The Texas Longhorns took down the Vanderbilt Commodores in the opening round of the SEC men’s basketball tournament, setting up an in-state showdown against Texas A&M with major March Madness implications.

South Carolina will be the No. 1 seed in the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball tournament after winning a coin flip.

Vanderbilt freshman Mikayla Blakes knows each time she drops the ball in the basket it will bring more attention.

Mikayla Blakes is The Associated Press women's college basketball player of the week.

Notre Dame ascended to No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll Monday, becoming the third team to reach that spot this season.

Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes scored a Division I women’s freshman record 55 points in a 98-88 overtime victory over Auburn.

Denver Jones scored 21 points as No. 1 Auburn held off Vanderbilt 80-68 Tuesday night to avoid the Tigers’ first losing skid of the season.

Vanderbilt is back in The Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25 for the first time since 2014, ranked No. 23 this week.

Tyler Nickel’s 3-pointer with 1:50 left put Vanderbilt ahead to stay as the Commodores upset a Top 10 team on their home court for a second straight Saturday by beating No. 9 Kentucky 74-69.

Jason Edwards scored 18 points as Vanderbilt held off No. 6 Tennessee 76-75 for the Commodores’ second straight win.

Diego Pavia threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and Vanderbilt secured its first winning season since 2013 with a 35-27 victory over Georgia Tech on Friday in the Birmingham Bowl.

The NCAA on Monday appealed the preliminary injunction granted by a U.S. federal judge giving Diego Pavia another year of eligibility even as the organization’s Division I board of directors granted a waiver allowing athletes in a similar situation as the Vanderbilt quarterback to play in 2025-26.

A federal judge granted Diego Pavia’s request for a preliminary injunction allowing the quarterback to play the 2025 season and told the NCAA the organization cannot take any action against Vanderbilt or any other university that Pavia plays a fifth season for next year.

Besides first-round games at on-campus sites, the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff also serves up something now for this postseason: cold-weather northern venues as opposed to bowl games in warm, sunny climates.

Oregon is the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the fourth straight week.

Quinn Ewers threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns as No. 5 Texas made its Southeastern Conference road debut and beat No. 25 Vanderbilt 27-24.

The Southeastern Conference’s biggest shakeups haven’t come courtesy of newcomers Oklahoma and Texas so far, but from more unlikely culprits.

Longtime Associated Press Top 25 voter Kirk Bohls of the Houston Chronicle said this week's ballot was the most difficult he's had to fill out.

Vanderbilt’s stunning upset of No. 1 Alabama that led to crazed fans marching the goal posts through the streets of Nashville was just the appetizer.

The Vanderbilt Commodores have beaten a No. 1 team in football.

Georgia wide receiver Rodarius “Rara” Thomas has been suspended indefinitely following his arrest on charges of cruelty to children and battery, adding to the team’s recent legal woes.

Four players are back from the 2021 North Carolina State team that was sent home from the College World Series because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

#3 LSU, #9 Vanderbilt and #15 Texas will spend their weekends at Minute Maid Park, along with potential NCAA Tournament squads Houston, Texas State and Lousiana-Lafayette.

A federal judge will rule “in short order” on a preliminary injunction requested by the states of Tennessee and Virginia to stop the NCAA from enforcing its rules governing name, image and likeness compensation for athletes.

The battle for the district is in full swing, on both of H-Town’s public and private school scenes.

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

Preseason All-American tight end Brock Bowers hurt his left foot midway through the second quarter Saturday against Vanderbilt.

A Houston high school star and current Los Angeles Lakers player has just secured his biggest payday and four more years with the team.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is being accused of violating the privacy of its transgender clinic patients by turning their records over to Tennsessee’s attorney general.

Freshman Brandon Miller scored 30 points as the fourth-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide beat Vanderbilt 78-66 Tuesday night for their seventh straight victory two days after a teammate was charged with capital murder.

The Masters is extending an invitation to NCAA champion Gordon Sargent.

