NCAA being unable to enforce its own rules.

He said the conference is in discussions of ways they can govern their own member institutions and not be victim continuously to the NCAA’s lack of action.

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“People are tired of talking about name, image and likeness,” Sankey told Finebaum. “They’re tired of talking about lawsuits. What they want is, in a way, what the President spoke of: I want to go back to when we focused on the fields, the tracks, the swimming pools — about the competition…I don’t think anyone on any campus wants the status quo to remain. In our league, by unanimous vote, we can’t go on as we are.”

Sankey seems to be echoing the same sentiment that fans have had for the last five years, though it remains to be seen if any actual action is taken from the conference. Self-governance may be the only way for enforcement to actually occur. It will certainly face its own legal challenges as well and hypothetically does not stop schools from other conferences from tampering with SEC athletes.

Regardless, it could be a step in the right direction to return things to some semblance of normalcy.

The Troy Trojans have made the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history, punching their ticket to the big dance after defeating Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Tournament title game on Monday.

After winning the conference’s regular season title, Troy earned the top seed in the tournament, which in the Sun Belt means a bye directly into the semifinals.

After defeating Southern Miss there, it was Georgia Southern playing their sixth game in six days following a tremendous run, but ultimately, the Eagles ran out of gas and fell to Troy 77-61.

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“Kudos to Georgia Southern, it was amazing they were playing a sixth game in six days, but every time you looked on social media, everyone wanted them to win and everyone thought they were gonna win,” said Trojans star Thomas Dowd. “I didn’t see anyone talking about us. We won the regular season championship. We were the best team in the league all year and we felt kinda disrespected and having that chip on our shoulder throughout the whole game really fueled all of us.”

Troy head coach Scott Cross now reaches his third ever NCAA Tournament, while it will be the fourth appearance in Trojan program history.

Last year, they were handled by Kentucky in the first round with relative ease, and now Troy will gear up once again to try to bring an upset back to the state of Alabama during March Madness.

Nick Saban has been on the receiving end of some criticism after President Trump’s college sports roundtable last Friday, but some people are actually sharing Saban’s same sentiments.

The former Crimson Tide head coach spoke about players getting an education and creating value for themselves aside from just playing for the highest bidder.

Interestingly, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stepped in to defend him.

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“Coach Saban is spot on,” DeSantis wrote on X. “Contrary to what some have suggested, he supports players being able to earn money through NIL but recognizes that the current system is not sustainable on a number of levels. Reform is needed — and needs to happen soon.”

DeSantis doubled down on Tuesday morning amid a serious twisting of the narrative from what Saban actually said, again defending the legendary head coach.

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“It’s been sad to see the clearly false and manufactured narratives about Saban’s comments. You can support players freedom to monetize their brands while also acknowledging the model of ‘collectives’ leave much to be desired,” he wrote.

In today’s day and age, any point which someone questions whether player earning potential should be capped, is met with a flurry of reactions. In Saban’s case, as well as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, the conference representatives have been accused of wanting a system where only the SEC can pay players, and in doing so, gain an advantage over the rest of the sport.

The reality for Saban is that, as someone who has helped develop countless young men into NFL stars and successful adults, he believes he is acting in the long-term best interests of student-athletes.

Whether college sports will return to a model that prioritizes education and long-term success both on and off the field remains to be seen, but having a voice like Saban’s in the conversation increases the chances.

The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball program has brought new life to the sport on campus under Nate Oats over the last half decade or so, and Saturday night in Coleman Coliseum was the perfect representation of just how much.

With the Auburn Tigers in town and a chance to potentially end the tournament hopes for the program’s most hated rival, the stakes were high, and the crowd was absolutely on fire from the opening tip.

While Alabama ultimately took the game 96-84, it was largely a domination from the Tide and things got out of hand quickly.

Afterwards, Oats thanked the students for the energy they brought into the building.

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“A lot of positives to come from this game. We have the best student section in the SEC, and I really appreciate what they’ve given us all year,” Oats said before speaking about the three seniors that were honored after the game.

“It’s great to get a win on senior night. The three we celebrated are some of the best seniors as far as culture-wise. I am very disappointed Houston Mallette didn’t get to score on senior night. He doesn’t really care, and to me, that’s why he’s so great,” he continued. “He just cared that we won and that he ended up winning the hard hat. (Latrell) Wrightsell has come on great, and he didn’t score it as well as he has been tonight. Noah (Williamson) has been great with his attitude and with everything we need from him, so those three guys to get a win on senior night, I couldn’t be happier for them.”

