Colquitt is the eighth Vol player--Gerald Jones and Ahmad Paige (marijuana possession), freshman running back Daryl Vereen (public intoxication), Anthony Parker (disorderly conduct), walk-on defensive back Vince Faison (DUI) and linebacker Dorian Davis and defensive back Antonio Wardlow (both suspended violation of team policy) -- since Jan. 11 to be involved with the police, suspended or dismissed from the program for violation of team rules. John Adams, a columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel, called for coach Phil Fulmer to step down at the end of next season because of the off-the-field problems. Fulmer defended his disciplinary tactics in a report that came out on Friday.

LSU: Quarterback Ryan Perrilloux is indefinitely suspended from the football team for the third time in nine months. There are plenty of reports that Perrilloux has cleaned out his locker after disputes with the coaching staff. Perrilloux’s biological father also recently died on Feb. 7. He has had several run-ins with the law. Perrilloux was suspended in May for trying to get into a casino with his brother’s ID. He was suspended a week before the Alabama game for his being involved in fight in a club near campus. Perrilloux, who was the MVP of the SEC title game, was also questioned about a counterfeiting ring last winter but he was never charged.

Other LSU quarterbacks behind him are Jarrett Lee and T.C. McCartney (the son of former Colorado quarterback Sal Aunese and the grandson of former Buffalo coach Bill McCartney), both redshirt freshmen and Andrew Hatch, a transfer from Harvard. Jordan Jefferson signed a LOI on signing day. Spring practice begins Feb. 29.

Tiger coach Les Miles also made it official Monday that Joe Robinson will be the special teams coach and Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto are co-defensive coordinators.

ALABAMA: Defensive lineman Jeremy Elder has been indefinitely suspended from the team in light of reports that he was charged with two counts of armed robbery over the weekend. Elder admitted to the robbery that netted him $26. Since Saban has been at Alabama, seven players have been arrested. Alabama offensive lineman B J Stabler will not return for his senior season after battling knee injuries for most of his career.

AUBURN: The Tigers start spring practice on Sunday, four days earlier than planned. Auburn’s spring game is March 29.

KENTUCKY: After Temple pulled out of this season’s schedule, Wildcat officials might be close to filling the void with Ohio University. The game will be played on Sept. 27. Ohio beat Syracuse and lost a tough game to Vanderbilt last season.

OLE MISS: New offensive coordinator Kent Austin met the media last week for the first time. Austin, who likes to run the spread offense, said his philosophy will mesh well with Houston Nutt’s run- dominated thinking. Houston Nutt is spending $3.6 million for nine assistants over the next three years on contracts for his assists. Offensive line coach Mike Markuson will make $300,000.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Gamecock secondary coach Ron Cooper interviewed for the defensive coordinator job at North Carolina. Minnesota defensive coordinator Everett Withers was hired for the job. Receiver Dion Lecorn was arrested at an apartment for marijuana possession. Lecorn had 27 catches for 315 yards last season. His teammate, receiver Matthew Clements, who was with him at the time of his arrest, was found by authorities to be wanted in Florida for failure to appear.

MISSISSIPPI STATE: The nine on- the- field coaches for the Bulldogs received a $400,000 raise over last season. Offensive coordinator Woody McCorvey’s salary went from $200,000 to $275,000. State was No. 113 in total offense last year averaging 297 yards per game. They were No. 96 in scoring offense averaging 21 ppg.

FLORIDA: Greg McGarity, Florida’s executive associate athletic director, has applied for the job of athletic director at LSU. Skip Bertman retires this summer.

Gator quarterback John Brantley has a partial dislocation of his non-throwing shoulder that he sustained during mat drills. His father, John Brantley III, has questioned why the injury happened. Brantley was matched up with tight end Aaron Hernandez, who outweighs him by 60 pounds, in the drills. Various players said in last year’s mat drills, some one-on-one wrestling was involved.

FORMER GATOR ASSISTANTS: Joe Wickline, an offensive line coach at Oklahoma State, has been given the additional duty of running game coordinator. Bobby Pruett has joined the Virginia staff as defensive coordinator replacing Mike London. Larry Fedora has created such a buzz at Southern Miss that the spring game will be played at 6 p.m. on April 12.

