The Auburn Tigers are beginning a new era this spring under a new head coach in Alex Golesh, and the former South Florida standout young coach is already making an impression on his team.

While Golesh’s predecessor Hugh Freeze was elite on the recruiting trail, the results never translated to game day. As a result, the Tigers have a new head coach for the third time in the last half decade.

After spring practice this week, one Auburn star — linebacker Xavier Atkins — made it very clear that things have changed when he was asked what he has seen from Golesh so far.

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“It’s different,” Atkins said. “It’s more structure and leadership. It’s not where they’re asking, they’re demanding greatness…you are gonna show up and do your job. And that’s the type of stuff that we need as a team. Last year we shouldn’t have felt like we can just walk in here…you gotta come in here and do your job and prove yourself. Nobody’s job is guaranteed, so that’s the biggest thing he emphasized in the first practice. We’re gonna make sure we compete every day.”

While Atkins likely did not mean his words as a shot at Freeze, it’s hard to take it any other way than the culture on The Plains was not where it needed to be while the former head coach was in charge.

If Golesh can fix it and get his team to be able to get it done on Saturdays, he is going to have a tremendous chance of succeeding as the Auburn head coach.

The Auburn Tigers are beginning a new era this season under a new head coach in Alex Golesh, and with spring practice finally getting underway this week, fans are getting their first glimpse into how he is going to run things on The Plains.

It was pointed out by several savvy media members that it looks like Auburn has a new program slogan donning the walls of the facilities.

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All over the facade of the practice field is the new phrase entitled “Be Who You Say You Are,” likely a motto from Golesh directly which will encourage players to work as hard as they may present that they are going to work.

Coming off the last two eras of Auburn football, it feels like a fitting way to transition the program into what fans hope is a completely different time in terms of results.

Golesh looked to be extremely hands on with all position groups at practice, walking from place to place and giving each group his take on technique and intensity as he gets the Tigers ready for a season which he hopes lays the groundwork for future success.

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With plenty of time left to go until the season begins, Golesh is just getting started. Chances are, he’s going to be exactly who he says he is.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time under Nate Oats and will be playing in the Midwest Region with a No. 4 seed, announced on Selection Sunday.

It’s the fourth consecutive season and fifth in the last six years that Oats has led Alabama to a No. 4 seed or higher, a feat the program had only achieved a total of four times in its entire history prior to Oats.

Up first for Alabama — who does not play until Friday afternoon — will be a matchup with No. 13 seed Hofstra, who is fresh off the CAA Conference tournament title and had a record of 24-10 on the season.

Should the Tide get by that test, waiting for them will be the winner between No. 5 Texas Tech and No. 12 Akron, where another win and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen would presumably set up a matchup with No. 1 seed Michigan.

Interestingly, Alabama’s region features four total teams from the SEC with Tennessee at the No. 6 slot, Kentucky at No. 7, and Georgia at No. 8.

In total, 10 SEC teams are in the bracket with Florida taking the No. 1 seed in the South Region, Vanderbilt securing the No. 5 seed and Texas A&M the No. 10. Arkansas is the No. 4 seed in the West Region with the Missouri Tigers as the No. 10, there after they narrowly made the tournament field.

Texas will take on North Carolina State in the first four for the right to earn the No. 11 seed in the West Region as well.

All in all, it’s shaping up to be a great tournament once again, and the SEC is heavily involved.

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.

Former Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl may now be the biggest fan of the program in the country, with his son Steven taking the reins this season following his surprising retirement before the year began.

For the younger Pearl, it’s been a rough go of it since the start of February.

It’s very much beginning to look like Auburn will miss the NCAA Tournament following their SEC Tournament defeat against Tennessee. As for the elder Pearl, he had some choice words for officials while spectating his son’s team on Thursday in a viral social media clip.

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Pearl’s expletive-laced tirade brought shades of him back on the sidelines to mind, however, the referees no longer have the ability to assess him with a technical foul.

While Pearl has been at peace with his retirement all year long, it cannot be easy to watch his son try to find his way as a coach while having no control from the sidelines.

It’s likely a spot that will take some getting used to for the veteran coach.

