Alabama
AJ McCarron sustains ankle injury in return to Alabama
With 40 seconds to play on Saturday, St. Louis outside linebacker Chris Garrett blocked a punt by Birmingham’s Drue Chrisman to give the Battlehawks the football at the Stallions 47-yard line trailing by four points.
That set the stage for the kind of comeback victory that St. Louis quarterback AJ McCarron has become accustomed to delivering since joining the Battlehawks last season.
And adding electricity to the storyline was the United Football League game’s location – Protective Stadium in Birmingham. A former All-American and national-championship quarterback at Alabama, McCarron also was a prep star at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile, and Saturday’s United Football League game was his first action in his home state since the Kick Six Iron Bowl in 2013.
But about seven minutes of game time before the blocked punt, McCarron had walked to the sideline and told the St. Louis coaches: “Hey, my ankle’s broken.”
Despite his injury proclamation, McCarron did not miss a snap. But he couldn’t deliver the dramatic game-winning drive either as Birmingham stayed undefeated 30-26 victory.
McCarron did not speak at St. Louis’ postgame press conference, as he usually does, as the Battlehawks said he was receiving treatment. Coach Anthony Becht did not provide an update on the quarterback during his postgame remarks.
“I know he wanted to deliver today,” Becht said, “and we just came up short. …
“He’s been doing it his whole life. He’s played in front of 100-plus thousand fans. He can deal with 10 or 12 (thousand), and most of them were cheering for him. That’s good, you know? I know he wanted this one. I know he wanted to bring this one home.”
McCarron’s return to Alabama was used as a marketing tool by the UFL, and with a reported attendance of 14,056, Birmingham had its biggest crowd of the season.
About two hours after the game ended, a statement from St. Louis said McCarron had sustained a left ankle injury and would undergo further evaluation.
McCarron had just completed a third-and-8 pass to wide receiver Hakeem Butler for a 15-yard gain to the Birmingham 22-yard line when he was taken down by Stallions nose tackle Carlos Davis on an incompletion.
Davis hit McCarron in the shins, then rolled the QB over holding his legs and got a roughing-the-passer penalty. St. Louis running back Jacob Saylors scored on a 7-yard run on the next snap to give the Battlehawks a 26-23 lead with 7:43 to play.
McCarron made his ankle announcement after the conversion try and went into the sideline medical tent.
After a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Adrian Martinez to wide receiver Kelvin Austin Jr. allowed Birmingham to take a 4-point lead with 5:23 remaining, an 8-yard loss on a sack, an 8-yard run by Saylors and an incompletion on a long pass gave the Battlehawks their first three-and-out since the opening possession. St. Louis punted with 3:10 remaining.
But Garrett’s blocked punt gave the Battlehawks an opportunity to pin the first loss of the season on Birmingham. A 7-yard completion to Saylors was followed by a run for 1 gain by McCarron as the quarterback somehow eluded a sack. But with St. Louis out of timeouts, the next snap had to be a spike to stop the clock.
A fourth-down throw to wide receiver Jahcour Person was broken up by linebacker Kyahva Tezino with 11 seconds left to seal the Stallions’ victory.
McCarron finished the game 19-of-32 passing for 161 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He ran for 24 yards on two carries, and his scrambling allowed him to throw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Saylors as the Battlehawks took a 20-17 lead with 6:17 left in the third quarter.
The Battlehawks face the D.C. Defenders at 11 a.m. May 19 at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. ABC will televise the game.
At 5-2, St. Louis will be at least tied for the XFL Conference lead after the United Football League’s Week 7 games are completed. But it remains to be seen if the Battlehawks will have their starting quarterback against D.C.
A fan cheers for quarterback AJ McCarron and the St. Louis Battlehawks during a United Football League game against the Birmingham Stallions on May 11, 2024, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham.(Photo by Butch Dill/UFL/Getty Images)
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
Alabama
How to watch Tennessee Volunteers: Live stream info, TV channel, game time | Feb. 28
Labaron Philon’s No. 18 Alabama Crimson Tide (21-7, 11-4 SEC) hit the road to match up with Ja’Kobi Gillespie and the No. 22 Tennessee Volunteers (20-8, 10-5 SEC) at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday, Feb. 28. The game starts at 6 p.m. ET.
We have more details below, including how to watch this matchup on ESPN.
Prepare for this matchup with everything you need to know ahead of Saturday’s college hoops action.
Tennessee vs. Alabama: How to watch on TV or live stream
- Game day: Saturday, February 28, 2026
- Game time: 6 p.m. ET
- Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
- Arena: Thompson-Boling Arena
- TV Channel: ESPN
- Live stream: Fubo – Watch NOW (Regional restrictions may apply)
Check out: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
Watch college basketball on Fubo!
Tennessee vs. Alabama stats and trends
- Tennessee ranks 78th in the nation with 80.5 points per game so far this year. At the other end, it ranks 62nd with 69.1 points allowed per contest.
- The Volunteers are thriving when it comes to rebounding, as they rank third-best in college basketball in boards (39.9 per game) and second-best in rebounds allowed (25.9 per contest).
- So far this season, Tennessee ranks 30th in college basketball in assists, averaging 17.1 per game.
- With 11.8 turnovers per game, the Volunteers are 257th in the country. They force 10.7 turnovers per contest, which ranks 224th in college basketball.