SOUTHERN MISS: Antwain Easterling, a running back from Miami (Fla.) Northwestern, has been suspended indefinitely. Easterling got in trouble while at Miami Northwestern for having sex with a 14-year old girl when he was 18. A pretrial program allowed him to avoid prosecution and the charges against him to be dropped.

CENTRAL FLORIDA: The Knights have most of the 2008 schedule completed. The non-conference games are South Carolina State to open the season on Aug. 30, South Florida on Friday, Sept. 5, at Boston College on Sept. 20 and at Miami on Oct. 11. A road game at Tulsa and a home game at East Carolina could be Sunday night broadcasts.

ACC FOOTBALL

CLEMSON: Coach Tommy Bowden has yet to sign his new contract after agreeing to it two months ago. All parties involved said the delay is due to ironing out the wording.

NORTH CAROLINA: Coach Butch Davis has hired Everett Withers after he served as the Minnesota defensive coordinator after one year. Withers, who has coached in the NFL as an assistant, has served stints at Austin Peay, Tulane and Southern Miss.

FLORIDA STATE: Running back Jamaal Edwards is transferring to another school. He only had 43 rushes in his career. Junior offensive lineman Geoff Berniard is not on the roster. He played little in four years. Marcus Ball is contemplating a move from linebacker to safety. James Coley has been officially named as the tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator replacing John Lilly who accepted a job with the Georgia staff.

C. J. Mizell (6-2, 212), a linebacker from Tallahassee Leon, is commitment No. 4 for the Noles. He has offers from Florida, Maryland, South Carolina and N C State. Bob Minnix is the latest of former AD Dave Hart’s staff to leave. Minnix is leaving for Washington State.

VIRGINIA: Quarterback Jameel Sewell is not on the spring roster. Reports have questioned his academic status.

MIAMI: A. J. Highsmith (6-0, 188), a quarterback/defensive back from Fort Bend Hightower High in Texas, has committed to the Canes. Highsmith, who has a 3.5 grade point average, is the son of Cane great Alonzo Highsmith. He wants to enroll in January. Bryce Brown (6-0, 212), a five-star running back from Wichita, Kansas, has committed to the Canes.

The Canes start spring practice Feb. 26. There are several interesting battles among quarterbacks (Robert Marve, Jacory Harris, and Cannon Smith), receivers (Aldarius Johnson, Jermaine McKenzie, Sam Shields, Leonard Hankerson, Ryan Hill and Khalil Jones), running back (Javarris James and Graig Cooper rotating, Shawnbrey McNeal, Derron Thomas and Lee Chambers). New defensive coordinator Bill Young will have his first spring. The spring game is March 29.

TERRELLE PRYOR: The Rivals.com No. 1 athlete said he will not take any more visits until the basketball season is over. The final game is March 15. Pryor has until April 1 to sign with a school. Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon and Penn State are his favorites.

PENN STATE: Joe Paterno, 81, meets with school president Graham Spanier possibly this week. There is speculation that Spanier might ask Paterno (372-125-3) to step down after the next season. The last time the two met in 2004, Paterno came out of the meeting with a new five-year contract. Paterno, who made only one visit during the last few days up until national signing day, is still a fund raising force. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has been mentioned as the next head coach if the hire comes from within the staff.

SEC HOOPS

SEC RPI: Tennessee No. 1; Vanderbilt No. 10; Arkansas No. 34; Ole Miss 43, Mississippi State No. 46; Florida No. 57; Kentucky No. 73; South Carolina No. 117; Alabama No. 124; Georgia No. 130; Auburn No. 141

Rivals predictions for the NCAA tournament: Tennessee a No. 2 seed; Vanderbilt, a No. 5 seed; Miss State a No. 8 seed; Arkansas a No. 9 seed;

TENNESSEE: The Vols are 5-1 on the road in SEC play and have won eight straight after beating Auburn Wednesday. Tennessee, winners of 30 straight at home, is No. 2 in both polls, a first for the program. The Memphis game Saturday night is of historic proportions in the state.

