Alabama
Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia could be kept in smaller SEC schedule
Kirby Smart on college football’s future
Kirby Smart urges leaders to prioritize the game’s future over personal or conference agendas in playoff talks.
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Light the cigars, folks, and score a noteworthy step toward the preservation of SEC rivalry games.
A longstanding discussion point around SEC circles has been that, unless the conference moves to a nine-game conference schedule, prominent secondary rivalry games like Alabama-Tennessee and Auburn-Georgia could fall off the annual schedule.
But, there’s a conference schedule model on the table that would preserve multiple annual rivalry games for at least some SEC schools, even within an eight-game conference schedule format.
Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia and Texas-Texas A&M are among the rivalry games that could be preserved within a continued eight-game format.
The rivalry games for those teams would come in addition to other rivalries like the Iron Bowl, Florida-Georgia and Oklahoma-Texas.
“We’re attentive to real, key rivalries, and we have (eight-game) models that can accommodate those,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday.
The conference eliminated divisions after expanding to 16 teams with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas. That prompted a renewed look at schedule format and rivalry preservation. Debate on the SEC’s schedule continues among stakeholders this week at the conference’s spring meetings.
Two years ago, the conference considered two primary schedule models: An eight-game model that would preserve only one rival per team; or, a nine-game model that would earmark three annual rivals per team.
The nine-game model would have assured Alabama would keep playing the Iron Bowl and the “Third Saturday in October” game against Tennessee, after which the victorious team lights cigars.
For Georgia, the nine-game model would mean continuing to play Florida every year, but also keeping alive the “Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” against Auburn.
The SEC voted in 2023 to retain an eight-game conference schedule for two years. But, the conference devised the eight-game lineup so that it kept key secondary rivalries like Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee on the schedule.
Now, the SEC’s schedule is up for review again. The SEC has not voted on a schedule format for 2026 and beyond.
So, will it be eight or nine games? No verdict yet.
But, even if it stays at eight, that doesn’t mean Alabama-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia or Texas-Texas A&M must go on the chopping block. Sankey made that clear Tuesday.
Sankey wouldn’t commit to every SEC team being assigned two rivals within an eight-game schedule model, but keeping multiple rivalry games alive is an option for certain teams.
“We have ideas,” Sankey said.
Sankey would not commit to a timeline on when the SEC will vote on its schedule format for 2026.
One item affecting that decision: The College Football Playoff format for 2026 has not been approved. Multiple athletics directors and coaches expressed reluctance to determine a conference schedule model before the future CFP format is decided.
And, in fact, Sankey said the future playoff format might not be finalized until several months from now. The uncertain nature of the CFP “is a bit of an inconvenient reality, but that’s reality,” Sankey said.
Sankey, at least, sounded open to the SEC deciding the conference’s 2026 schedule format before the playoff format is hammered out.
“You can make decisions about what you can control,” like the conference’s schedule, Sankey said, “and then you can have influence over” the playoff format.
One element within the SEC’s control: Whether to retain primary rivalry games, plus at least some secondary rivalry games. And Sankey made clear that multiple avenues remain to retain some prominent secondary rivalries.
“The conversation about annual games that need to be played has been a focus” for several years, Sankey said.
That’s encouraging news for those wanting to smell the cigar smoke every year after the “Third Saturday in October,” or those who want to see Auburn and Georgia continue a rivalry that dates to 1892.
The rivalries continued throughout the conference’s division era, even though those rivals were in opposite divisions.
Even as the conference swelled to 12 teams, then to 14, and now at 16, Auburn-Georgia and Alabama-Tennessee have remained a fixture of the SEC’s schedule in every season since World War II.
“We’ve presented (a model) to protect those in an eight-game schedule, going forward,” Sankey said.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
Governor Kay Ivey on Thursday set an execution date for death row inmate Jeremy Williams, who was convicted in the 2021 kidnapping, rape and murder of 5-year-old Kamarie Holland in Phenix City.
Williams is scheduled to be executed by the state’s three-drug lethal injection during a 30-hour window beginning at 12 a.m. August 13 and ending at 6 a.m. August 14. The execution date comes after the Alabama Supreme Court granted a request from Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office on June 16, authorizing the state to carry out the sentence.
In a letter to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Greg Lovelace, Ivey said the Supreme Court’s June 16 order serves as the official death warrant for Williams.