For Alabama, next up is the SEC Tournament in Nashville, where they have earned the No. 2 seed after finishing the regular season with a 23-8 record and 13-5 conference record.

They will face either Georgia or the winner or Ole Miss vs. Texas on Wednesday night after earning a double bye into the quarterfinals, which will begin on Friday night.

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban is always thoughtful and honest when speaking on the current state in college sports especially since retirement, and Friday afternoon at the White House was no different.

President Trump hosted a roundtable event on the future of college sports focused on solving issues like NIL and the transfer portal, and Saban was one attendee on a long list of distinguished guests.

While giving his take on what needs to happen to restore some order to college football and the rest of the sports, Saban offered a perspective not many think of: players creating value for their futures both through athletic achievement as well as the ultimate goal of getting a degree.

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“We have a challenge here today on the ramifications of the current system on how it helps players be successful in their future and how we can impact and create a system that will help and preserve the opportunity for student athletes to be able to have success in their future beyond athletics,” Saban said.

“How much does anybody talk about getting an education anymore? Nobody talks about it at all, which is the most important thing any of these student athletes can do in terms of enhancing their future…We need to come up with a system to allow student athletes in all sports, including women’s and olympic sports, to enhance their quality of life, while going to college — but still provide opportunity to advance themselves beyond their athletic career.”

Trump is planning another executive order to try to return college athletics back to a similar system of old, however it will unquestionably face challenges in court. With voices like Saban in the room however who clearly have the best long-term interest of the athlete at the front of mind, perhaps this unique set of challenges can be tackled.

President Donald Trump hosted a college sports roundtable on Friday to discuss the existential issues facing the game today with things like NIL, the transfer portal, eligibility issues, and everything in between.

The event featured names like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Greg Sankey, and numerous others to focus on finding a direction forward that allows athletes to profit on their name while also preserving what makes college sports great.

Trump talked about Congress needing to approve a set of guidelines that can be agreed to, including common sense rules that are actually enforceable — something which obviously has not been the case for years now.

“Federal legislation must allow college athletic programs to set common sense rules — simple common sense rules — without endless litigation, and establish a fair name, image and likeness standard that eliminates the patchwork of conflicting state laws,” Trump said Friday. “If Congress does not take action fast, it could destroy college sports and destroy the colleges that play these sports.”

Trump discussed the fact that he is not trying to ban athletes from profiting, but rather end the pay-for-play recruiting system which has marked this current era of college football and basketball.

“Our goal is not to go back to the days where student athletes were never allowed to receive any compensation, although not the worst idea, but I think a lot of people would overrule me on that,” Trump said. “But we must pass reforms that protect the cherished American tradition of college athletics, for future generations…I have a really nice, simple idea, but we’ll go through this process. I think we’ll get it through Congress. We have a good chance, I think it’ll be very bipartisan.”

Trump teased an executive order to release sometime this week, which if it happens, would be the second time he has used executive power on this issue. Time will tell if it actually gets solved. However, for the first time in a long time, it does seem like legitimate steps are being taken.

Lane Kiffin is never afraid to speak his mind, and he did so once again on his X account this week with a pointed message directed at the NCAA.

With college basketball season coming to a close, schools around the country are celebrating Senior Night, however most of them are not doing it at the same school they started at.

It was shared in fact that when it comes to high-major teams in power conferences, only 22 players across the nation were with the same school for four years, and in the SEC that number was just one.

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Kiffin argued that the system is essentially a joke with a sarcastic reply “praising” the association for what has happened to college sports over the years.

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“What a great system we have now, [NCAA],” Kiffin wrote.

It is indeed a damning look into what college sports — especially in power five basketball — have become as teams build through the portal rather than the high school ranks.

Alabama fell 98-88 to the Georgia Bulldogs on Tuesday night in Athens. The loss followed a familiar script from too many defeats this season: getting beat on the boards and on the defensive end.

Nate Oats preaches defense over and over again and talks about the fact that more so than anything else, it’s an effort related thing and for whatever reason, his teams have struggled with it over the last couple of years.

After the game — which sets up a season finale against the Auburn Tigers at Coleman Coliseum this weekend before the SEC Tournament — Oats ripped his team a bit and almost seemed to be sending them a message that this effort won’t be good enough in the month of March.

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“It needs to be a wake up call,” Oats said. “If you have a slow start and you have guys that aren’t locked in and ready to play on both sides of the ball and don’t attack the rim and don’t play strong on offense and don’t get stops or box out or rebound on defense it’s gonna be hard to win.”

