AUBURN: Tiger officials have finished the 2005 schedule by adding Division I-AA Western Kentucky on Sept. 24. The season opens with five home games before the Tigers take to the road for four of five games. New Tiger athletic director Jay Jacobs has already eliminated three positions after taking over five weeks ago. Former Tiger player Stacy Danley, the former associate athletic director, held one of the positions. Augusta Georgia Laney receiver Robert Dunn (5-11, 185), who is expected to play at Hargrave Military Academy next year, signed a letter of intent last Friday. Dunn, who is from Augusta (Ga.) Laney, spent the entire 2004 football season under house arrest with an electric monitoring bracelet on his ankle. He has two scrapes with the law enforcement including being an accessory to thefts of stolen property. Dunn was named the 2004 All-Classification Player of the Year last season.

The Tigers are looking for a quarterback this spring after the departure of Jason Campbell. Sophomores Brandon Cox and walk-on Dustin Goodwin and redshirt freshmen Blake Field and Calvin Booker are the candidates. Cox played in seven games last fall. (Birmingham News and AuburnSports.com)

LSU: The 2005 Tiger schedule has been announced. LSU plays Arizona State, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida and Arkansas at home. Appalachian State has filled the opening on the schedule for a Nov. 5 home game. The Tigers open up at home against North Texas and host the Sun Devils in the second game. LSU faces Florida and Auburn back to back in October. Ricky Jean-Francois, a defensive end from Miami Carol City, has signed a letter of intent with the Tigers. He was one of the Rivals.com top 100 players. (Tigerbait.com)

TENNESSEE: Former Vol receiver James Banks, Jr., has enrolled in Division III Franklin College (Indiana) to concentrate solely on academics. He was dismissed from the Vol football team last December for violating the school’s substance-abuse policy by attempting to taint a drug test. Vol receiver C. J. Fayton is the eighth Tennessee player to undergo offseason surgery. All the quarterbacks-Brent Schaeffer, Erick Ainge and Rick Clausen- will all be healthy for spring practice March 10. (IndyStar.com and ESPN.com)

SOUTH CAROLINA: Eric Hyman, the athletic director at TCU, has surfaced as a new name to replace outgoing AD Mike McGee. (The State)

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Bulldog offensive lineman Richard Burch, who was recently suspended for selling marijuana, has withdrawn from school. He has started 25 games in his Bulldog career. Courtney Jones (6-2, 212), a running back from Pensacola, has committed to the Bulldogs. (Bulldogblitz.com)

FLORIDA: The Gators have started mat drills every Wednesday morning at 6 AM. The drills are mainly for footwork and conditioning. The players are also working on getting the players to an assigned weight by the start of spring drills by March 16. (GatorBait.net)

ARKANSAS: Antonio Allen (6-0, 185), an athlete from Star City (Ark.), is one of the top prospects in the state of Arkansas. Ole Miss, Duke, and Arkansas are showing early interest. (Hawgsports.com)

SEC INSTANT REPLAY: Instant replay looks to be a done deal for the SEC as soon as the 2005 season. Coaches and SEC officials seem to be on the same page. Last year in the Big Ten, instant replay was used in 28 of 57 games. Of the 43 calls questioned, 21 were overturned. The ACC and Mountain West Conference have also approved instant replay. (SI.com)

ALABAMA: Running back signee Mike Ford (6-2, 210) is working on his academics. His Sarasota, Florida high school coach Bob Perkins said Ford has a 2.1 grade point average and has a chance to make 2.5 or higher. He took the ACT Saturday. The Tide starts spring practice Tuesday with quarterback Brodie Croyle being limited. Freshman John Parker Wilson should get plenty of work. (BamaOnline.com)

OLE MISS: Brandon Jackson (6-3, 220), a linebacker from Briarcrest Memphis, has committed to the Rebels for 2006. He is the third commitment so far. One of the earlier Rebel commitments was Kendrick Lewis (6-0, 173), an athlete from O. Perry Walker High in New Orleans. (RebelGrove.com)

FLORIDA STATE: FSU will hire former receiver Ron Dugans as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. He will not have any on-field responsibilities. Four FSU players made the 2004 All-ACC Academic team: quarterback Wyatt Sexton, center David Castillo, punter Chris Hall and defensive lineman Kamerion Wimbley. (Tallahassee Democrat)

NORTH CAROLINA: Tar Heel Coach John Bunting has hired Tommy Thigpen, the former Illinois assistant, as linebacker coach and Dave Brock, the former Temple assistant, as a receiver coach. (SI.com)

MIAMI: The Canes begin spring practice March 8 and end with the annual spring game on April 9. Because the Orange Bowl will be closed for repairs, the game will be held at Lockhart Stadium. (Canesport.com)

PAC-10 SCHEDULE: Arizona’s first five games are at Utah, Northern Arizona, Purdue, at Cal and at USC. Arizona State begins with Temple, travels to LSU and hosts Northwestern. Cal has an easy start with Sacramento State, at Washington, Illinois, at New Mexico State. Oregon State opens at home against Portland State and Boise State, and then travels to Louisville. USC starts at Hawaii, and then hosts Arkansas before traveling to Oregon and Arizona State. UCLA opens at San Diego State, hosts Rice and Oklahoma. (Collegefootballnews.com)

ESPN PRESEASON TOP 25: 1. USC, 2. Texas, 3. Michigan, 4. Tennessee, 5. Iowa, 6. Oklahoma, 7. Ohio State, 8. Louisville, 9. Florida, 10. Miami, 11. LSU, 12. FSU, 13. Virginia Tech, 14, Texas A & M, 15. Boise State, 16. Georgia, 17. Fresno State, 18. Auburn, 19. Arizona State, 20. Texas Tech, 21. Bowling Green, 22. Cal, 23. Pitt, 24. Georgia Tech, 25. Iowa State

TEXAS: Cedric Benson, the former UT running back, told the Dallas Morning News that the Longhorn coaches need to game plan for Oklahoma to win the game instead of trying not to lose the game. (ESPN.com)

USC: With the loss of offensive line coach Tim Davis, the Trojans lost more offensive coaches (three) than offensive starters (two). (ESPN.com)

COACHING NEWS: Former college quarterbacks Major Applewhite (Syracuse), Josh Heupel (Arizona) and Darian Hagan (Colorado) have taken assistant coaching jobs. (ESPN.com)

BRENT BEAIRD IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR THE CLAY COUNTY LINE IN ORANGE PARK, FL.
HE ALSO WRITES FOR RIVALS.COM AND SAMSPORTSLINE.COM.