Mike Wright completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Will Sheppard with 32 seconds left for a 24-21 win over Kentucky and snap a 26-game Southeastern Conference losing streak.

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young left the No. 2 Crimson Tide’s game against No. 20 Arkansas midway through the second quarter.

Alabama has mostly breezed through the first month of the season, with one big scare and three games that were frightfully but predictably easy.

Former Vanderbilt ace right-hander Kumar Rocker returned to the mound with the Tri-City ValleyCats of the independent Class A Frontier League.

Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 24 points and Vanderbilt finished strong to defeat Texas A&M 72-67.

South Carolina, Stanford, North Carolina State and Tennessee would be the top seeds if the women’s NCAA Tournament began today.

San Francisco and Loyola Chicago struggled to find opponents for college basketball games so they decided to meet in the middle.

Missouri's Tyler Badie is the only player in the country to run for at least 200 yards in four different games in a season.

JT Daniels threw for 121 yards and two touchdowns playing only the first quarter as No. 2 Georgia dominated Vanderbilt 62-0 Saturday in the Bulldogs’ biggest win in a series that started in 1893.

The New York Mets have failed to sign their top pick from last month’s amateur draft, Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker, over concern about his medical scans.

A year after Major League Baseball limited its draft amid the chaos of COVID-19, it’s set to host a revamped event as part of All-Star festivities in Denver.

Will Bednar and Landon Sims combined on a one-hitter, Mississippi State scored early and built on its lead, and the Bulldogs won their first national championship with a 9-0 victory over Vanderbilt in the deciding third game of the College World Series finals.

Houston Harding and Preston Johnson combined on a four-hitter and Mississippi State capitalized on struggling Vanderbilt pitching in a 13-2 victory that forced a third and deciding game in the College World Series finals.

It will be an all-SEC College Word Series finals pitting Vanderbilt against Mississippi State.

Tanner Leggett’s single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored the tiebreaking run, and Mississippi State advanced to the College World Series finals with a 4-3 victory over Texas.

North Carolina State baseball players who were one win away from playing for a national championship reacted with anger and confusion to their team’s removal from the College World Series because of COVID-19 protocols.

Kumar Rocker struck out 11 in six innings and Vanderbilt won 3-1 at the College World Series against a North Carolina State team without half its roster because of COVID-19 issues.

COVID-19 continues to impact sporting events, as the NC State baseball team is dealing with COVID-19 issues.

Vanderbilt will advance to the College World Series finals after North Carolina State was forced to drop out because of COVID-19 protocols.

Spencer Jones scored on Brendan Beck’s wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to keep Vanderbilt alive in the College World Series with a 6-5 walk-off victory over Stanford.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s scathing rebuke of the NCAA and its rules this week included suggestions on how college sports can be reformed to avoid being sued into oblivion.

Jayson Gonzalez singled through the infield with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning to give Vanderbilt a 7-6 win over Arizona in the College World Series.

Reigning national champion Vanderbilt and Stanford swept their NCAA super regionals and became the first teams to lock up spots in the College World Series.

Vanderbilt’s Kumar Rocker and Stanford’s Brendan Beck turned in dominant pitching performances in NCAA super regionals to put their teams a win away from College World Series.

John Calipari is awaiting a pivotal ruling on the eligibility of transfers before he will know who’ll be around to help the Wildcats bounce back from the coach's first losing season in Lexington.

Vanderbilt has hired Shea Ralph away from UConn to help revive the Commodores’ struggling women’s basketball program.

Vanderbilt has picked up a couple of big names out of the 2022 basketball recruiting class. On Wednesday evening Greenhill School teammates Lee Dort and Noah Shelby announced their commitments to Vanderbilt via social media.

