Tide Coach Nick Saban has reached out repeatedly to Enterprise High football coach head coach and athletic director Kevin Collins. Former Alabama staff member Dave Rader is a finalist for the Austin Peay head job.

Auburn has its spring game this Saturday. Tiger quarterback Neil Caudle made some moves to claim the backup quarterback job in last Saturday’s scrimmage. With Blake Field on the sidelines with tendonitis in his shoulder, Caudle made up some ground completing 6- of -10 passes for 163 yards and two scores. Offensive coordinator Al Borges said Field wouldn’t lose his job due to injury. Starter Brandon Cox was 10- of -22 for 110 yards. Four of his throws were dropped. Brad Lester carried 18 times for 67 yards. Receiver Rod Smith led the team with four catches for 67 yards. The defense had six sacks. Linebacker Chris Evans once again had double-digit tackles (11). Redshirt freshman linebacker Craig Stevens had 10 tackles. The first team offensive line—right tackle Andrew McClain, right guard Leon Hart, center Jason Bosley, left guard Tyronne Green and left tackle King Dunlap-- has made some progress. Walk-on Ross Gornall made four of four field goals. He made three of three in the first scrimmage. Auburn’s spring game is Saturday.

Arkansas started spring practice Tuesday. The Hogs practiced Tuesday and Wednesday mornings before taking off for spring break until March 26. Most of the spring will be spent adjusting to a new playbook rewritten by David Lee, the new offensive coordinator.

The Hog tight ends expect to be a big part of the offense this season. Sophomore Ben Cleveland is expected to be the starter, but senior Mason Templeton, junior Lance Thompson and sophomore Andrew Davie will have a chance to compete. The Hogs have to replace three starters on the offensive line and two key backups.

Hog linebacker Freddie Fairchild (torn ACL) and free safety Michael Grant (knee injury) appear to be healthy in early non-contact drills. Also linebacker Matt Stoltz has rejoined the team after missing last season with personal issues. Because quarterback Casey Dick is only 6-foot-1, three metal ladders were lined up side by side on the practice field for Dick to practice throwing over them.

Georgia defensive end Jarius Wynn, a junior college transfer, continues to move up the depth chart after transferring in January. Redshirt freshman linebacker Akeem Dent is starting at the Sam linebacker spot due to hard work and an injury to Darius Dewberry. Redshirt freshman safety Reshad Jones is living up to his hype. He is pushing for time behind C J Byrd. Redshirt freshman guard Chris Jones is starting this spring. He played defensive line and tight end in high school. Redshirt freshman flanker Tony Wilson is eager to gain some playing time after he struggled through injuries and gaining too much weight last year. He went from 165 pounds during his senior year of high school to 215 late last year. He is 193 pounds now. Due to injuries to NaDerris Ward (shoulder) and Coleman Watson (groin), Tripp Chandler is running with the first and second teams at tight end.

Bulldog junior Jeremy Lomax is moving up the depth chart at defensive end after playing in several games last season. Marcus Howard and Roderick Battle are holding down the starting end positions. Lomax is presently behind Howard. He is 238 pounds and hopes to be 250 by the start of fall practice. Middle linebacker Brandon Miller is 6-4, 251 pounds. Last year’s average middle linebacker in the SEC was 6-1, 235.

LSU’s defense, with seven returning starters back in the fall, ruled last Saturday’s scrimmage. The offense is breaking in a new quarterback and several receivers. End Tyson Jackson continues to draw accolades from Coach Les Miles. He was not as happy with the young receivers—Chris Mitchell, Jared Mitchell and Ricky Dixon. Early Doucet, Brandon LaFell and Trindon Holliday made several nice plays. Miles also said freshman receiver Terrance Toliver is progressing in his attempt to become eligible. Kickers Colt David and Patrick Fisher drew praise from Miles. There is a lot of emphasis on the offensive line. New offensive line coach Greg Studrawa continues to try to find two new starters. Brett Helms has done well at center. Senior quarterback Matt Flynn has had a solid spring. Keiland Williams has been the starter at tailback but redshirt freshman Richard Murphy has emerged.

At the tenth practice on Tuesday, Miles said the players were testy with each other. After the team calmed down, the first units went against each other during a 40-play scrimmage. After Saturday’s scrimmage, Rahim Alem moved past Tremaine Johnson at right defensive end. The next major scrimmage is set for Saturday.

Ole Miss is off this week for spring break. In Friday’s scrimmage, Coach Ed Orgeron praised the play of Kentrell Lockett, Jeremy Garrett, Marcus Tillman and Daverin Geralds on the defensive line. Orgeron said safety Kendrick Lewis is having a great spring. David Traxler had made a successful move to tight end from the offensive line.

