Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville's job was not in jeopardy when he decided to step down and he declined several requests from his bosses to reconsider, athletic director Jay Jacobs said Thursday. Jacobs said Tuberville's departure after 10 mostly successful seasons was "completely his decision" and that the coach would be leading the Tigers next season if he had not chosen to leave.

Don't get caught up in a race with those Florida Gators, who can dart to the edges and wave goodbye if a defender doesn't react awfully quick. Then again, it might not be a good idea to try to go toe-to-toe with Alabama, which can pound teams into the ground with massive front lines and hard-nosed tailbacks.

Florida's leading rusher Chris Rainey will play in the SEC Championship game against top-ranked Alabama on Saturday despite being hampered by a groin injury for more than a month. Florida coach Urban Meyer first disclosed the injury Thursday night when he was asked about Rainey limping off the practice field.

Just a few weeks after he was booed in his home stadium, Mike Teel walked off the field Thursday night to a standing ovation. Teel threw for 447 yards and matched a Big East record with seven touchdown passes, helping Rutgers dismantle Louisville 63-14 and give the Scarlet Knights their sixth straight win.

Despite a report that Steve Sarkisian is the guy, Washington has nothing to say on its search for a new football coach. Not yet, anyway. Athletic director Scott Woodward said Thursday night he was not going to comment on a report the Huskies had offered the job to Southern California's assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.

Kansas appears to be headed for the Insight Bowl on New Year's Eve. A person familiar with the Big 12's postseason negotiations said the Jayhawks would make a formal announcement at a 1 p.m. EST news conference on Friday in Lawrence, Kan. The person requested anonymity because no announcement had yet been made.

Boston College and Virginia Tech have played each other more in the last 14 months than any two Atlantic Coast Conference schools, so when they say they know each other well they mean it. The Eagles (9-3) and Hokies (8-4) meet for the fourth time since 2007 in Saturday's ACC championship game, with the winner earning the league's automatic BCS spot and a return trip to Florida for the Orange Bowl.

Oklahoma president David Boren isn't surprised by the outcry over the BCS rankings that propelled the Sooners into the Big 12 championship game, but he doesn't think rash changes to the system are an appopriate solution. "Every time at this time of year -- we can go back the last several years -- there have been similar disputes, and yet, the system has not been changed," Boren, a former U.S.

Ball State is going to get shut out of the Bowl Championship Series even if the 12th-ranked Cardinals beat Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference championship game on Friday night. Really, coach Brady Hoke insists that fact doesn't bother him. "We don't control any of that and that hasn't been anything we've been concerned with," Ball State's coach said.

Texas Tech reserve defensive back De'Shon Sanders was arrested early Thursday morning on two cocaine-related charges. Sanders was arrested in downtown Lubbock about 1:30 a.m., Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman David Ausiello said. The player was charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base, according to a federal...