NEW YORK (AP) — Georgia will open the season ranked No. 1 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll a year after having its two-year run as national champion end. The Bulldogs received 46 of the 55 first-place votes from college football coaches. Preseason No. 2 Ohio State got seven votes at No. 1, followed by Oregon, Texas and Alabama. The Associated Press preseason college football poll is scheduled to be released next Monday. Texas and defending national champion Michigan each got a first-place vote. The Wolverines will open ranked No. 8.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A person familiar with the situation says Florida running back Montrell Johnson is considered week to week following arthroscopic knee surgery. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not disclosed Johnson’s injury. The person says Johnson was injured during the opening days of training camp and adds that his surgery was considered minor. Johnson should be back in time for the Gators’ season opener against in-state rival Miami on Aug. 31. Johnson, a senior who followed coach Billy Napier to Gainesville from Louisiana-Lafayette, led the Gators in rushing the last two seasons.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida receiver Eugene Wilson III was surprised he wasn't on any of the All-Southeastern Conference preseason teams. Wilson had 61 catches for 538 yards and six touchdowns last year. It was by far the most by any freshman in the league. But his debut season wasn’t enough to garner any love from league media heading into Year 2. He plans to use that as motivation. Wilson should have chances to prove he’s one of the SEC’s elite since he's expected to be the centerpiece of coach Billy Napier’s offense this season.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Tradition-rich college football programs Nebraska, Ohio State and Alabama are capitalizing on the passion of their fans to generate funds for their NIL collectives. Nebraska is charging $25 for an open practice Saturday. Ohio State is charging $50 to attend one of four open practices. Alabama will let fans in for free to their open practice but charge for an autograph session afterward. Thilo Kunkel researches NIL's impact on college sports as a faculty member at Temple. He said charging admission to watch practice is a creative and smart way to raise NIL funds at brand-name programs.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky and the NCAA have reached a settlement over infractions that included 11 football players getting paid for work they did not perform in 2021 and ’22. The negotiated resolution was announced Friday. It says the school agreed with the NCAA Committee on Infractions that some football players received impermissible benefits and that rules violations took place in the school’s swimming program. Kentucky agreed to spend two years on probation, pay an undisclosed fine and vacate records of any games in which ineligible football players competed. The swimming infractions involved excessive practice and athletes not being given required days off.
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Georgia has opened practice without wide receiver Rara Thomas, who has been dismissed from the team following his arrest on charges of cruelty to children and battery. Coach Kirby Smart says he met with Thomas on Tuesday and informed the junior of the decision. Thomas was arrested early Friday on felony charges of cruelty to children and misdemeanor battery charges. Georgia announced after the arrest Thomas was indefinitely suspended. Thursday’s announcement made the removal of Thomas from the team permanent. Thomas was released on $3,500 bond Tuesday. Georgia was picked to win the league at SEC media days.
PARIS (AP) — Three-quarters of the nearly 600 American athletes lining up for action at the Paris Olympics got their training in college sports in the United States. It’s an eye-opening figure that places the future of the Olympics themselves into the equation as the NCAA and its biggest schools set priorities when they start paying college athletes. NCAA President Charlie Baker told The Associated Press he thinks colleges are going to have to make tough choices in the near future. He was in Paris for the opening ceremony that took place at around the same time litigators filed details of a multibillion-dollar settlement that calls for players to share in revenue and is bound to alter the course of the NCAA.
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