Quarterback Michael Herrick is practicing despite being sick enough to have to be hospitalized in order to have his tonsils removed.

Mississippi State coach Sly Croom is pleased with his receivers including Aubrey Bell, Lance Long, Ryan Mason, Brandon McRae, Tony Burks and Jayamel Smith.

South Carolina offensive lineman Gurminder Thind, a redshirt junior, is doing well in his comeback attempt after missing 11 games last year due to a foot injury. He will probably remain at tackle. Fifth year senior William Brown will be the likely center. He is 6-5 and up to 295 pounds after his work in the weight room. Linebackers Casper and Jasper Brinkley have been weight room stalwarts as has quarterback Blake Mitchell, who is 210 pounds. Quarterback Chris Smelley is 220 and Tommy Beecher is 223. Smelley and Beecher will battle for the backup job. March 20 is the start of spring practice. The young secondary should be better with the return of cornerbacks Captain Munnerlyn and Carlos Thomas as well as nickel back Stoney Woodson, who led the team in picks.

Football tickets in Columbia are going up. Cost for a Clemson ticket is $60 and a Florida ticket is $55. South Carolina hopes to raise $2.2 million per season from football ticket revenue. Some of the money is going to the baseball stadium. Quarterback Stephen Garcia is expected to apply for pretrial intervention, a diversion program for first-time, nonviolent offenders. Charges will be dropped once the program is completed. His latest incident came when he keyed a visiting professors car in an argument over a parking place.

Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge has decided to have his torn meniscus repaired (recovery time of 8-12 weeks) instead of removed (4-6 weeks). With the injury to Ainge, Jonathan Crompton, a redshirt sophomore, will take the reins as the No. 1 quarterback with redshirt freshman Nick Stephens being the sub. The biggest playmaker on offense has been tailback LaMarcus Coker, who has been in the doghouse often. Tailback Arian Foster has also been productive. The tight ends—Brad and Jeff Cottam and Chris Brown- have been effective weapons. The receivers don’t have a ‘go-to’ guy yet. On the offensive line, Ramon Foster and Chris Scott have had a good spring. Defensive tackle Dan Williams is making progress this spring. Two years ago, he was overweight and then lost 40 pounds very quickly. He has had to adjust to the weight loss.

Florida coach Urban Meyer met with the media this week several days before his team begins spring practice. Rebuilding a defense that lost nine starters is priority No.1. Meyer said the coaches would earn their pay this spring. The rebuilt defensive line could consist of redshirt freshmen Lawrence Marsh and Terron Sanders, sophomores Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Antwine, juniors Javier Estopinan and Derrick Harvey and senior Clint McMillan. Estopinan, who had ACL surgery last season, will have no contact. Sophomores Markihe Anderson and Wondy Pierre-Louis are in front of Jacques Rickerson, who is recovering from knee surgery at the cornerback position. Running back Markus Manson and athlete Joe Haden will get a look at cornerback, but Myer said none of the positions are final.

Florida State began spring practice Friday. Quarterbacks Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee are excited about the new offense that promises to be more balanced. They will also have more opportunity to do more checking off at the line of scrimmage. The quarterbacks will also have a chance to run the ball more. Surgeries will keep linebackers Marcus Ball and Derek Nicholson, tackle Paul Griffin and defensive end Kevin McNeil out of contact. FSU has to replace its top two tacklers in Buster Davis and Lawrence Timmons and defensive end Darrell Burston. Running back Russell Ball is set to go after recovering from a torn ACL that he sustained in the Garnet and Gold game last year. Antone Smith is set for a big year. He recently bench pressed 225 pounds 30 times. At the recent NFL combine the highest rep by a tailback was 28. He weighs 190 pounds and has lowered his body fat from 13% to 8%.

Clemson has started spring practice. Billy Napier is the new recruiting coordinator replacing David Blackwell. Part of the rationale is that Blackwell and his wife have a 10-month old son. Receivers coach Dabo Swinney has the new title of assistant head coach. Player offseason attrition is up to eight after sophomore receiver Andrew Diamonde has decided to transfer. Third string tailback Ray Ray McElrathbey has been suspended due to academics. Freshman quarterback Willy Korn is picking up the intricacies of the offense in the early going. His accuracy needs to improve. Assistant coach Andre’ Powell is in charge of cleaning up special teams. For example, of all the kickoffs that Clemson allowed past the 30-yard line last year there were 22 clips. Much of spring practice will be devoted to improving special teams. Coach Tommy Bowden said replacing leaders such as senior offensive lineman Roman Fry is important. Freshman quarterback Willy Korn and freshman receiver Xavier Dye has been clicking early in spring practice. Korn is No. 4 on the depth chart behind juniors Cullen Harper and Tribble Reese and redshirt freshman Michael Wade, the No. 3 quarterback.