The Auburn Tigers lost a tough one in Nashville to the Tennessee Volunteers to be eliminated from the SEC Tournament in their second game and potentially push their NCAA Tournament hopes over the edge as they await their fate on Selection Sunday.

While the Tigers have played one of the toughest schedules in the nation and do have some impressive wins, they finish their season barely above .500, and them being in the field would make Auburn the first team in history to make the tournament with 16 losses to their name.

Despite all that, Auburn head coach Steven Pearl still believes his team deserves a shot in his first year at the helm to play in March Madness, and after the loss he argued his case.

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“We deserve to be in the tournament,” Pearl said when asked about whether his team would accept an NIT bid if they are not selected, saying that there have not been internal discussions on the topic to this point. “What people have to understand is that it’s my job to fight for my team, it’s my job to be my team’s advocate, and it’s my job to speak about all the things this group has done.”

“We scheduled a really hard out of conference schedule and we had some really quality wins in that streak. This tournament is a team of who you can beat, and if you look at six teams on the bubble right now, we have more top-25 NET wins than everyone in that group but Missouri and we have more top-50 wins than everyone in that group.”

Pearl continued to cite stats showing his belief that the Tigers are a better team than those they will be evaluated against for the final spots in the field.

“This team deserves to be in the tournament,” he said. “It’s a team that can win games in the tournament, and I think they have done enough ultimately to have their name called on Selection Sunday.”

Pearl will have to await until Sunday evening to find out his team’s fate, but it does not look all that great at this time. After a disastrous month of February and an early exit in Nashville, their hopes may be hanging by a thread at this point, but time will tell whether or not they get in.

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.

Spring camp has started for the Alabama Crimson Tide which means football season will be here before we know it, and once again, there is a quarterback battle in Tuscaloosa for the coaching staff to solve.

Following the departure of Ty Simpson, the contenders are former Washington transfer Austin Mack, who came over with Kalen DeBoer, and former top five-star recruit Keelon Russell out of Texas powerhouse Duncanville, who is now entering his sophomore year.

Mack may have a slight leg up after serving as the backup last year and the extra time in DeBoer’s system, but the talent of Russell is undeniable and makes for a fascinating battle.

While speaking after practice this week, the Alabama head coach praised both of them and how far they have come.

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“You can tell that they’ve had a number of reps from last year under their belt, playing with confidence, calling the play in the huddle with confidence, both of them light years ahead of where they were a year ago obviously, and they should be,” DeBoer said. “It’s just a matter of them building the rapport with their skill around them, making the throws when they’re there, feeling the timing and trust and just feeling comfortable in the pocket.”

“That just comes with time, feeling comfortable with your offensive line doing the job up front. I like what they’ve done through two practices. Some good explosives on their end, good feel, working the mobility when they have to…I think they’re really putting a lot of pressure on our defense and our defense is doing the same to them.”

DeBoer certainly did not give up any information if either has been better than the other, so it sounds like it’s another long summer ahead of questions at quarterback.

The SEC Tournament tips off in Nashville on Wednesday with numerous teams vying to raise a banner ahead of an upcoming run in the NCAA Tournament, and others needing a strong showing in order to make the field at all.

Things get started on Wednesday afternoon with the first four games between teams who did not earn a single bye. The top four seeds automatically earn a double-bye to Friday’s quarterfinal round, while seeds four through eight will begin their tournaments on Thursday.

Playing on Wednesday meanwhile means you finished 9th or worse in the conference, a group which includes the Auburn Tigers, who desperately need to win at least a game or two to have a chance to hear their name called during Selection Sunday this weekend.

Here is a look at the full bracket:

Auburn will face Mississippi State Wednesday afternoon for the right to play Tennessee, and while they could be left out of the NCAA Tournament entirely if they do anything short of winning the whole thing in Nashville, two wins would have them in a much better spot than they sit today, following the dreadful February they had.

Meanwhile Alabama as the No. 2 overall seed awaits their fate until Friday night, where the Tide is set to face the winner between No. 7 seed Georgia and either Ole Miss or Texas.

