The SEC had a record 11 first round draft choices last weekend, the most of any conference. SEC schools had 41 players drafted, the most of any league. The Big Ten was second with 34 followed by the ACC with 31 and the Big 12 with 28.

Tennessee at Cal opens the ESPN on ABC’s Saturday night football second season at 8 pm on Sept. 1. The Vols have won their last 12 season-openers. Tennessee’s last appearance on ABC was in 2003 when the Vols beat Miami. The Vols have appeared on ABC 11 times since 1995 and won nine of those games.

Other confirmed matchups for ESPN on ABC are USC at Nebraska on Sept. 15, Washington State at USC and Iowa at Wisconsin on Sept. 22 and Notre Dame at UCLA on Oct. 6. Ohio State will appear on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 in primetime three times all on the road against Minnesota (Sept. 29), Purdue (Oct. 6) and Penn State (Oct 27). The new Big Ten network said it will broadcast all the game not shown on any network.

Vol senior cornerback Roshaun Fellows was dismissed from the team last Friday for a violation of team rules. He was expected to compete for a starting job. Other than senior strong safety Jonathan Hefney, Tennessee goes into next season with just two combined starts among safeties Jarod Parrish and Antonio Wardlow (one start each). Fellows didn’t play last season after undergoing shoulder surgery in August. Marsalous Johnson and Antonio Gaines moved ahead of Fellows on the depth chart. Freshman Eric Berry and JUCO transfer DeAngelo Willingham are expected to come in this August and compete for jobs. Five Tennessee players were drafted on Sunday, the most of any school on the first day. The six players drafted overall were the most for the Vols since 2003, when eight were selected.

Florida led the SEC with nine players drafted, one less than the record of 10 in 1978. The Gators had seven defensive player selected. Last season, the Gators signed nine of the top 16 and 14 of the top 36 state prospects in Florida. FSU and Miami signed only three of the top 16. Even though Coach Urban Meyer has taken most of his players from Florida and Georgia, this year it appears Florida is taking more of a national approach. For one reason, the normal recruiting hotbed areas (Northeast Florida down through Central Florida over into Tampa across to the Space Coast) are as stocked with talent.

The Gators have offered Kyle Long (6-7, 280), a lineman from Charlottesville, Va. He is the son of NFL great Howie Long. FSU, Notre Dame, Southern Cal, Virginia Tech, and Ohio State among others have offered him. His first love is baseball and he said he favors FSU baseball. Long is the brother of Virginia defensive end Chris Long. Meyer and Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis visited Omar Hunter (6-1, 295), a defensive tackle from Buford, Ga., this week. Notre Dame, Florida, Tennessee, Auburn, and Michigan have made his short list.

Gator offensive coordinator Dan Mullen told Gatorbait that he was pleased with the progress of Tim Tebow during the spring. He said Tebow improved his throwing, setting his feet and his managing the offense. Despite the lack of a 1,000 yard rusher, the Gators outrushed every team including Arkansas in the SEC Title game last season except for Vanderbilt. Mullen said he loves to see a stat line where seven different players touch the ball in 70 plays.

Mississippi State president Doc Foglesong said he will start a search firm this summer to look for a replacement for athletic director Larry Templeton. Foglesong said “the cigar boys” or elite major donors will not be the ones to name an AD.

Georgia coach Mark Richt called a team meeting on Monday to discuss the arrest of freshman linebacker Akeem Hebron. Since Hebron has twice broken the school’s code of conduct policy concerning alcohol he will be suspended for the current and next semester (summer). If the school stays with its code of conduct rules, Hebron’s future with the program is over until 2008. Richt may also have to deal with Internet pictures of quarterback Matthew Stafford holding a keg over his head clowning around with a young woman and another guy. The pictures were allegedly taken at the NASCAR race in Talladega. No where in the pictures does it show Stafford drinking beer.

Bulldog sophomore cornerback Bryan Evans, who broke his wrist in the spring game, should be fully recovered by the opening of fall camp. Sophomore safety Antavious Coates, who tore his ACL, should be ready for fall camp. Senior cornerback Thomas Flowers, who tore foot ligaments, should be healed by the middle of the month. Junior linebacker Marcus Washington, who tore a LCL, may not be ready for the start of the season and have to redshirt. Demiko Goodman, a junior flanker, who tore his ACL, is ahead of schedule, should be able to take part in fall drills. Kevin Perez, an offensive lineman, who is recovering from dislocated elbows, is already able to practice and play.