Vol coach Bruce Pearl is concerned about the production from the point guards. In the win over Georgia, Ramar Smith and Jordan Howell combined for 3- of- 9 shooting along with six assists. J. P. Prince had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists in the Georgia game. Wayne Chism has been productive averaging 10 points and 7 rebounds in SEC action.

VANDERBILT: The Commodores have won five straight games. Guard Shan Foster is 70 points away from breaking the career scoring record of Matt Freije. The Florida win was No. 1,400 in Vandy history. Vandy is 1,400-999 overall in its history. Alex Gordon has hit 24 of 30 free throws in final three minutes of regulation or in overtime. He hit four straight in the final seconds in the win over Florida Saturday. There are rumors that coach Kevin Stallings could have some interest in the Indiana job if Kelvin Sampson is fired.

MISSISSIPPI STATE: The Bulldogs’ loss to Ole Miss Wednesday snapped their three game win streak. Arkansas’ win over LSU, the same night, cut the Bulldog lead in the division to only one game. The Bulldogs have beaten the Razorbacks eight straight times at home in the Hump. However, four of State’s final six games are on the road including trips to South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. State is No. 11 in the league in free throw shooting.

ARKANSAS: Guard Gary Ervin had a game high 15 points against his former Mississippi State team in last Saturday’s loss. The Hogs are one game behind State in the SEC West race.

FLORIDA: The Gators snapped a two-game losing streak by beating South Carolina Wednesday night. Nick Calathes had 17 points and seven assists. Dan Werner added 15 points. Florida has won 20 games for the 10th straight season. Florida was 11-of-23 from three-point range. If Florida doesn’t make the NCAA tournament field, it would be the first time a previous national champ wasn’t selected since Kansas in 1989. The Gator’s signature win is over Vanderbilt.

The Gators nearly swept the Commodores, but after an 18-5 run at the end of the game, Vandy scored the final four points. Calathes had 11 points, five rebounds and six assists in the loss. He leads the SEC with 6.1 assists per game. In the Vanderbilt loss, Calathes also had a costly over and back turnover in the Vandy game. Walter Hodge was called for a questionable technical foul in the game. Florida was only 1- of- 15 (26- of -111 in the past five games before the South Carolina contest) from three point range. The Gators had 13 offensive rebounds. They are averaging 12.5 offensive rebounds in SEC play. Only one team has missed the big dance with a winning SEC record in the past five years (Tennessee 2003). Florida travels to Georgia next week, before hosting Mississippi State and Tennessee. Their final game is at Rupp Arena against Kentucky.

KENTUCKY: The Wildcats won their eighth SEC game with a victory over Georgia Tuesday. Kentucky’s win kept them in second place in the Eastern division. Coming into the Georgia game, senior guard Ramel Bradley was 53- of- 55 during the final five minutes of regulation and in overtime this season. He hit four straight in the final 10 seconds of a four point win against LSU last Saturday. Kentucky’s defense allowed LSU’s Marcus Thornton to only 12 points in the loss. In the previous seven of eight games, Thornton scored 20 or more points.

LSU: University system president John Lombardi is looking for a new chancellor, athletic director and basketball coach all at the same time. Lombardi will basically oversee the hirings, but athletic director Skip Bertman will select the basketball coach. Lombardi was the Florida president when Anthony Grant was hired to the basketball staff and a chancellor at UMass when he hired Travis Ford. Both Grant and Ford are being mentioned as possible replacements for John Brady.

ALABAMA: The Tide has lost 17- of -18 SEC road games. They are 0-5 against the SEC East. Seven of their 12 losses have been by seven points or less. Alabama lost to South Carolina after having more rebounds (33-26), assists (14-11), and field goal percentage (60-41). Mykal Riley tied Tide coach Mark Gottfried’s record of eight three- pointers in the Gamecock loss. He scored 28 points against South Carolina and 22 in a home win the previous game against Ole Miss. Richard Hendrix is the only player in the league to average a double- double with 18 points and 10 rebounds per game.

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.