Should Alabama secure a win on Friday, it will likely be a rematch with Arkansas after an overtime classic in Tuscaloosa a couple of weeks back.

The most likely winner by far is the regular season champion and defending national champion, the Florida Gators, who look as strong as they did a year ago.

The Gators will face the winner of No. 8 Missouri and either LSU or Kentucky in their Friday game, with a Saturday date most likely with either Tennessee, Auburn or Vanderbilt.

Things will come to a head on Sunday afternoon with the winner being decided at 12:00 p.m. CST, and the main narrative is whether or not anyone could upset Florida. Those hoping to see a third Iron Bowl matchup are likely going to be disappointed with the only possibility of it coming on Sunday in the championship round.

For the top seeds, they are battling for not a whole lot other than pride, but some of the teams playing on Wednesday night likely only have a chance to make the tournament by winning in Nashville.

Time will tell who comes out on top, but it should be another fun edition of the event.

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 LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly spoke publicly for one of the first times since he was fired this season and shared an interesting tidbit about what’s next in his life and career.

During an interview with Sirius XM, Kelly spoke about the end of his tenure at LSU and whether or not he wants to remain in coaching at the age of 64 following his firing. While he’s not on the cusp of taking any sort of job right now, he does want to stick around the sport.

“I don’t know that I’ve made the decision that I want to get back in, as all the things we’ve talked about, I’d want to see some changes. But I think while you wait, you need to work,” he said. “And so, I need to stay in the game. My first order of business is this next two, three weeks, I’m gonna be visiting some places to see spring ball, get a chance to see some things relative to the football side, the operational side, some of the things we talked about today with NIL, transfer and calendar, and get a temperature in the spring for some things.”

“I want to do that in the fall, too. I want to get out and — look, I’ve got four former assistant coaches that are head football coaches in the NFL. I’ve got four Power Four assistant coaches that we’re close to. I want to get around and see their program, see how they’re doing, get a sense of where I can grow and I can be better. And so, that’s really my focus right now. And then if the right situation comes about and I’m ready, I’m certainly going to entertain that.”

Whether or not Kelly is going to find his way back into the college game remains to be seen, but it seems safe to say he is not going to be disappearing anytime soon.

President Donald Trump hosted a historic roundtable event on Friday afternoon at the White House with some of the most distinguished figures in the world of athletics, alongside cabinet and elected officials from across the nation, to discuss the ongoing issues in college sports and how best to proceed.

Amidst all the chaos the last half decade has brought, particularly to the sport of college football, two men at the center of it all are former Alabama head coach Nick Saban and current SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, both of whom were in attendance at the White House Friday.

Saban offered his unique perspective from a coaching standpoint about development both personally and professionally of young athletes. Sankey on the other hand brought a more existential point of view about the future of college sports if things keep continuing the way they have been in the areas of NIL and the transfer portal and the complete lawlessness that come with each.

Both men raised some excellent points.

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“I come here today with a question,” Saban said after expressing his appreciation for being invited to join the distinguished panel.

“What are the guiding principals for the future of college athletics [both revenue and non-revenue]? My goal as a coach for our players was to help them be more successful in life, that we would create an atmosphere and environment that would help them through personal development, academic support and help them develop a career as a football player so they were creating value in life and we were preparing them for their future past athletics.

“So, what happened? In this current system that we have, that became impossible to do because people instead of making decisions about creating value for their future, they were making decisions about how much money could they make at whichever school they could go to or transfer to… 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.”

During Sankey’s portion, he spoke about the structure of the current system, or lack thereof, and establishing national standards for both NIL and the portal.

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“In college sports we move young people from Adolescence to adulthood through education, through becoming part of a community which they otherwise would have not experienced and the opportunity to build a legacy,” Sankey said.

“In the current environment, each of those elements is interrupted. Transferring four or five times — I have a basketball player in my league on his sixth campus — does not provide educational achievement opportunities like we should demand.

“We cannot go on longer in this circumstance. This is not about revenue, this is about structures and national standards for eligibility, for transfers, for medical care and mental wellness care, for transparency and accountability around Name, Image and Likeness activity will fracture more if we fail to act. That’s why the appreciation, Mr. President, for the gathering, is most sincere.”