- This season, Tennessee is making 6.9 threes per game (271st-ranked in college basketball) and is shooting 34.7% (139th-ranked) from three-point land.
- With a 30.2% three-point percentage allowed this season, the Volunteers are 22nd-best in the country. They rank 182nd in college basketball by giving up 7.8 three-pointers per contest.
- Tennessee has taken 67.3% two-pointers and 32.7% three-pointers this year. Of the team’s buckets, 75.8% are two-pointers and 24.2% are three-pointers.
Tennessee vs. Alabama Odds and Spread
- Spread Favorite: Volunteers (-4.5)
- Moneyline: Tennessee (-222), Alabama (+179)
- Total: 164.5 points
NCAA Basketball odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Saturday at 4:11 a.m. ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.
Watch college basketball on Fubo!
Follow the latest college sports coverage at College Sports Wire.
Alabama
Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Losing to a rival almost always hurts more than falling to another opponent during the regular season. Years of hatred, unforgettable moments and tradition boiled up into one game, and the delivery is nowhere to be found for one team.
No. 17 Alabama has won seven straight games and is eyeing an eighth on Saturday on the road against No. 22 Tennessee. This is the second time that Crimson Tide will face the Volunteers, as Alabama lost in Tuscaloosa in January.
The loss a month ago to head coach Rick Barnes and company brought UA’s losing streak against Tennessee to five games. It’s the first time that the Tide has dropped this many games to the Vols since 1968-72 — a streak that came two years before Alabama head coach Nate Oats was born (Oct. 13, 1974). It’s why Oats is not treating Tennessee as a faceless opponent or like any other team the Tide has faced.
“Every year we’ve been here they’ve caused us issues,” Oats said during Friday’s press conference. “Our players, are fully aware that we’ve lost five in a row. They’re fully aware of what happened out there last year. I’ve taken ownership for my share of what happened up there last year.
“We’re fully aware that they beat us at home. We haven’t lost very many home games in conference, period, really since we’ve been here, and they handed us one this year.”
After falling to Florida on Feb. 1, Alabama moved down to the ninth spot in the conference standings, and the college basketball world started to question whether or not the Crimson Tide would be a threat in the postseason.
But a switch flipped after that loss, and the current winning streak has Alabama tied for the No. 2 spot in the SEC standings. Everything seems to be trending in the Tide’s direction, as there are only three games remaining on the schedule.
Oats is in his sixth year as Alabama’s head coach. Following the retirement of former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl during the offseason, Oats became the second-longest tenured coach for one team in the conference. The coach in front of him: Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, who has held his position since the 2015-16 season.
Both Alabama and Tennessee have finished conference play in the top-4 of the standings since the 2022-23 season. The Crimson Tide was the regular-season and SEC Tournament champions in both the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons, while the Vols won the 2022 SEC Tournament and were the conference’s regular-season champions in 2023-24.
“So our guys know, but at the same time, we’ve got a lot of respect for how they play and what they do. We’ve got to come in with a healthy amount of respect for them, but we got to try to win this game.
“There’s a lot riding on this game. What happens in Arkansas-Florida, you’re either going to be all alone in second place if we could get a win, or you’re going to be one game out first. If you take a loss, now you’re in danger of losing a top-4 seed. They’ll be tied with us if we take a loss.”
“So there’s a lot riding on the SEC standings in this game here. They know that. They know what our struggles against Tennessee have Been as well.”
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Alabama
Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city
SELMONT, Ala. (WSFA) – An unincorporated community in Dallas County is seeking to establish itself as an independent city, hoping to gain control over local government services and community priorities that have long been managed at the county level.
Selmont, located across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma, is home to approximately 2,700 registered voters and carries a significant place in civil rights history.
The community was the site of a pivotal moment during the Bloody Sunday march in 1965, when roughly 600 civil rights marchers were tear-gassed by Alabama state troopers, including 13-year-old Mae Richmond.
“People ask us ‘Were we afraid?’ No. We were not afraid. We were not afraid, first of all, even as a 13-year-old child, we knew that we were doing what God was permitting us to do,” Richmond, a 60-plus year resident of Selmont, said of the historic event.
As an unincorporated community, Selmont lacks its own municipal government. Residents must contact the Dallas County Commissioner for public works services. It’s a situation that community leaders say limits responsiveness to local needs.
Erice Williams, a community activist leading the incorporation effort, said the change would fundamentally alter how the community operates.
“It would give us decision power and allow us to get funding that we can allocate to our own community that we can make our own priorities be clear and resolved at the same time,” Williams said.
Williams also highlighted the strain on current county services. “Connel Towns (county commissioner) is the only person we have to call, and the resources and time that he would have to serve our community is very limited,” he said.
Operation Selmont, the group spearheading the incorporation effort, is currently gathering signatures on a petition to present to the local probate judge. The organization needs approximately 500 signatures to move forward with the incorporation process and has already collected 40 percent of its goal.
The next meeting for Operation Selmont is scheduled for March 6 at 6 p.m.
For longtime residents like Richmond, incorporation represents an opportunity to ensure Selmont’s future and maintain its identity for generations to come.
“That we will be able to teach and train our children to give them the strength that our foreparents had that they will be able to stand up for justice and for equality,” Richmond said of her hopes for the community’s future.
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