• LSU at Mississippi State at 8 pm on ESPN

• Oklahoma State at Georgia at 6:45 pm on ESPN2
• Kansas State at Auburn at 7:45 pm on ESPN
• Tennessee at Cal at 7 pm on ABC

• Alabama at Vanderbilt at 12:30 pm on Lincoln Financial
• South Carolina at Georgia at 5:45 pm on ESPN2
• South Florida at Auburn at 9 pm on ESPN2

• Mississippi State at Auburn at 12:30 pm on LFN
• Tennessee at Florida at 3:30 pm on CBS
• Arkansas at Alabama at 6:45 pm on ESPN

SEC meetings in Destin topics: SEC TV-Network; a record payout of $120 million topping last year’s $110 million (in 1990 the league split $16.3 million and $73 million in 2000); how the league is addressing the academic progress rate (APR); and a possible playoff format. Florida president Bernie Machen wants to present a plan that involves a corporation set up to run the playoff instead of the NCAA and BSC commissioners.

Playoff possibilities: The current BCS contract runs through 2009 and a playoff could begin in 2010. Machen presented his plan to the administrators Friday. SEC commissioner Mike Slive said only one year has gone by on the four year agreement with Fox and the Rose Bowl contract is an eight-year deal. Slive said the league has at least 1.5 years to consider the playoff issue. Several of the SEC coaches would be in favor of some sort of a playoff if the bowl system remains basically intact. The plus-one system is a game where the winners of the BCS bowls would be re-ranked with the top two advancing to the title game. Other coaches prefer a four-team playoff, seeding the top four teams in the BSC poll and using two BSC bowls to play the two semifinals and another BSC bowl for a national title. The fourth BCS bowl would be left out of the equation, but would rotate into the three-game playoff system the next year.

SEC coaches voted down an early signing period by a margin of 9-3. Kentucky’s Rich Brooks, LSU’s Les Miles and Vandy’s Bobby Johnson voted for the change. South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier and Florida’s Urban Meyer prefer to leave it at the same date. Both the SEC and the Pac-10 have voted against it. ACC and Big 12 coaches are in favor of an early signing period. The big question is the date. ACC coaches want December, but SEC coaches do not.

Arkansas is the first school in SEC history to participate in the football, basketball and baseball title games. Arkansas played Florida in the SEC championship game in football and the tournament game in basketball and played Vanderbilt in the baseball title game. The Hogs picked up a verbal commitment from Kale Pick (6-1, 198), a dual-threat quarterback from Dodge City, Kansas. Colorado State, Kansas, Iowa State, Wyoming, Rice and SMU have also offered him.

Ole Miss defensive line prospects Justin Sanders (6-5, 275) and Lawon Scott (6-1, 304) arrived on campus this week to start their Rebel careers. They have yet to be reviewed by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Former UCLA cornerback Jeremy McGee is transferring to Ole Miss. He will not be eligible until the 2008 season. He played in 10 of 13 games last year for UCLA, primarily on special teams.

Auburn officials are awaiting the end of an investigation by the Mobile County Board of Education into possible grade changes for signees Nick Fairley and Ryan Williams. Harold Dodge, the Superintendent of Mobile Schools, said the investigation may not be wrapped up until next week. The NCAA Clearinghouse notified Dodge of a problem in at least one of the transcripts.

Tennessee defensive back Marsalous Johnson was found not guilty of assault on an off-duty officer last July. Johnson, who is projected as a starting cornerback, was suspended four games for the incident last season.

Kentucky signee Duran Jefferson, an athlete out of Holmes (Ky.) High School, was arrested last week on burglary charges.

Florida received some good news on Tuesday when Rivals.com released its Rivals100. A total of 47 listed Florida as one of their favorites. Defensive tackle signee Torrey Davis, who is from Armwood (Fla.) High, has qualified according to his coach Sean Callahan. Safety Dorian Munroe was arrested last week and charged with theft after he admitted to police that he had removed a UPD boot from one of his tires and put it in his trunk. He was charged with third degree felony. Receiver Percy Harvin is up to 190 pounds after working in the weight room.

Georgia picked up a verbal commitment from Christian Robinson (6-2, 204), an outside linebacker from Norcross, Ga. Georgia Tech, LSU, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Clemson and Vanderbilt have offered him.

South Carolina has plenty of receivers who could make an impact this season. Jared Cook (6-5, 236) shows great promise, but he will make a great catch then drop an easy catch. He seemed to lose his confidence after dropping a possible touchdown in the loss to Auburn. Junior college transfer Larry Freeman struggled greatly during the spring with dropped passes. Beside Kenny McKinley, the second best receiver on the team could be redshirt sophomore Freddie Brown. Freshmen Jason Barnes, Calvin Culliver and Dion LeCorn could also see early playing time.

LSU has two openings on its 2008 schedule—Sept. 6 and Sept. 13. Tiger officials have tried to ink a series with Texas A & M, but they refused after LSU cancelled a series with the Aggies in 1996-97. They have also tried to sign a series with one of the military academics, but to no avail. CBS is considering televising the Tiger’s home game against Florida on Oct. 6 for a primetime game as part of a doubleheader with Georgia at Tennessee.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said his meeting with LSU coach Les Miles was cordial. Saban also said allegations of him illegally recruiting in Miami are “funny”. The Miami Herald and CaneSport.com reported that three South Florida recruits had been contacted by Saban with more than a “greeting”. In Paul Finebaum’s Tuesday column, college football analyst Danny Sheridan was quoted as saying Steve Spurrier was Alabama’s first choice to replace Mike Shula. Spurrier remains rather quiet on the issue except to say that his family is content to be in Columbia. The Birmingham News is reporting that the Alabama at Auburn game will likely be either a 12:30 pm or 3:30 pm kickoff. CBS is also considering Clemson at South Carolina; FSU at Florida and Tennessee at Kentucky.

Alabama and Mississippi All-Stars play Saturday night at Ladd-Peeples Stadium in Mobile. The Alabama squad has won seven of the past eight games. Alabama has nine players in the game, which is second only to Mississippi State with 10. FSU has two players involved.

Boston College is still planning on playing Southern Cal. It looks like the likely years for the series will be 2013 and 2014. Details are also being worked out for a renewal of the Syracuse series.

Clemson received a verbal commitment from Matt Sanders (6-4, 293), an offensive lineman from Crestview, Fla. Duke, Iowa State, N C State and Purdue have offered him.

Florida State has commitment No.11 from A J Alexander (5-10, 163), an athlete from Altoona, Pa. Georgia, Notre Dame, Pitt, Penn State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Florida have offered him. Alexander said he was getting 70 text messages per day. Todd Stroud, who has been on the staff at N C State and Auburn, is returning as strength and conditioning coach.

Miami officials might be awaiting a contract from Dolphin Stadium officials according to the Miami Herald. No decisions will be made until several key meetings with Board of Trustees. UM officials have pointed out that the number of alumni within 20 miles of both the Orange Bowl and Dolphin Stadium is around 40,000 each.

Wake Forest received a verbal commitment from Scott Betros (6-2, 225), a linebacker from The Bolles (Fla.) School. Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Southern Miss and Ole Miss have offered him. Last season, Betros has 122 tackles for Bolles.

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.