ALABAMA: Tide signee Justin Woodall could be a legitimate first round draft choice on June 6. The Mets have put him through a private workout. He was clocked with a 92 mile- an- hour fastball. New York has told Woodall that he can play football at Alabama in the fall and baseball with them in the summer. Defensive back signee Charlie Higgenbotham has looked good in Alabama-Mississippi practice this week despite continually rehabbing a torn ACL. Coach Mike Shula said receiver Tyrone Prothro’s rehab is going well but it is too early to know if he will be able to play this season. Shula also said tailback Glenn Coffee, who missed spring practice with a pelvis injury, will be ready for fall drills.

FLORIDA: Sidell Corley (6-4, 250), a defensive lineman from McGill-Toolen (Ala.) High, who committed to the Gators in April says he wants to visit Alabama. Corley bench presses 365 pounds, squats 465 pounds and has a 32-inch vertical leap. Former Gator coach Steve Spurrier said he will take part in the ten-year celebration of the 1996 national title team for the Gators’ opening game on Sept. 2. Spurrier has attended all three reunions for the 1989 Duke team that won the ACC title.

Gator coach Urban Meyer said he is upset with the new rule pertaining to the clock starting after the ball is spotted following a change of possession instead of the ball snap in the interest of speeding up the game. Meyer also said defensive back Avery Atkins is working his way “out of the doghouse” after returning home to deal with personal business. He missed most of spring practice. Defensive tackle Steven Harris and Atkins are back lifting weights with the team, but Harris, who was suspended due to violation of team rules, is not officially back on the team. CBS has once again selected the Florida at Tennessee for a primetime telecast on Sept. 16 at 8 pm. Meyer also said all the incoming freshmen have a chance to be eligible.

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Mike Hunt (6-2, 208), a safety from Franklin County (Miss.), has verbally committed to State. He is commitment No. 13 for the Bulldogs.

GEORGIA: Coach Mark Richt defended his three- tailback rotation by saying he would continue it this season. Last year, Thomas Brown, Kregg Lumpkin and Danny Ware split 314 carries. Thomas is listed as the No. 1 back. Richt also said this week that he was confident that tailback signee Knowshon Moreno would have a great career at Georgia whether or not he plays this season.

LSU: Running back signee Richard Murphy will not come to campus this week because his transcript is not complete. He needs more classes in summer school before he qualifies. Murphy is No. 5 in career rushing yards in the state with 7,059 yards. DeAngelo Benton (6-3, 195), a receiver from Bastrop (La.), has committed to the Tigers. He still has some academic questions. Jarrett Lee (6-3, 210), a quarterback from Brenham, Texas, has verbally committed to LSU. Lee has over 30 offers. CBS has selected the LSU at Auburn game on Sept. 16 for its first broadcast of the season with a 3:30 pm start. The Arizona at LSU game has been selected by ESPN2 for a primetime broadcast on Sept. 9.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Addison Williams (5-9, 170), a cornerback from Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake, has committed to South Carolina. Georgia Tech, Mississippi State, Tulane and Indiana have offered Williams, who is a full-qualifier. Coach Steve Spurrier said backup quarterback Tommy Beecher has decided to remain with the team. He also said receiver Noah Whiteside has a long way to go to get his academics together. Spurrier also said he will coach 10 more years since he feels energized.

VANDERBILT: Former Arizona quarterback Richard Kovalcheck (125 of 220 for 1351 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 picks last season) is transferring to Vandy because he has earned an undergraduate degree and wants to work on his healthcare administration degree, which is not offered at Arizona. Kovalcheck, who has yet to enroll, will have two years of eligibility remaining when he does. Vandy has to replace Jay Cutler. Sophomore Chris Nickson and redshirt freshman McKenzi Adams battled for the job coming out of spring.

AUBURN: Cornerback signee Zaccheus Etheridge has excellent size and appears to be a complete player at Alabama-Mississippi all-star practice.

TENNESSEE: Coach Phil Fulmer said he is still determined to see defensive end Gerald Williams through the NCAA Clearinghouse. He signed with the Vols in 2005 and practice briefly before being sent home due to Clearinghouse issues. He re-signed in February and plans on coming in this summer, but is still hasn’t been cleared. Fulmer said the school was going to send in a waiver on his behalf. Running back signee Dustin Lindsey didn’t qualify and is planning on going to prep school or junior college. Former Tennessee player James Banks, who transferred to Carson-Newman, did not play last year and is not expected to play this season.