The Bulldogs open the season with a dangerous Oklahoma State team that averaged 35 points per game last season. Quarterback Bobby Reid (29 total touchdowns), tailback Dantrell Savage (6.5 yards per carry) are dangerous along with tight end Brandon Pettigrew and receiver Adarius Bowman.

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville told a booster group in Tennessee that the backup quarterback situation behind Brandon Cox is shaky. He is concerned about the offensive line that returns basically only starter in King Dunlap. Tuberville said freshman quarterback Kodi Burns is probably the quarterback of the future. He is similar to Dameyune Craig. Tuberville said the defense will be solid. Defensive lineman Greg Smith is down to 310, but he wants him at 290. Linebacker Tray Blackmon, who has been suspended twice, rejoins the team on May 15. Auburn is recruiting C J Steward (6-0, 199), a linebacker from Wolfson High in Jacksonville. Iowa State, Illinois and Auburn are communicating with Steward.

LSU and Oregon have offered Jack Elway (6-4, 187), a quarterback from Englewood, Co. He is the son of NFL great John Elway. Quarterback JaMarcus Russell was the first Tiger to be selected as the top pick since Billy Cannon in 1960. The four first round picks –Russell, LaRon Landry, Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis--were the most ever for LSU. In the past four NFL drafts, 22 Tiger players have been chosen. During those four years, LSU is 44-8 under Saban and Les Miles. Former Tiger football player Troy Giddens was arrested earlier this week after allegedly punching freshman defensive tackle Joseph Barksdale. Giddens, a redshirt freshman, was kicked off the team for identity theft on April 19.

Alabama’s quarterback depth will increase when Thomas Darrah (6-5, 200), who is from Newnan High, walks on this fall. He threw for over 7,000 yards and 50 scores in his career. Fullback Le’Ron McClain was drafted in the fourth round by Baltimore and tailback Kenneth Darby went in the sixth round to Tampa Bay. Defensive back Ramzee Robinson ended up as the last pick in the draft to Detroit.

South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier was asked this week about a border rivalry between North Carolina and South Carolina (the teams play in 2007 and 2010). He said future schedules will make it difficult. When he arrived in Columbia, the Gamecocks had only four players from North Carolina. Spurrier said there may be as many as 16 from the neighboring state by next year.

Spurrier joked to a booster group this week that freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia “hadn’t been arrested in the past two months”. He added that Garcia was an athlete along with line of Syvelle Newton. Spurrier said this week that he hopes some of the defensive linemen will make the switch to offense. The Gamecocks could have as many as 14 defensive linemen in the fall. He also said outside linebacker Casper Brinkley could move to defensive line. Spurrier wants to use an eight-man rotation on the defensive line during the season.

Kentucky defensive end Josh Minton could miss most of the ’07 season after he tore a ligament in his knee. He was fighting for time at the position. He was the third Wildcat—along with freshman linebackers Chris Cessna and Brandon Thurmond-- to sustain a potential season-ending knee injury. Quarterback Curtis Pulley had been readmitted to school after withdrawing in spring for academic reasons. He was a backup quarterback and receiver last season. Pulley will begin classes in August and redshirt this season.

Arkansas defensive end Jamaal Anderson was taken by Atlanta in the first round of the draft. Defensive back Chris Houston and offensive lineman Tony Ugoh went in the second round.

Florida State denied Brandon Warren’s appeal of his transfer request. He is hoping to transfer to Tennessee. Moses McCray (6-3, 270), a defensive lineman from Tampa (Fla.) Middleton, is commitment No. 8 for the Seminoles. Florida, Maryland, Pitt, South Carolina and South Florida have offered him.

Boston College opened the spring game with a 59-yard pass from quarterback Matt Ryan to receiver Clarence Megwa. Ryan was 19- of- 33 for 233 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Chris Cane was 8- of- 12 for 108 yards. Senior running back Andre Callender led all the players with 67 yards on 18 carries. The new coaching staff has given lip service to throwing the ball down the field. Former head coach Tom O’Brien and offensive coordinator Dana Bible threw the ball down the field, but it was mostly down the right sideline. Jack Bicknell, Jr. has been named to the coaching staff. He was the starting center during Doug Flutie’s Heisman Trophy Year in 1984. Bicknell, who spent eight years as the head coach of Louisiana Tech, was the offensive line coach at Texas Tech before coming to BC. Bicknell’s father was the head coach of BC from 1981-90.