Oats talked about the fact that the team is coming off a huge win at Tennessee with also Auburn on deck and how this might have played a factor, but that this is not an acceptable way to approach things.

“If you can’t turn around from a tough mentally, physically exhausting game on Saturday and have yourself mentally ready to go on Tuesday, then we’ve got a lot of growing up to do.”

The team had better do that growing up quickly with the postseason upon them, and also a chance to potentially end a hated rival’s season who will be desperate for a victory as well.

Time will tell if they are able to get things fixed.

The Auburn Tigers earned a much-needed victory on Senior Night Tuesday evening at Neville Arena, defeating the LSU Tigers 88-74 to keep their tournament hopes alive headed into the final game of the regular season this weekend.

It’s a victory that takes some pressure off the team following seven losses in their last eight contests, however the task does not get any easier from here with just one regular season game left this weekend at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

By beating LSU — one of the worst teams in the conference — Auburn kept its narrow tournament hopes alive as the Tigers find themselves squarely on the bubble. A victory over the Tide on the road — which would be their sixth Quad 1 victory of the season — likely would be enough to push them into the NCAA Tournament.

Should the Tigers lose Saturday, their March Madness hopes barring a shocking run to victory at the SEC Tournament in Nashville would likely be all but dashed.

Meanwhile, Alabama will be coming off a loss after they were defeated on the road Tuesday against a solid Georgia Bulldogs team that likely will be in the tournament as well.

Auburn hasn’t exactly inspired confidence over the past month, so nothing feels guaranteed — but it’s fair to say Wednesday sets up as a win-or-else spot against Alabama, with the Tigers trying to avoid getting swept by their hated rival this season.

The Tide will be heavily favored, and if the Tigers cannot find a way to get themselves up for what would be a huge upset, it likely spells the end of their season.

In doing so, it would also mark the conclusion to year one of the Steven Pearl era with no tournament appearance — which has not been a reality for Auburn in nearly a decade — notwithstanding the 2020-21 season self-imposed a postseason ban.

It should be a tremendous showdown at Coleman, and Auburn will have to do everything they can to come away with a victory. The fate of their season relies on it.

Now former Crimson Tide center Charles Bediako has caused a ton of discourse and controversy this college basketball season after returning to Tuscaloosa on a temporary restraining order, following his departure from the program for the NBA three years ago.

Even SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey pleaded with a Tuscaloosa judge to deny Bediako’s request for an injunction that would have made him eligible to play for the rest of the year, a case that was ultimately decided in favor of the NCAA.

Bediako’s attorney Darren Heitner is now calling out the hypocrisy of the conference as the Vanderbilt Commodores host a professional in Bryce Griggs, who bypassed college entirely and pursued the NBA route, spending time overseas professionally.

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“Where’s Greg Sankey’s opposition? Or is that only when it’s an Alabama player,” Heitner questioned on his X account.

Of course, the difference here is unlike Bediako — who left college after two years — Griggs never played college basketball. That distinction ultimately became the central reason his camp lost the case, despite dozens of European professionals competing across the SEC and the country.

Heitner also went after Sankey on the issue of wanting to return to a one-time transfer rule — something most fans would love to see — and referenced Ohio v. the NCAA where it was decided in federal court that the rule could not be enforced.

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What exactly the future of college sports holds remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say, attorneys like Heitner are going to have a significant say moving forward as the stream of court battles rages on.

Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Gene Stallings hit a very impressive milestone on Monday, turning 91 years of age more than three decades since his national title triumph.

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“I’m about as well as a man who has had a heart attack & 3 strokes can be,” Stallings told Rick Karle over the weekend.

Stallings probably does not get the credit he deserves as a legendary figure in the Crimson Tide fraternity of coaches — due to Nick Saban and Bear Bryant winning at such an absurd rate — but he is absolutely one of the best to ever do it.

Beyond the famed 1992 undefeated team that brought Alabama its first title since Bryant, Stallings led Alabama to five bowl victories in his seven seasons, averaging over 10 wins a season with an 11-1 record in 1991 and a 12-1 record in 1994.

He is remembered extremely fondly in Tuscaloosa, and Crimson Tide fans around the state will be sure to wish Coach Stallings a very happy 91st birthday and continued good health.

The NCAA is going to attempt to enforce its own rules once again.

