Here is the latest SEC sports news from The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) With two-way star Travis Hunter of Colorado and Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty leading the field, these arent your typical Heisman Trophy contenders.

Sure, veteran quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel from top-ranked Oregon and Cam Ward of No.

15 Miami are also finalists for college footballs most prestigious award, but the 90th annual ceremony Saturday night offers a fresh flavor this year.

To start with, none of the four are from the powerhouse Southeastern Conference, which has produced four of the past five Heisman winners.

Jeanty is the first running back even invited to the Heisman party since 2017.

Hunter is Colorado's first finalist in 30 years.

UNDATED (AP) No.

6 Ohio State is very accustomed to the playoff stage, chasing another national championship since 2014 and first title game berth since 2020.

Seventh-ranked Tennessee has its own championship pedigree even with its last national title in 1998.

The Volunteers had been the butt of too many jokes for too many painful years since then.

That officially ends Dec.

21 when Tennessee visits Ohio State in the first round of the newly expanded College Football Playoff with the winner traveling to the Rose Bowl to face top-ranked Oregon.

Vols center Cooper Mays says this means they've gotten Tennessee back to where the program is supposed to be.

GAINESVILLE, Fla.

(AP) No.

9 Florida has its highest ranking in five years.

The undefeated Gators (9-0) have won every game by double digits heading into the Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta.

They face Arizona State (8-1) on Saturday.

It's a chance to start 10-0 for the third time in school history and the first time since the 2005-06 championship season.

Florida guard Alijah Martin, who transferred from Florida Atlantic where he experienced a brief top-10 ranking, says the lofty status comes with challenges.

He says "youve just got to know that people are coming.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

(AP) North Carolina's hiring of NFL coaching great Bill Belichick marks another sign of the growing influence of the NFL on college football.

The challenges of managing the transfer portal and looming revenue sharing for athletes has led teams to take on more NFL-like structures to their programs.

Belichick is set to structure North Carolina's program like an NFL front office.

That includes hiring former NFL executive Michael Lombardi as general manager.

At Florida, coach Billy Napier is interviewing general managers while saying the program is going to a business model to deal with a major math puzzle.

UNDATED (AP) Some were upset about playing time.

Others just needed a change of scenery.

In a lot of cases, it was a matter of cold, hard cash either the money they would get by going elsewhere, or the money they never got at the place they were at.

With the transfer portal open, now is a good time to look at some of the biggest winners and losers from last years round of what is essentially college football free agency.

The list includes current Georgia running back Trevor Etienne and former Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff.

LAS VEGAS (AP) Texas winning the national championship next month would be bad news for BetMGM Sportsbook.

It would be similarly disappointing if Boise State, Indiana or Arizona State won the title.

Texas has attracted a lot of money all season to go all the way.

Those other schools provide the hope of a big payoff.

The Longhorns are the co-favorite at BetMGM with No.

1 Oregon at 7-2 odds.

The other three teams are least 40-1..

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