Miami has offered Nease (Fla.) High quarterback Ted Stachitas (6-0, 180), who threw for over 2,000 yards and ran for over 1,000 yards. He accounted for 29 touchdowns passing and 12 running. Stachitas has picked up offers from Miami, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Maryland. Florida is on his interest list, but they have not offered him. Miami head coach Randy Shannon needs his defensive backs to step up this season. With Glenn Sharpe and Bruce Johnson sitting out with injuries, Randy Phillips, Chavez Grant and Carlos Armour received much of the reps. Armour really impressed defensive back coach Wesley McGriff. The loss of Anthony Reddick to an ACL injury means Kenny Phillips and Lovon Ponder will be the starting safeties. There is not much experience behind them.

Maryland has is spring game last Saturday as the White team beat the Red team, 27-10 in front of 9,300 fans. Quarterback Josh Portis, who was 3- of- 9 for 104 yards, threw a scoring pass to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey after his team was down, 20-3. Maryland’s first team defense had three picks. Quarterback Jordan Steffy, who was 7- of- 12 for 80 yards, threw three picks in the game after throwing only two all of spring practice. Linebacker Erin Henderson had nine solo tackles. Redshirt freshman tailback Morgan Green led all rushers with 92 yards on 19 carries.

Virginia has announced a home and home series against Southern Cal beginning in 2008 at Charlottesville to open the season on Aug. 30. The return game at USC will be Sept. 11, 2010.

Southern Cal Pete Carroll said he is not leaving the school after this season. Carroll responded to Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh’s statement to CBSSportsline.com who said he heard inside the Trojan staff than Carroll was leaving after next season.

UCLA quarterback Ben Olson won the job over Patrick Cowan, who beat USC last season.

West Virginia signee Noel Devine, a running back from North Fort Meyers (Fla.) High, said he is close to qualifying. Devine said he has achieved the score he needed for his ACT and now has to maintain his grade point average.

Texas has 19 of 22 verbal commitments already spoken for before May 1.

Arizona State former coach Dirk Koetter has coached three starting quarterbacks this season. ASU transfer Max Hall won the starting job this spring at BYU. Dennis Erickson, the new coach at ASU, inherits Rudy Carpenter who caused the transfer of Sam Keller, the favorite to start at Nebraska.

Florida International could lose 12 scholarships when the NCAA Academic Progress Report comes out on Wednesday according to AD Pete Garcia. The reason for the loss of scholarships is poor graduation rates. The football program gave up six scholarships in January and will forfeit three more this summer. Garcia said the school has made several changes to improve its academic situation.

There were 112 warning letters that went out. Only 11 went to BSC conference schools. Arizona’s football team could lose four scholarships. The critical score is 925. This is the third year of APR. The NCAA’s threaten penalties aren’t going to kick in until the fourth year. Bigger schools have more resources to use toward more tutors, academic centers, etc. the problem comes with the poorer schools who might take more academic risks and don’t have the money. In the SEC, the problem could be in basketball. For example, Auburn was 877 or last in basketball, but first in football.

Schedules: The Orlando Sententiel had an interesting review of upcoming schedules. The ACC leads all conferences with 22 non-conference games against other BCS conference schools, the highest of any league. Duke and Florida State are playing three non-conference BCS schools, the national high. The league also plays seven I-AA schools.

The Big East is playing 15 non-conference schools. Syracuse plays three BSC schools. The league also plays seven games against I-AA teams.

SEC schools play 14 games against BCS schools, but nine against I-AA foes, the most of any conference.

The Pac 10 plays 11 games against BCS schools and just two against I-AA schools, the lowest of any conference.

Eight schools out of 65 BSC league teams-Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Texas, Minnesota and Texas Tech—play no BSC non-conference games.

PAY FOR PLAY: Chicago congressman, Rep. Bobby Rush, the chairman of House Energy and Commerce subcommittee wants to have university presidents come to a hearing to examine whether or not college players should be paid. He wants to know why college basketball and football players are not compensated for traveling logging hundreds of hours for training, practice and games (free labor) that can help schools reap millions of dollars.

BRENT BEAIRD IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR MYCLAYSUN IN ORANGE PARK, FLA. HE ALSO WRITES FOR RIVALS.COM, SAMSPORTSLINE.COM AND GATOR BAIT MAGAZINE. HE CAN BE HEARD ON SPORTS RADIO 1010 XL.