UNDATED (AP) — Talk about buildup for a season. College basketball had March Madness wiped out and no national champion because of the pandemic in 2020. Last season was mostly played without fans, and the NCAA Tournament was in a bubble-like environment. Well, the doors are open this season and the arenas will be packed. The fans will love it and the players will, too. And it should be an incredible ride to the Final Four in New Orleans with so many great teams, veteran players with extra eligibility and another crop of fabulous freshmen.

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington has suspended head coach Jimmy Lake without pay following a sideline incident during the Huskies’ game against Oregon. Lake is suspended from all team activities for the week and will return to his coaching responsibilities on Sunday. Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory will serve as the interim coach for Saturday’s game against Arizona State. Lake appeared to thrust his right arm toward and then shove Ruperake Fuavai during a brief skirmish on the Washington sideline during the 26-16 loss to Oregon. Fuavai appeared to be exchanging words with Oregon’s Jaylon Redd just before the incident with Lake.  

UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA has set the stage for a dramatic restructuring of college sports. The nation’s biggest and most influential governing body in college athletics released a draft of an 18 1/2-page constitution. That is cut down from 43 pages. It focuses more on the NCAA’s broader goals of athlete welfare. Most important, it would provide Division I the autonomy to reshape everything from how revenue is shared to how rules are made and enforced. The next nine months will see more work done on the details.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Nobody disputes that conference realignment has been driven by the big money from football. But while losing Oklahoma and Texas takes some shine off the Big 12, the league’s coaches believe the addition of Houston, Cincinnati, BYU and Central Florida could make what already is one of the toughest leagues in the country even tougher. Nothing comes without consequences, though, and the Big 12′s gain will have ripple effects on mid-majors from the east coast to the west.

UNDATED (AP) — Associated Press college football poll voters are grappling with how too handle head-to-head results in a season that has been filled with twists and turns. Georgia has made things easy as far as voting for No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. What comes after has been more complicated. For the first time in a month, Oregon moved ahead of No. 6 Ohio State, putting the Ducks at No. 5 by four points. Oregon reached as high as No. 3 in the nation after it beat Ohio State, but then slipped behind the Buckeyes for several weeks. Head-to-head results don’t have to be the deciding factor, but there are a few cases in this week’s poll where they probably should have been.

UNDATED (AP) — Appalachian State cornerback Steven Jones is making the most of his interceptions lately. Jones has returned three of his four interceptions the last two weeks for touchdowns, with two of the plays coming in Saturday’s 48-14 win at Arkansas State. Jones and Iowa’s Riley Moss are the only players with two in a game. North Carolina’s Ty Chander had the top rushing performance with 213 yards on 22 carries against Wake Forest. South Florida’s Brian Battie ran back two kicks 100 yards against Houston. That makes him the second player in FBS history with two 100-yarders in a game.

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