1. What’s the status of Tennessee running back Marlin Lane?  ”That’s up to Coach Jones.” Wide receiver injuries piling up for the Vols.

2. Peyton Manning on why he recruited Butch Jones…to Colorado. Impressed with coach – “I like his slogans and philosophies.”

3. Former coach on running back Braylon Heard, who’s transferring from Nebraska to Kentucky.  “He can change the game at the blink of an eye. He can go 80, 90 yards in a heartbeat.”

4. Kentucky preparing for a crowd as large as 50,000 for this Saturdays’ spring game. They won’t see any kickoffs or kick returns.

5. With Marcus Lattimore gone, a focus on running backs Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds at South Carolina.

6. Texas A&M’s spring game on Saturday will be carried live on ESPN for the first time in school history. Aggies overhauling linebacking corp.  ”“There’s a big hole to fill.”

7. Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin will serve as NFL Network analyst on the opening day of the NFL draft.

8. The first team will scrimmage the second team at Vanderbilt’s spring game on Saturday.

9. With the exception of Zach Mettenberger, LSU defenders had the go-ahead to hit all other LSU quarterbacks in practice the past few days.

10. With recruiting deregulation on hold, job responsibilities of support staff are up in the air at Auburn.  Gus Malzahn: “Right now, we’re just going day by day.”

11. Georgia’s spring practice is over but the competition for starting spots is just beginning. Coach Mark Richt: “If you’re working out this summer thinking you’ve got something nailed down, you better re-check your thinking.”

12. Hey Georgia fans, who do you want on the cover of Athlon’s preseason college football magazine?  You can vote for either Aaron Murray or Todd Gurley here.

13. With his Bulldogs team getting ready for its second spring scrimmage, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen is looking for leaders.

14. With defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson gone to an NFL as a likely first-round pick, Missouri needs someone to step up in the middle of the defensive line.

15. Arkansas defensive coordinator Chris Ash on safety Eric Bennett: “He’s been a great player. He’s been a great student of the game.”

16. With a year under his belt, expect even bigger things from Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper.  ”Everything is easier. “When I first came in, I didn’t know a lot of plays.” Dee Hart may return punts or kicks for Alabama this fall.

17. A profile of Alabama A.D. Bill Battle and his business career.  What if he hadn’t gone to Selma?

SEC Basketball

18. Billy Donovan’s wish for his Gators next year.  ”We have to get more competitive. Nastier.”

19. They may not think it now – but Missouri fans will miss Phil Pressey - “the Jerry Lewis of point guards..”

20.  Garry Parrish on why Kentucky deserves to be ranked No. 1 heading into next season.

Extras

21. When Eli and Peyton Manning need a tune-up, they turn to Duke coach David Cutcliffe.

22. The NBA’s early entry deadline has some issues.  The case of Louisville’s Russ Smith is a perfect example.

23. “Louisville faced the easiest path, seed-wise, of any national champion since UNLV in 1990.”

New Alabama athletic director Bill Battle ran a pair of companies worth billions.  He played for Paul “Bear” Bryant in Tuscaloosa.  He was friends with the man he recently replaced, Mal Moore (who passed away on Saturday).  But he was also an SEC football coach at one time.

From 1970 through 1976, Battle coached at Bama’s rival, Tennessee.  Hired to replace Doug Dickey, Battle was the youngest coach in America — just 28 — when he took over in Knoxville.  He had plenty of early success, but his record declined sharply in the few years leading up to his firing.  Still, most coaches don’t post a 59-22-2 record and then leave the game forever.  The Ron Zooks of the world start over again at lesser programs.  The Mike Archers become assistants.

But Battle walked away after his Vols saw their win total drop from 11 to 10 to eight to seven to six during his tenure.  Why the exit?

“We had some really good teams at Tennessee and a few that weren’t that good.  I decided well before my time there ended that I didn’t want to be a 65-year old coach.  Now, I didn’t want to get out when I did. But my kids were growing older and I wanted to have time with them, and I wanted to try the business end of athletics.  I didn’t know if I would be out of it for a year and want to get back in.  I had some friends in coaching who were that way, who were miserable when they weren’t coaching.  I had some chances to get back in, especially in that first year after I finished at Tennessee.

But I had a great opportunities with Larry Striplin.  I enjoyed what we were trying to build.  Larry was a dynamic man, a smart man, and we experienced great growth.  It was a great experience for me and I decided to stay with that, to stay out of coaching.  Managing a business is a lot different than coaching, but there are parallels.  You’ve got to get great talent, you’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to stay ahead of the competition.  So I loved business.  But I do want to say I had a wonderful experience at Tennessee, wouldn’t take anything for it.”

