UNDATED (AP) — Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey called the NCAA language covering tampering rules “archaic,” but stopped short of urging the oversight body to halt tampering investigations, the way the Big Ten did earlier this week. Speaking to reporters at the SEC basketball tournament, the commissioner said the new landscape in college sports, which includes name-image-likeness payments to players, shifting and liberal transfer rules and the increased influence of agents, calls for the language surrounding the rules to be changed.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darius Acuff Jr. scored five of his 24 points in overtime and No. 17 Arkansas held off Mississippi 93-90 to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game for the first time since 2017. The third-seeded Razorbacks will play No. 22 Vanderbilt, which routed No. 4 Florida earlier Saturday. Acuff, the SEC’s scoring leader and league’s player and freshman of the year, also had seven assists. Meleek Thomas led Arkansas with 29 points, Trevon Brazile had 16 points with 10 rebounds along with the final free throw and Malique Ewin added 14. Ole Miss ends its improbable run after the 15th-seeded Rebels became the second double-digit seed to win three games at this event, joining Auburn in 2015.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Tanner scored 20 points as No. 22 Vanderbilt beat fourth-ranked Florida 91-74 to end the defending national champion’s bid to win a second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title and possibly hurt the Gators’ bid for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The fourth-seeded Commodores won their fourth straight game. Vanderbilt will play Sunday for its first tournament title since 2012. Four other Commodores players scored in double figures. The Gators saw their 12-game winning streak end. Thomas Haugh led Florida with 19 points.
UNDATED (AP) — Oklahoma coach Porter Moser’s team has gotten him off the bubble. The team itself is still on the bubble to make the NCAA Tournament, but its late run helped new athletic director Roger Denny decide to keep Moser for another year. Denny said Saturday on social media that the school had failed to give Moser the resources to compete in this new era of college sports but that he is committed to doing so going forward. Denny’s statement came a day after the 11th seeded Sooners pushed No. 3 seed Arkansas before losing 82-79 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
FAYATTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Tyrice Taylor and Rivaldo Marshall finished 1-2 in the 800 meters to help Arkansas run away with the men’s team title, while Georgia freshman Adaejah Hodge won the 200 meters in a facility-record 22.22 seconds as the Bulldogs won the women’s team crown at the NCAA Indoor Track Championships. Arkansas clinched it’s title first since 2013 and finished with 73.5 points, 7.5 more than Oregon (40 points) — which also finished second on the women’s side — and third-place Florida (26) combined. Georgia, last year’s runner-up, finished with 53 points to win its first indoor championship since 2018. The Ducks had 44 points and Illinois was third with 42 points. Georgia coach Caryl Smith Gilbert also led Bulldogs women to 2025 outdoor title.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Griffin Lake won the individual title, taking second in both smallbore and air rifle, to help West Virginia claim the 2026 NCAA rifle championship, the 21st in program history. The Mountaineers entered the final day of competition in fourth place, then tied the NCAA record for air rifle score with 2,395 Saturday and finished with an aggregate of 4,748, seven more than second-place TCU, for their second consecutive national title. Mississippi (4,738) was third ahead of Kentucky — last year’s runner-up — and Nebraska with 4,736 each. Kentucky’s Braden Peiser won the smallbore crown with a score of 596 and 37 centers. Audrey Gogniat scored a perfect 600 with 54 centers to win the individual air rifle for the second consecutive year.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama receiver Ryan Williams has a new name and a new number for 2026. One of the team’s most notable players made two notable changes during the offseason. He added Coleman to his now-hyphenated last name to honor his mother and switched from No. 2 to No. 1, returning to the digit he wore in high school for in-state powerhouse Saraland. Both moves could kick start a bounceback season for the speedy wideout who struggled to catch the ball last year. Coleman-Williams had just one 100-yard receiving game last season and led the Football Bowl Subdivision with 13 drops. Alabama is also looking for Coleman-Williams to step into a larger leadership role.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The NCAA is warning schools about potential travel headaches ahead of the men's and women's basketball tournaments. A lack of charter plane availability, the partial government shutdown and conflict in the Middle East could all have a ripple effect on the 68 team men's and women's fields. It is hardly the first time it has been an issue. Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade says she faced the same concerns when she was the director of the women's tournament years ago. The NCAA is trying to take a “business as usual” approach. McGlade says the benefit of being in the tournament far outweighs any travel snags that might pop up.