“By law, I am required to specify the time frame for carrying out the sentence of death,” Ivey said. “Accordingly, I hereby order that Jeremy Lee Williams’s sentence of death be carried out within a time frame beginning on August 13, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. and ending on August 14, 2026, at 6:00 a.m.”
Ivey noted that she retains the authority to commute the sentence before the execution takes place.
Williams, 34, was convicted in April 2024 on four counts of capital murder stemming from Holland’s death. Prosecutors charged him with capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a rape, capital murder during first-degree sodomy and capital murder of a child younger than 14.
Authorities said Holland disappeared from her family’s home in Phenix City on December 13, 2021. Her body was discovered two days later inside an abandoned house less than a mile away. An autopsy determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
In addition to the death sentence, Williams received several other prison terms. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking and for knowingly producing recordings depicting the sexual abuse of a child. He also received another life sentence for a separate sexual abuse conviction, along with a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to commit human trafficking and a 10-year sentence for abuse of a corpse.
Unlike most death row inmates, Williams sought to speed up the execution process. During a hearing, he told the court that he accepted responsibility for his actions and wanted the sentence carried out.
In 2025, Williams dismissed his attorneys and informed the court that he wished to waive any remaining appeals and proceed with his execution. Russell County Circuit Court Judge David Johnson determined that Williams was competent to make that decision and allowed him to forgo further legal challenges.
Under Alabama law, capital convictions automatically receive appellate review. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals subsequently affirmed Williams’ conviction and death sentence in March.
After that review concluded, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office petitioned the Alabama Supreme Court in May to authorize an execution date. The court granted the request earlier this week, clearing the way for Ivey to schedule the execution.
If carried out as scheduled, Williams’ execution would occur nearly five years after Holland’s death and a little more than two years after he was sentenced to death.
Williams’ execution would be Alabama’s first by lethal injection since April 2025. The state’s three most recent executions were carried out using nitrogen hypoxia, which Alabama began using in 2024.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – You don’t find too many camps where you learn how to slap someone. But this summer, you will in Montgomery. It’s one of many kids camps put on by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.
“We have our Camp Shakespeare Junior which is our half day for the littles, kindergarten through 3rd grade,” said Cameron Williams, the ASF director of education. “We have Big Kid Shakespeare camp and everyone is learning all about ‘Much Ado About Nothing’.”
They learn about on stage combat, different acting techniques, and also how to be creative and think on their feet.
“I think theater skills are life skills. So, what makes this camp special is we’re doing more than just boosting literacy and doing theater things. We’re doing life skills, learning what it means to be team players, about discipline, and working with people who may have different personalities than you.”
Different kids have different talents. And even if your child isn’t up for a lead role in the next play, this place can leave a lasting impact.
“If you’re looking for a place where your kid can come out of their shell, to learn how to speak in front of a group, and develop some confidence, this is the place to be.”
It’s a place that’s a real treasure in Montgomery, and its mining some young gems, who one day, could be on the big stage themselves. There are still more ASF camps going on this summer for pre-teens and even adults.
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Huntsville-based defense contractor LOGZONE Inc. has agreed to pay $507,144 to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with cybersecurity requirements in contracts with the U.S. Department of the Navy, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The settlement resolves claims brought under the False Claims Act alleging that LOGZONE knowingly submitted claims for payment while not meeting certain cybersecurity standards required under two Navy contracts.
Federal officials alleged that between May 2021 and March 2025, LOGZONE did not implement specific cybersecurity controls outlined in National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-171. The standards are designed to protect sensitive defense information handled by government contractors.
According to the Justice Department, the deficiencies were identified during an assessment conducted by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). The evaluation resulted in LOGZONE receiving a score of -170 on a scale ranging from -203 to 110, indicating significant gaps in compliance with required security controls.
The government alleged that the missing cybersecurity measures could have increased the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive information or the exploitation of company systems.
The settlement does not include a determination of liability. As part of the agreement, LOGZONE will pay $507,144 to resolve the allegations.
Federal officials said the enforcement action reflects ongoing efforts to ensure government contractors comply with cybersecurity obligations tied to federal contracts, particularly those involving sensitive defense information.
The investigation and settlement involved the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, the Department of the Navy, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
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Additional details regarding corrective actions taken by the company were not immediately available.
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