MIAMI: Offensive line signee Ian Symonette has lost 11 pounds and is down to 334. Symonette is 6-foot-9. Cane coaches have told him that he will start at left tackle. Receiver signee Sam Shields, who is from Sarasota Booker High, has raised his GPA, but needs to do the same with his ACT score.

CLEMSON: Ricky Sapp, a five-star defensive end signee from Bamberg-Ehrhardt, has qualified. Landon Walker (6-6, 270), an offensive lineman from East Wilkes, has verbally committed to Clemson. Wilkes is commitment No. 7 for the Tigers.

FLORIDA STATE: The Noles will host Clemson on Sept. 16 at 7:45 pm on ESPN. The Miami game (Labor Night Sept. 4) and the N C State game on Thursday, Oct. 5 are the other two night games set currently.

SEC MEETINGS: The annual gathering of coaches and school officials started Tuesday in Destin. As usual, the conference passed out some big checks on Friday after a week of meetings. Last year, the SEC split $110.7 million among it members. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, the new head of the BCS, explained his job to coaches and officials. There has been some general discussion about adding another conference game to the schedule making nine instead of eight contests. The coaches mostly seem to be against the idea.

Most SEC coaches favor modifying the transfer rules that says a player must have at least two years of eligibility left before transferring to another school. Because the NCAA recently legislated a rule that says a graduate student can transfer to another school and be able to play immediately if they have eligibility remaining. The Commercial Appeal columnist Ron Higgins said more than one SEC football coach told him that a yet- to- be named SEC coach had been turned in by seven different schools (not all SEC schools) for recruiting violations. Florida’s Meyer said the NCAA should mandate that the Big East, Big Ten and Pac 10 should all have to create conference title games because those conferences have a recruiting advantage and SEC schools are handicapped in the national championship race. SEC schools have won only two national titles in the last 10 years.

UCF: Coach George O’Leary has a clause in his contract that pays him an extra $50,000 if he wins six games.

ESPN: Ron Franklin, the former No. 1 play-by-play college football announcer, has been moved to ESPN2 with Ed Cunningham and Dr. Jerry Punch. The top team for ESPN is Mike Patrick, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe.

TRANSFER RULE BACKLASH: Some football coaches are already upset the new transfer rule that allows players to transfer to another school without penalty once they earn their undergraduate degree. At least 30 Division I presidents must submit written requests to the NCAA by June 26 to call for an override of the rule, which was passed by the NCAA Board of Directors on April 27. After that is done, 100 override votes must be collected for the issue to go before the NCAA convention in January.

REPLAY CHALLENGE OPTION DUE MONDAY: The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel is scheduled to meet Monday by conference call and voted on to add a coach’s challenge to the instant replay system. The decision could have gone one of three ways: No challenge, one challenge per game or one challenge per half. The latter idea means a challenge would not result in a timeout, even if the challenge were denied. The deciding votes meant that coaches could now have one challenge per game if a timeout available. If the challenge is successful, the coach keeps his timeout, but that is his only challenge of the game. If the challenge fails, the coach loses the timeout. The Mountain West Conference was the only league to have a challenge system last year. Thirty-five challenges were made and five were reversed. Last year the SEC stopped play 66 times to review plays, but only reversed 17 of them. Coaches said the difficult thing for coaches to decide is when to challenge the play.

ATHLON TOP TEN:
1 Oklahoma
2. Notre Dame
3. Southern Cal
4. Ohio State
5. Florida
6. West Virginia
7. Texas
8. Cal
9. Auburn
10. Louisville
11. LSU
12. Clemson
14. Miami
15. Georgia
17. FSU
20. Tennessee
21. Virginia Tech

SEC picks: Florida to beat Auburn for SEC title

BRENT BEAIRD IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR THE CLAY COUNTY LINE IN ORANGE PARK, FLA., HE ALSO WRITES FOR RIVALS.COM, SAMSPORTSLINE.COM AND GATOR BAIT MAGAZINE. HE CAN BE HEARD ON ESPN 1460 ON MONDAY AND THURSDAY AFTERNOONS ON THE RUMBLE WITH MIKE DEMPSEY AND TOM MCMANUS.