President Trump stated during the roundtable that he is drafting another, more comprehensive executive order to attempt to restore order in college sports. Undoubtedly, this will be challenged in court and likely face some serious hurdles.

The SCORE Act was also referenced as a federal legislative fix, which would offer a broader and more durable solution than relying on executive action alone.

All told, Friday’s roundtable could drive legitimate action to address something that is unanimously agreed upon to be a major issue.

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.

It’s been a rough go for Auburn Tigers head coach Steven Pearl in his first season at the helm, especially here down the stretch during what has been a pretty massive collapse for the team.

Following the team’s seventh defeat in the last eight games, with a potentially tournament extinguishing home defeat to Ole Miss, Pearl apologized to the fans for the second straight loss in a press conference that lasted right around 150 seconds.

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“I want to apologize to our fans who have been so phenomenal all year, they deserve better,” Pearl said in what was a very brief opening statement. “We had an opportunity to step on their throats and didn’t…I feel like I sound like a broken record every time you allow teams to make shots early that gives them confidence.”

Pearl interestingly revealed that KeShawn Murphy — who started for most of the season but came off the bench on Saturday and has struggled recently — was 20 minutes late to a film session this week and that was the reason why he did not start.

Auburn now finds itself in a tough spot — the remaining two regular season games against LSU and Alabama are must-wins if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.

Starting Tuesday night, Pearl and the Tigers have no margin for error if they hope to avoid disaster.

The Alabama Crimson Tide absolutely dominated the Mississippi State Bulldogs by a score of 100-75 in Coleman Coliseum Wednesday night — the team’s seventh straight victory headed into the final stretch of the regular season.

It was an offensive explosion made even more impressive by the fact that the Tide was without its best scorer in Labaron Philon Jr., who was out due to injury. Alabama led by 30 points at halftime after a 63-point first half, which was the highest scoring frame this season for the team.

It was the eighth time the Tide has reached 100 points in a game this season as well.

“I thought the first half was the best half of basketball we’ve played all year and the ball moved well with (Labaron) Philon out,” Nate Oats said after the game. “Amari (Allen) was hitting threes, and as a team, we shot it well. In the second half, I was a little disappointed with the leadership. I thought we played the scoreboard too much. I was super encouraged with our mentality going into the game and our defense on Josh Hubbard who ended up with 11.”

“I thought Holloway, outside of the turnovers, had a great game. Sixteen (points), 10 (assists) and seven (rebounds) being three rebounds away from a triple-double. For Philon to be out, Holloway stepped up big. Latrell (Wrightsell Jr.) scored really well again with 18 and Amari had his best shooting night of the season.”

Alabama is now 11-4 in conference play with just three games remaining, including a huge road trip to Knoxville this weekend sitting one game ahead of Tennessee in the standings. Should the Tide be able to end its losing streak against the Volunteers, it will be in a great spot to potentially finish second in the conference.

The game will be played February 28 at 5:00 p.m. CST on ESPN.

The Auburn Tigers dropped another one on Tuesday night as their NCAA Tournament hopes dwindle with just three games remaining, being thoroughly dominated by the Oklahoma Sooners.

Following the 91-79 loss, Tigers head coach Steven Pearl apologized to the Auburn fanbase for his team’s performance in what was one of the most important games of the season.

“I want to apologize to our fans for that poor performance tonight,” he said in the postgame press conference. “…We were entitled tonight, we were selfish tonight on the defensive end. We had no urgency, and that’s unacceptable. I’ve got to change up how I’m coaching these guys. I’ve got to ratchet up my intensity a little bit more, and maybe they’ll start to play like I act.”

With two home games coming up against two of the worst teams in the conference in Ole Miss and LSU, each of them become now an absolute must-win if they are going to have a spot in the tournament.

The first season of Pearl’s tenure has obviously not gone as planned with an overall record of 15-13 and a conference record of 6-9, however, there is still time to salvage things. If the Tigers can win the next two and defeat Alabama in the season finale, they will likely be off the bubble and safely in the tournament field.