,Vanderbilt pitcher Jack Leiter throws during an NCAA college baseball game Oct. 17, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt returns most of its everyday lineup, features the top two pitchers in college baseball and won the most recent national championship. (Joe Howell/Vanderbilt University Athletics via AP)Top draft prospect Jack Leiter pitched a nine-inning no-hitter with 16 strikeouts for Vanderbilt on Saturday, retiring his final 27 batters. Leiter, the son of 19-year big league pitcher Al Leiter, walked Braylen Wimmer to lead off the game but was perfect the rest of the way in a 5-0 victory over South Carolina. Rocker and Leiter are considered the top pitching prospects for Major League Baseball's 2021 draft. Rocker struck out 14 Gamecocks in a 3-2 win Friday night and has an 0.58 ERA.

The result was familiar, if not the methodology: another Crimson Tide win. 8 Alabama came from behind to beat Vanderbilt 82-78 Saturday and move a step closer to a Southeastern Conference championship. Quinerly scored 15 points for the Tide, who made just 10 of 39 3-point attempts (25.6%). Alex Reese scored 10 points while Keon Ellis had eight points and nine rebounds, including a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left. Alabama overcame low scoring from Petty (six points) and Herb Jones (eight before fouling out).

The SEC says this postponement is because of a combination of positive tests, contact tracing and quarantining of people inside Texas A&M’s program. The first game in Nashville between the teams on Jan. 20 was postponed due to COVID-19 testing, tracing and quarantining with Vanderbilt. ___The Buffalo Sabres are the latest NHL team to be shut down because of players in COVID protocol. They are immediately isolated, not permitted to access club facilities, or to have direct contact with players or personnel. ___The NHL has postponed Tuesday's game between the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders because of travel and weather-related concerns linked to coronavirus protocols.

(Stu Forster/Pool via AP)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The Atlantic Coast Conference says this week’s women’s basketball games with No. The postponement of the Clemson-Boston College women’s basketball game followed coronavirus concerns within the Eagles program. The Atlantic Coast Conference has postponed two women’s basketball games due to COVID-19. ___The Kentucky women’s basketball game at Tennessee has been rescheduled for Sunday. The other Southeastern Conference women’s games Sunday include: Auburn at Alabama, South Carolina at LSU, Florida at Mississippi and Texas A&M at Missouri.

4 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll of the season. It marks A&M’s second-highest finish in the AP Poll and highest since 1939 when the Aggies won the national championship. 4 rank is Texas A&M’s second top-five finish since joining the SEC in 2012 and marks the third time in his career that head coach Jimbo Fisher has finished inside the top-five. In the regular season, the Aggies went 9-1 against an all-SEC slate as they compiled the most victories against conference foes since joining the SEC for the 2012 season. It was A&M’s fourth top-five AP finish along with the No.

4 UConn says it also must reschedule Wednesday’s women’s basketball game against Seton Hall. The Villanova game was postponed because the Wildcats also are dealing with COVID-19 issues within their women’s basketball program. ___Richmond’s men’s basketball team has paused team activities in response to the results from the latest COVID-19 testing and contact tracing. ___The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Tuesday that the Syracuse women’s basketball game at Georgia Tech on Thursday has been postponed. ___The women’s basketball game between No.

4 Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinal originally scheduled to serve as the 107th Rose Bowl, the playoff committee announced Sunday. In the end, those two teams were assigned to the Sugar Bowl semifinal, while the other playoff game will feature the national championship favorites against the final addition to the four-team playoff. But instead of a week amid the pomp and pageantry of the Rose Bowl, the teams will spend their semifinal week in Arlington, Texas. Oregon State beat Duke in Durham, North Carolina, in that version of the Rose Bowl. The festive week of genteel celebrations around the Rose Bowl game had already been mostly canceled.

