JOSH HEUPEL

The Southeastern Conference was perhaps one blocked kick away from perfection on opening weekend, with a few impressive nonconference wins and some no-brainers.

Georgia moved up to No. 2 in the first Associated Press college football poll of the regular season.

The Atlantic Coast and Southeastern Conferences are welcoming plenty of transfers bouncing between throughout their Southern-footprint leagues.

Mitchell Fineran kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime and Purdue finished off its best season since 2003 by overcoming a 14-point deficit and beating Tennessee 48-45 on Thursday in a record-setting Music City Bowl.

Tennessee fans are nervous about Josh Heupel’s potential candidacy for the Oklahoma job. But it's not the same as Lane Kiffin's exit in 2010.

Stetson Bennett ran for a touchdown and threw for another as top-ranked Georgia remained perfect, wrapping up its Southeastern Conference schedule by routing Tennessee 41-17.

Top-ranked Georgia and No. 3 Alabama appear headed for a showdown in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

Bryce Young passed for 371 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores, carrying No. 4 Alabama to a 52-24 victory over traditional rival Tennessee.

No. 13 Mississippi held off Tennessee 31-26 on Saturday night after Rebels coach Lane Kiffin avoided being by hit by golf balls as Volunteers fans pelted the field with objects in the chaotic final minutes.

Emory Jones had two touchdown passes to go along with a career-high 144 yards rushing, leading No. 11 Florida to a 38-14 victory over Tennessee on Saturday night and extending nearly two decades of dominance in the series.

Southeastern Conference officials are trying to get back to normal on football game days, with stadiums filled with fans and grills being fired up outside, even in a portion of the country where the states have among the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates.

The rich got even richer in the Southeastern Conference when the transfer floodgates opened wide.

New York Rangers coach David Quinn, middle rear, speaks to players during a timeout in the second period of the team's NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Boston. The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___The New York Rangers will be without coach David Quinn and his entire staff tonight against Philadelphia because of NHL COVID protocol. Kris Knoblauch, who coaches the Rangers’ top minor league affiliate, the American Hockey League’s Hartford WolfPack, will serve as acting coach. Kruger said Harmon is the only Oklahoma player to test positive or be in contact tracing. The Volunteers have had multiple positive COVID-19 test results among athletes and staff members in recent rounds of testing.

Nebraska’s search for an identity in a changing college football landscape. On the latest AP Top 25 College Football Podcast, Steven Godfrey of Banner Society joins the AP’s Ralph Russo to take on the task of finding each conference’s most egregious underachiever. And how USC being unable to maximize its potential hurts all of college football. Plus, new Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea joins the show and shares his vision for transforming the Commodores. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/Ad___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

FILE - Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn argues a call during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Alabama in Auburn, Ala., in this Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019, file photo. Central Florida hired Gus Malzahn as its football coach Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, a little more than two months after he was fired by Auburn. “I truly believe that this is a program of the future in college football,” Malzahn said. Arkansas State won a conference title that season before Malzahn returned to Auburn as head coach. Ad“This is one of the top 25 coaching jobs in all of college football,” Malzahn said.

New Tennessee NCAA college football head coach Josh Heupel, left, shakes hands with University of Tennessee athletics director Danny White after being presented a jersey speaks during an introductory press conference at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (Caitie McLekin/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP, Pool)Josh Heupel believes he can win quickly at Tennessee and position the football program for long-term success. Heupel was introduced Wednesday as the program's 27th head coach and fifth, not counting interim or acting coaches, since the end of the 2008 season. New athletic director Danny White said Tennessee ran an “exhaustive nationwide search” led by the same search firm that helped land White. White was hired last week to replace the retiring Phillip Fulmer and hiring a new coach was his first task.

(AP Photo/George Frey, Pool)Preparing for the Boca Raton Bowl proved a bit of a slippery slope for the Central Florida Knights. All part of Heupel’s plan to bring a dose of fun to the bowl game with some of the customary pageantry halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “A really good football team,” Heupel said. “Kind of reminds me of why you don’t play football in Provo in December,” Sitake joked. They're 0-3 in Florida bowl games, including losses in the 1976 Tangerine Bowl, 1985 Florida Citrus Bowl and 2014 Miami Beach Bowl.

Richie Grant and Tre'mon Morris-Brash had first-quarter defensive touchdowns, Dillon Gabriel led three third-quarter scoring drives and UCF beat Marshall 48-25 in the Gasparilla Bowl on Monday. Williams caught seven passes for 132 yards and Greg McCrae had 80 rushing yards on 14 carries. Isaiah Green went 9 of 23 for 173 yards with a TD and had a rushing touchdown for Marshall (8-5). “They fought the entire game.”Green had a 3-yard rushing touchdown and hit Willie Johnson on a 70-yard TD pass, and Justin Rohrwasser made a 50-yard field goal during the third quarter. Knox, a sophomore, topped 100 yards rushing for the seventh time.