According to a report from Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the association has sent out a memo to all of its athletic programs announcing that they would be cracking down on transfer portal tampering. Vice President of Enforcement for the NCAA Jon Duncan state that the DI Board of Directors has charged the staff to “pursue significant penalties” for tampering violations against teams.

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“It is our sincerest hope that these potential policy and rules changes will better serve the new era of Division I while balancing fairness and efficiency to meet membership expectations,” Duncan’s memo read.

Interestingly, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney may have had something to do with this. He publicly called out Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding for tampering with his transfer linebacker Luke Ferrelli, who wound up in Oxford after already enrolling at Clemson — something Swinney said was blatant tampering.

Tampering has been rampant since the portal started a half decade ago, but while it is technically against the rules, those rules have not been enforced at any sort of level in recent days.

Whether or not this memo changes the way teams run their programs remains to be seen, however, it does seem like the NCAA is at least trying to take a more active role in putting it to a stop.

President Donald Trump made some headlines last week when it was revealed he was doing an appearance with one of the more prominent college football media personalities in Josh Pate.

Among the topics discussed was former Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who played golf with Trump, former Florida and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis the week prior.

Pate pried into what conversations between Trump and major figures in college football are like, and the President downplayed the football aspect, saying they talk more about politics than the sport.

“They talk to me about politics really, more so than football they like politics,” Trump said. “They’re all, obviously, very competitive people. But I would say for the most part we talk about politics. They want to know what’s happening with Iran. How’d you do that with Venezuela.”

Ironically, Saban has said in the past how much Trump is a fan of sports and wants to talk football when the two get together, so perhaps the two find common ground somewhere in the middle.

Saban has been one of the biggest advocates for NIL centered reform in the political landscape, and while Trump has taken some action, ultimately legislation has been unable to be passed.

Perhaps if the legendary head coach can stay close with Trump, he can encourage the President to help assist in making changes before it’s too late.

Over the last couple of years, college football coaches have pitched the idea of a governing body to make decisions in the ever-evolving sport — count Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko as the latest.

During an interview with On3, Elko — who has enjoyed tremendous success over his first two years leading the charge in College Station — was asked what he would do if he were able to tweak one thing about the sport, and his answer was similar to what other coaches have said.

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“Put somebody in charge,” he said plainly. “It’s a $1.2B industry with not a singular voice in charge of it making decisions for the betterment of college football. Until we get that we are gonna continue to flounder in some of these areas…At some point we’re gonna have to have somebody who is capable of making rules regarding the betterment of college football and enforcement of rules. Until we get that, I think we’re all at risk of this thing not lasting like we want it to last.”

Coaches have spoken about the backwards calendar, making players professionals and thus limiting the endless amount of transferring, and much more. However, none of this is possible without someone who can indeed make and enforce decisions rather than the conferences governing themselves.

If college football is going to survive long-term, then a strong leader is going to be needed. Who exactly that is remains to be seen, but that person certainly does not exist right now.

Perhaps the saga between the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball program and Charles Bediako is not over yet.

Just two weeks after the former G-League professional’s bid for a preliminary injunction from the NCAA to play the rest of the season was denied, Bediako is not giving up the fight yet.

As first reported by Nick Kelly of AL(dot)com, Bediako’s representation filed an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court on the decision, which also includes a request from the Tuscaloosa circuit court for interim injunctive relief, which would allow him to return to the court while the appeal is pending.

Without the interim relief, the appeal would be irrelevant since it is only for the 2026 season.

“[Bediako’s] request will become moot without interim relief,” Kelly relayed from Bediako’s motion. “The University of Alabama’s regular season ends on March 7, the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament takes place from March 11 – 15, and the NCAA Tournament will be held from March 17 through April 6. [Bediako’s] appeal is unlikely to resolve before the season concludes. Without interim injunctive relief, the whole purpose for [Bediako’s] appeal—the ability to play basketball for the University of Alabama for the remainder of play in 2026—will be null.”

Judge Daniel Pruet, who denied the injunction and sided with the NCAA, will be the one deciding on whether or not the Crimson Tide big man will be granted the temporary injunctive relief.

It’s just the latest twist to a story which seemingly has endless legal ramifications, and after Alabama was widely criticized for even allowing Bediako to play in the first place, it seems that this will not be going away anytime soon.

After the decision earlier this month, Bediako has remained at school and practicing with the team, so getting him back into the fold would certainly be a seamless transition.

A timeline for when Pruet will have a decision on the temporary injunctive relief is not currently known, but it could be as soon as this week. The Tide takes the floor on Wednesday against Mississippi State with just four games left on their regular season schedule.