Miami receiver Darnell Jenkins will miss the rest of spring practice due to a family issue. The Canes are recruiting Jacksonville linebacker Nigel Carr (6-3, 220) from First Coast High. He is a big FSU fan. Receiver signee Kayne Farquharson will have to attend Miami Dade Community College perhaps for the first semester of summer school to clear up some credit hours. He hopes to be in Coral Gables by the end of summer. Ronnie Tubbs (6-3, 185), a receiver from Yazoo City, Mississippi is hoping to get a scholarship offer. He has improved his ACT and core grades.

Southern Miss has a game originally set with Boise State for Sat. Sept. 22, but the contest has been moved to Thursday, Sept. 27 for ESPN. Southern Miss has ESPN games on Wednesday, Thursday and consecutive Sunday games.

SEC TEAMS IN THE NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

TENNESSEE VS. LONG BEACH STATE IN THE SOUTH REGIONAL: Chris Lofton has led the Vols and the league in scoring all year. He came back strong after his injury. Tennessee freshmen Ramar Smith, Wayne Chism and Duke Crews have been key additions to the team. Dane Bradshaw doesn’t score much but he is vital to the team in assists. As a team, Tennessee can struggle with shooting from the field and the free-throw line. Rebounding has also been a problem.

Long Beach State: The Vols have to limit LBSU leading scorer Aaron Nixon. KeJuan Johnson averages 15 ppg and Sterling Byrd averages 14 ppg. Four players average in double figures. LBSU forces 17 turnovers per game. The 49ers are not known for their defense, which could be good news for Chris Lofton. LBSU’s best on the ball defender is Kevin Houston, who is just 5-foot-10. LBSU has lost to UCLA, Southern Cal, Air Force and Temple.

ARKANSAS NO. 12 VS. USC NO. 5 IN THE EAST REGIONAL: The Hogs are in the tournament without a senior on the team. Coach Stan Heath said USC is similar to Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Heath is hoping Charles Thomas can play after injuring his left ankle in the Florida loss. He had 18 points and 18 rebounds in the win over Mississippi State. Hog freshmen Patrick Beverley, Stefan Welsh and 6-10 forward Michael Washington have stepped up big in the last few games. Gary Ervin, a Mississippi State transfer, has done a good job for them. What plagues Arkansas is their shooting and being turnover prone. In 18 regular season wins, Arkansas shot 40% from 3-point line and in 12 regular season losses they were held to 28%. Arkansas nearly beat Texas (80-76 loss) in Austin.

Southern Cal: Coach Tim Floyd has done a nice job with this team. Juniors Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt can score in any situation. Young, Pruitt and Taj Gibson, a 6-9 power forward are top 100 draft prospects. They are the best field goal percentage team and 3-point defensive team in the Pac 10. Conversely, USC is an average rebounding team and they turn the ball over 15 times per game, last in the Pac-10 in assist to turnover ratio.

FLORIDA VS. JACKSON STATE IN THE MIDWEST REGIONAL: Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah were first –team all-conference. Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey have regained their shooting prowess. Chris Richard, the SEC Sixth- Man- of the- Year, could make a big difference. Florida has shot better than 50% from the field and 40% from three-point line this year. The Gators appear to have worked through problems of falling behind early in games and appearing flat at times. Jackson State’s main player is Trey Johnson who averages 27 ppg.

KENTUCKY VS. VILLANOVA IN THE WEST REGIONAL: Coach Tubby Smith has been at Kentucky for 10 years and been to the tournament 10 times. Randolph Morris getting off to a quick start is a key to the game along with Joe Crawford’s scoring. Ramel Bradley, Crawford, Bobby Perry and Jodie Meeks can all shoot the three. Kentucky has been an average free throw shooting team. The Wildcats need a big game from their reserves. Memphis coach John Calipari rumored to replace Tubby Smith if he resigns.

Villanova coached by Jay Wright has three NCAA tournament trips in six years. Their most explosive player is freshman guard Scottie Reynolds and senior forward Curtis Sumpter. Villanova shoots 78% from the free throw line. Mike Nardi has a twisted ankle and Shane Clark has gone 10 straight games without scoring in double figures.

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.