UNDATED (AP) — Villanova’s Collin Gillespie is ready to make the most of his second chance at a senior season. Gillespie was the co-Big East player of the year last season but tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during a victory over Creighton that enabled Villanova to clinch the Big East regular-season championship.  The injury ended his senior season early and prevented him from participating in the NCAA Tournament. Gillespie now is back as a fifth-year senior and feeling healthy again.  

UNDATED (AP) — With much of the Southeastern Conference enjoying an open date, there are still a couple of marquee matchups. No. 10 Mississippi visits 18th-ranked Auburn in the only Top-25 game. Led by Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Corral, the Rebels are ranked in the Top 10 for the first time since the final poll of 2015.  No. 1 Georgia and Florida face off in Jacksonville. It’s the first time this East Division rivalry hasn’t matched up Top 10 games since 2017. 

UNDATED (AP) — Playing in the top-heavy SEC East could work out well for No. 1 Georgia’s championship hopes. The Bulldogs appear to have a smooth path to the Southeastern Conference championship football game in Atlanta. They can thank the Eastern Division. Georgia plays Florida this week as the first of three consecutive games against SEC East teams which currently have losing conference records. Despite having Georgia to boost its credibility, the East lacks depth and is again playing catch-up to the West, which has won 11 of the last 12 SEC championships. The East’s lone SEC champion in that span was Georgia in 2017. 

UNDATED (AP) — The Big Ten is in the spotlight before the College Football Playoff releases its first rankings next week. No. 20 Penn State is at No. 5 Ohio State, which features the nation’s best offense at 49.3 points per game. No. 6 Michigan and No. 8 Michigan State are both 7-0 heading into their first top-10 matchup since 1964. No. 9 Iowa is at Wisconsin in a matchup of two of the country’s best defenses. Elsewhere, No. 1 Georgia is a two-touchdown favorite over Florida in their annual rivalry game.

UNDATED (AP) — Expectations are sky high in the Southeastern Conference for Dawn Staley and top-ranked South Carolina. The Gamecocks were picked to win their sixth SEC regular-season women’s basketball title in the past nine years. They’ve also won six of the last seven SEC Tournament titles. And don’t expect a drop off from last year’s Final Four run. South Carolina has the country’s No. 1 recruiting class to blend with the full complement of players who were part of last year’s NCAA Tournament appearance. Tennessee was picked second in the preseason with Texas A&M third and Kentucky fourth. 

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Patrick Baldwin could have signed with just about any college basketball program in the country as one of the nation’s top-10 prospects in his class. He opted to stay home and play for his father at Milwaukee. His choice instantly made the Horizon League school one of the nation’s most interesting stories in this college basketball season. Baldwin was ranked seventh in his class according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports. He’s 6-foot-9 and can play multiple positions.

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