Here is the latest SEC sports news from The Associated Press (2024)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The NCAA women’s selection committee will release the seeding for the entire tournament field for the first time next season. The change means the full seed list for all 68 teams will be revealed on Selection Sunday as it has been with the men. NCAA Division I Basketball Committee chair Derita Dawkins says the change will provide additional transparency. The committee also announced that the first- and second-round games will continue to be hosted by the top 16 seeds on March 19-24, 2025. Birmingham, Alabama, and Spokane, Washington, will then host eight-team regionals.

UNDATED (AP) — The Pac-12’s existing bowl game agreements will continue through the 2025 season despite the league’s breakup. Among other things, it means Oregon State and Washington State, the two remaining Pac-12 schools after the conference collapsed in realignment last summer, will retain their postseason opportunities. The league has worked with the ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten conferences on the agreements for the Holiday Bowl, Independence Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, LA Bowl, Sun Bowl, Alamo Bowl and the ESPN bowl pool.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Monte Kiffin, the longtime NFL and college assistant coach whose Tampa Bay defenses routinely ranked among the league’s best, died Thursday. He was 84. One of the architects of the ultra successful Tampa 2 defensive scheme, Kiffin spent 13 seasons as defensive coordinator of the Bucs under former coaches Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden from 1996 to 2008 and helped the franchise win the first of its two Super Bowl titles. The University of Mississippi football program announced on the social media platform X that Kiffin passed away surrounded by family and friends in Oxford, Mississippi, where Kiffin’s son, Lane, is coach of the Rebels.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia has ruled that some college athletes may qualify as employees under federal wage-and-hour laws. The court says a test should be developed to differentiate students who play college sports for fun from those whose effort “crosses the legal line into work” that benefits the school. The NCAA had hoped to have the case dismissed. It now goes back to a trial judge for fact finding. The ruling follows a Supreme Court case that led the NCAA to allow athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis will host championships for all three NCAA divisions and the NIT in 2026, and the governing body’s men’s basketball committee has also approved including the Torvik and Wins Against Bubble rankings among metrics in evaluating teams for next year’s tournament. The Indiana capital and NCAA home was previously chosen in 2018 to host the 2026 men’s Division I Final Four. Divisions II and III finals have been added for the Sunday before the top-level title game, with the NIT final site to be determined. The committee added the Torvik projected team rankings and WAB metrics for the 68-team field for next year and approved Keith Gill as vice chair for next season.

UNDATED (AP) — Georgia starting linebacker Smael Mondon was arrested by Athens-Clarke County police on Wednesday night on charges of speeding and reckless driving, according to jail records. Earlier this week, freshman offensive lineman Bo Hughley was arrested by University of Georgia police on similar charges as the team’s difficulty with driving offenses continues more than a year after a player and staffer died in a crash while racing. On March 24, running back Trevor Etienne was arrested on charges of drunken driving. The DUI charges against Etienne were dismissed Wednesday when he pleaded no contest to other charges.

UNDATED (AP) — Texas backup quarterback Arch Manning has announced his likeness will be used in EA Sports College Football 25 following reports he had declined the game developer’s offer to be featured in it. Manning is the grandson of former Saints QB Archie Manning and nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning. He posted Tuesday on social media a video of Eli reading him a phony play call while he threw a touchdown pass in the video game. The video was captioned, “I’m IN the game.” Multiple outlets had reported Manning initially declined EA Sports’ offer. He was the highest-profile player to reportedly opt out.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gymnast Livvy Dunne will return for a fifth season at LSU, saying on social media she’s “not Dunne yet.” The decision brings back one of college sports’ most marketable athletes to a Tigers program coming off its first national championship. The 21-year-old from New Jersey read a statement in a video montage posted on Instagram on Monday in which the All-American says, “No matter how many opportunities come my way off the mat, there’s just something about LSU” and being part of a squad that made school history. Dunne is one of the top earners in name, image and likeness compensation and has a massive social media following.