SEC college football

SMU captured the last open spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, bumping Alabama to land in a bracket that placed undefeated Oregon at No. 1. The selection committee preferred the Mustangs, losers of a heartbreaker in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game, who had a far less difficult schedule than Alabama of the SEC but one fewer loss.

Georgia, Texas, Alabama and Ohio State are competing to bring in the nation's top recruiting class as high school prospects across the nation finalize their college plans. The identity of the No. 1 class according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports may not be clear until defensive tackle Justus Terry announces his decision Friday.

Alabama is getting a boost in the last rankings before the College Football Playoff bracket is set next weekend. The Crimson Tide won last week and moved up two spots to No. 11. Alabama is projected as the last team in and the fourth from the Southeastern Conference.

Kalen DeBoer and Hugh Freeze are finding it's awfully hard to win in the Southeastern Conference these days. Now, they can try to beat each other. DeBoer caps his first regular season with the 13th-ranked Crimson on Saturday against Freeze’s Auburn Tigers, with the team’s league championship hopes dashed and playoff chances severely damaged.

One thing is sure as the Southeastern Conference wraps up its first expanded season: Two new teams has just meant more chaos in a league that seemingly had settled in formation behind Georgia and Alabama. The SEC's final week is filled with rivalries renewed.

Two Alabama mayors are continuing their annual tradition of an Iron Bowl wager to benefit local charities. State football rivals Auburn University and The University of Alabama face off at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday.

Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson will miss the rest of the season with an injury. Coach Kalen DeBoer has described it as “a lower extremity injury” and says Lawson is out for Saturday’s game against Auburn and the postseason. Lawson was hurt in the first half of the Crimson Tide’s 24-3 loss to Oklahoma.

Alabama and Mississippi tumbled out of the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll and Miami and SMU moved in following a chaotic weekend in the SEC. Oregon is No. 1 for the sixth straight week and Ohio State, Texas and Penn State held their places behind the Ducks.

Football fans of The University of Alabama and Auburn University can compete in the realm of citizen science through the annual Marble Bowl ahead of the highly anticipated Iron Bowl. Participants can do so by submitting observations of wild plants, animals and fungi to one of two projects on the iNaturalist platform.

Alabama faces a tougher roadblock than it might appear in its quest to maintain positioning for the College Football Playoff. Sure, Oklahoma has struggled in its first Southeastern Conference season. The Sooners have fired their offensive coordinator, and they have the worst offense in the league. But they have a tough defense, too.