Iowa State warms up before an NCAA college basketball game against DePaul, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___DePaul called off two more men’s basketball games because of positive COVID-19 tests, pushing back the start of the season until at least next week. ___The University at Albany women’s basketball game scheduled for Dec. 23 against Siena has been postponed. ___UNLV has canceled its home basketball game against Pepperdine on Monday after a positive COVID-19 test. ___Wake Forest says it plans to begin holding men’s basketball practices on Sunday after a pause due to COVID-19 issues.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt is negotiating a deal with Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea to make the former Commodores player its new head coach. The 38-year-old Lea is a Nashville native who played baseball at Birmingham-Southern and Belmont before walking on as a fullback at Vanderbilt, where he played from 2002-04. He started coaching at UCLA and also has coached at South Dakota State, Bowling Green, Syracuse and Wake Forest. The Fighting Irish made the College Football Playoff in 2018 behind a defense that ranked eighth in the nation in yards allowed per play (4.53). ___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Vanderbilt's Sarah Fuller (32) kicks an extra point as Harrison Smith holds during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Tennessee, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sarah Fuller has a football keepsake from her history-making moment. The ball from her second extra point likely is headed to the College Football Hall of Fame. “This whole time has been if I can do it, if I’m good enough to do it,” Fuller said. Fuller, listed second out of three available kickers on the depth chart, came out for the extra point that tied the game at 7 with 1:50 left in the first quarter. Vanderbilt: The Commodores' best chance in their final home game this season was for the offense to stay on the field.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power Five conference football game by kicking an extra point for Vanderbilt on Saturday. Fuller made history as the first female to play in a Power Five conference game on Nov. 28 with a squib kick to open the second half. No woman before Fuller had appeared in an SEC game or for any Power Five team. Liz Heaston became the first woman to score in college football with two extra points for Willamette of NAIA on Oct. 18, 1997. Katie Hnida was the first woman to score at the Football Bowl Subdivision level with two extra points for New Mexico on Aug. 30, 2003.

Patterson)The Southeastern Conference has announced a revamped schedule for Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, including Vanderbilt's game at No. The rescheduled games announced Friday were made necessary following postponements due to the SEC's COVID-19 protocols. This week, 12 of 56 games scheduled were postponed or canceled. Among other games on the new Dec. 19 schedule, the same day as the SEC championship game, are Texas A&M at Tennessee, rescheduled from Nov. 14. The Vanderbilt-Georgia and Texas A&M-Tennessee games would not be played if the Bulldogs and Aggies, respectively, qualify for the SEC championship game.

10 Florida's game against defending national champion LSU was postponed Wednesday to tentatively Dec. 12 after the SEC postponed Missouri-Vanderbilt on Monday. Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason is going through a similar situation. To play, the SEC requires at least 53 on game days. Timing is critical depending on the day of the week a positive test or tracing result returns. “Every time you’re taking a test," Mason said, “you're crossing your fingers ... you don't have anybody in harm's way."

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, left, talks with quarterback Kellen Mond (11) during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Vanderbilt Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in College Station, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

including the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, highlights the fifth week of the college football season. 4 Georgia on Saturday night as the second month of the season starts, but only the second week of SEC play. The first of three games that decide the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy might have sneaked up on college football fans. The Falcons will play six conference games to go along with Navy and Army. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

HOUSTON - The Elite 11 finalist is heading to the University of Houston. Kopp's final five schools came down to the University of Houston, Ole Miss, Colorado, Tulane and Wyoming. Last season for St. Thomas, Kopp passed for 3,089 yards and 28 touchdowns. Braden, donning a red St. Thomas polo sat just to the left of little brother Maddox and Miller when the decision happened. Miller (2018 Houston Christian graduate) is currently at Northwestern and Anderson (2019 St. Thomas graduate) is at Lamar University, both of whom play basketball.

Medical professionals around the world are working long days to help fight coronavirus and care for patients who are infected at overwhelmed hospitals. A small group of nurses who work in the labor and delivery unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee gathered on the helipad of the hospital to pray before work, WKRN reports. “When you have a few extra minutes at work you take the time to go to the helipad and pray,” Angela Gleaves said on Facebook. The women took a moment to pray over their colleagues at their hospital and around the world and for patients and their families. According to WKRN, Vanderbilt has 20,000 employees and leads Tennesse in the fight against coronavirus.