Alabama and Auburn are set to play two of the most anticipated regular-season games, perhaps ever, in the coming weeks.

There was change at the top of this week's USA TODAY Sports Bracketology with Alabama rising to a No. 1 seed at the expense of SEC rival Tennessee.

Over at USA TODAY Sports, Alabama moved up to a No. 1 seed, replacing the Tennessee Volunteers in the latest projections from the three-man panel of Eddie Timanus, Erick Smith and Paul Myerberg. The trio see Nate Oats’ team facing projected MAAC champion Marist in a first-round game.

Running back Omar Mabson was a 2026 recruit, but he felt ready to go to the college level and he could do so scholastically, so he reclassified to the 2025 class.

Practices begin for four former Crimson Tide players on Tuesday with Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer scheduled to make a media appearance.

With last week's winter storm bringing snow and ice to Lee County, East Alabama Health employees faced the challenge with hundreds staying overnight at the hospital and other facilities so they could be at work the next day.

The Auburn Tigers hosted their in-state rival Alabama and came away with a pair of wins by scores of 162-138 (women) and 177.5-122.5 (men).

The Auburn Rodeo has announced that one of the hottest music acts to come out of Alabama in recent years will top its 2025 lineup.

No. 14 Mississippi State (16-4, 4-3) has lost three of its last five games with the setbacks all coming against ranked foes: then-No. 6 Kentucky, No. 1 Auburn and then-No. 6 Tennessee. The Bulldogs notched a 65-60 road victory in overtime versus South Carolina on Saturday. Alabama beat visiting LSU 80-73 on Saturday.

The No. 13 Bulldogs (16-4, 4-3 SEC) are hosting No. 4 Alabama (17-3, 6-1) at Humphrey Coliseum on Wednesday (8 p.m. CT, SEC Network). They are 0-3 against top-10 opponents this season, with losses to Auburn,

But the 6-foot-1, 180-pound sophomore did find his way back. Tuesday night against Vanderbilt, he led Alabama in scoring, putting up 22 points off the bench in Coleman Coliseum during the Crimson Tide’s 103-87 win.

UConn and Kansas opened the 2024-25 season as the teams with the best odds of winning the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Those two programs were followed by Duke, Alabama, Houston to round out the top five. UConn currently has the 17th-shortest odds (45-1) to win the tournament,