Striplin hired Battle to run a window company for him in Selma, Alabama.  While working with Striplin, Battle developed the vision for his own business, Collegiate Licensing Company, which has become a billion dollar operation under current owners IMG.

Having been fired as a coach, Battle was asked in a quick Q&A by TideSports.com if he might have to pull the trigger on any Alabama coaches in the near future.  “We will take the blueprint we have in place, we will meet with the executive staff members who have the responsibility for each sport, and we will see what we are doing well and what we need to improve,” the ex-coach said.  “And if there are issues, or opportunities that we are missing, we will deal with those things.  Over the next few months, we will do a lot of that.”

Just days after stepping away from his role as Alabama athletic director, Mal Moore has died.  The 73-year-old who’d been connected with Crimson Tide athletics for six decades died today at Duke University Medical Center.

Moore had been battling serious heart problems for the past month.  Alabama’s new AD, Bill Battle, said in a UA press release:

“The University of Alabama and the world of intercollegiate athletics have lost a legend, and I have lost a dear friend.  My heart goes out to his family and close friends in this time of sadness. After a time of grieving, we can begin to celebrate Mal’s life, as his legacy will last for generations.”

Nick Saban was also quoted in a press release:

“Mal was truly a special person in every sense of the word.  We can talk about all the championships Mal has been involved with, but I think what will be remembered most was the man he was.  He always put the best interests of others ahead of his own, he carried himself as a first-class gentleman, and he helped bring out the best in those around him.

Mal was an outstanding leader in terms of all he did for Alabama athletics.  Most importantly, he was a great friend to me and my family.  Mal was the No. 1 reason we decided to make the move to Tuscaloosa.”

Our sympathies go out to Moore’s family, as well as the University of Alabama family.

Tennessee was upset 75-67 by Mercer last night in the first round of the NIT
The SEC is now just 1-2 in the NIT with only Alabama moving on as Kentucky and Tennessee fall
Alabama has hired former player and former Tennessee football coach Bill Battle as its new athletic director
Mal Moore stepped down as Alabama’s AD yesterday citing health issues
Missouri will open NCAA Tournament play on Thursday versus Colorado State
Ole Miss WR Philander Moore has been dismissed from the Rebel football team following an arrest for domestic assualt
Alabama has announced that it will open the 2015 football season in Arlington, TX against Wisconsin
Follow SEC football, basketball and recruiting at MrSEC.com and twitter.com/mrsec

Well that didn’t take long.  And you can throw out all those candidate lists.  The University of Alabama has settled on a new athletic director already.  Indeed he’s an ex-Bama player and a former Tennessee employee.  But he’s not Dave Hart, he’s former Bear Bryant pupil and ex-Volunteer head football coach, Bill Battle.

The University of Alabama has put out a release this morning quoting school president Judy Bonner on Battle’s hiring:

“Over the past several weeks, we have had multiple conversations about who should follow Coach (Mal) Moore as AD.  Based on Mal’s strong endorsement as well as Coach Battle’s affiliation with UA as a player, partner and donor, his experience as a coach and his significant business background, I am confident that he is the right person to serve UA in this position.  I am looking forward to working with him as we continue to build on the foundation of excellence that is the hallmark of Coach Moore’s tenure.”

In Battle, Alabama has landed a tremendous businessman who happens to have a strong background in Crimson Tide and SEC athletics.  Battle formed Collegiate Licensing Company in 1981.  That company opened the door for colleges to begin protecting their logos and trademarks, which it turn led to the schools licensing out those marks for profit.  It was a brilliant move and Battle’s company was eventually purchased by sports giant IMG (along with another company Battle founded).

Battle said in the release that his “instinct was to say no” to the job when first approached.  After speaking with various officials at UA, however, he “couldn’t find a way to say no.”

The 71-year-old battle played at Alabama from 1960 through 1962.  He then served as an assistant at Army and Tennessee before being promoted to the Volunteers’ head coaching position in 1970.  At 28, he was the youngest coach of a major program in the country.  He had a career record of 59-22-2 at Tennessee, but the program declined on his watch and he was eventually fired in 1976.  He never coached again, but five years later, he began CLC and the rest… is history.

Given Battle’s age and his lack of experience running an athletic department, it’s expected that he will take over Moore’s duties which focused mainly on raising funds and improving facilities.  Shane Lyons will likely continue to handle the day-to-day operations of the UA athletic department.