If they drop any of the next three however, things get even more dicey than they already are.

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.

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti just got PAID.

Following his team’s unbelievable and dominating run to the first national title in program history, the former Nick Saban assistant has agreed to a contract extension which will keep him right where he’s at through 2033, and compensates him deservingly.

According to a story from On3, Cignetti’s new deal averages a mind boggling $13.2 million per year, placing him with Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart and LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin as the only known names who have deals that exceed $13 million annually.

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The previous deal automatically raised Cignetti’s salary to nearly $12 million, but making the CFP semifinal triggered a “Good Faith Market Review clause” that allowed him to renegotiate.

The news that Cignetti is locked up is hardly a surprise given what he just did, however it is extremely notable for him to join the likes of Smart and Kiffin. A program like Indiana — an afterthought for most of their history — just ponied up the cash to keep a guy who may very well be the best coach in the nation.

Moving forward, the Hoosiers certainly appear here to stay.

In a headline that feels almost too repetitive to be true, two Georgia Bulldogs football players have been arrested on driving related charges by Athens-Clarke County police.

Linebackers Chris Cole and Darren Ikinnagbon were each charged with misdemeanor reckless driving charges. According to a story from CBS Sports, Cole — who is expected to be a key piece of the Bulldogs defense this year — was charged with reckless driving and speeding-maximum limits. Ikinnagbon on the other hand faces misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, following too closely and speeding-maximum.

“We are aware of the charges and are actively gathering additional information,” a Georgia team spokesperson said in a statement. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not be providing further comment at this time.”

The Crimson Tide men’s basketball team won potentially the game of the year in college hoops Wednesday night, taking down the Arkansas Razorbacks 117-115 in double overtime, pulling even with them and Tennessee for second place in the SEC.

It was Labaron Philon Jr. playing hero for Alabama with one of the best games of his young career. He dropped 35 points with seven assists to hold off the Razorbacks sensational freshman Darius Acuff Jr., who had a historic 49-point effort, including a circus shot at the end of regulation to send it into the first overtime.  

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The Tide trailed by 10 at the half before fighting back in the second to take a late lead, prior to the Acuff tying bucket right at the end of the game.

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Both in overtime and in double overtime, Houston Mallette — who had not been an offensive factor for the entire night — hit two clutch threes for his only six points of the night to push the game to the brink.

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Sophomore big man Aiden Sherrell had perhaps his best game in two years as well and has stepped into an even bigger role following the Charles Bediako ruling. Bediako became ineligible which pushed Sherrell into the main size role. He had 26 points and 13 rebounds including five on the offensive side of the ball.

Young freshman Amari Allen had a double-double of his own with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The victory pushes the Crimson Tide to 9-4 in SEC play and 19-7 overall, two games behind the 11-2 Florida Gators, who once again look like the best team in the conference. Alabama will get set to hit the road once again this weekend with a road game against LSU before hitting the final stretch of the regular season starting next week.

As the season comes to a head, Nate Oats seems to have his squad trending in the right direction, making for a potentially very exciting March ahead.

The Auburn Tigers are in a new era as a program led by new head coach Alex Golesh, and he is certainly running things a whole lot differently from the way they have gone in the past.

Auburn has a long held reputation of allowing boosters and big money donors to meddle in decision making, but Golesh — with his own stamp of approval — is putting a stop to all of it, and he is not afraid to let those same boosters know right to their face.

During an exclusive interview with On3, Golesh talked about this narrative and how he has changed the way financial supporters have access to the decisions he makes. While he emphasized transparency, everything ultimately is his call at the end of the day.

“Are there people involved in helping fund this operation? Hell yeah, you need those people,” he said of the boosters. “It’s also being very real with them, it’s having conversations, and it’s being really honest…They have a right to know what you’re spending money on. But you have to be really careful. If you’re going to spend money and then want to be involved in decision-making, then we’re good. We don’t need your money. If you’re upfront and honest from the beginning, you’ve got a chance.”

Whether or not Golesh was talking about anyone specifically cannot be known, but following what has been a dark era for Auburn Football, clearly he is determined to do things his way and get the Tigers back to consistently winning.