THE BIG STORY
A plane carrying Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville to a speak engagement to Mobile on Tuesday was struck by lightning shortly after takeoff, forcing the pilot to turn the plane around and head back to Auburn. After the plane landed, Tuberville boarded a second plane, but mechanical problems were discovered on it, ending his chances of making it to Mobile.

A look at the league:

ALABAMA

A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of Alabama cornerback Simeon Castille on Monday morning. Castille was arrested Aug. 19 outside the Jupiter Bar and Grill on University Boulevard near campus. He was accused by police of screaming obscenities at people in a sport utility vehicle, which was allegedly blocking traffic on the busy street. Castille said he was only kidding. He didn’t appear at a preliminary hearing at Tuscaloosa Municipal Court to answer a charge of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. His plea was phoned in by attorney Thomas King. Castille’s trial date was set for Sept. 26 at 1:30 p.m., three days before Alabama’s meeting with Florida State in Jacksonville.

ARKANSAS

Arkansas officials on Monday launched a new Web site — www.5DarrenMcFadden.com — with the hope that it will create more exposure for this year’s Heisman front-runner. Monday was McFadden’s 20th birthday. “It’s a great honor for the university to have that much faith in me to go out there and put up a Web site and help me get out there for the Heisman campaign,” McFadden said. McFadden said he’s handling the hype just fine. “It’s not a problem for me because I feel like any pressure that’s put on me I can handle it because no one can put more pressure on me than I put on myself,” McFadden said. . .Arkansas tight end Ben Cleveland, who has missed much of preseason practice because of the injury, which has been described as a neck stinger, will meet with a specialist in Little Rock today. Cleveland stiill has pain in his neck and shoulder.

AUBURN

Auburn isn’t starting the season with a breather, playing Kansas State in Jordan-Hare Stadium on ESPN. “They have a good team,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. “They’ll be one of the better teams we play all year.” The Wildcats were 7-6 last season, Ron Prince’s first as head coach. They beat Texas 45-42, knocking the Longhorns from the national championship race. “They are coming off a year with a new coach,” Tuberville said. “The second year of doing the things they did last year will make them even better.” . . .Keep an eye on junior wide receiver James Swinton, who caught just three passes in his first two seasons. He’s the fastest player on Auburn’s team and quarterback Brandon Cox said Swinton is ready to make an impact. “Now he’s learned the offense, and isn’t making nearly as many mistakes as in the past,” Cox said. “I know our corners are scared of him going deep.”

FLORIDA

The rich get richer. Former Southern California tailback Emmanuel Moody confirmed Monday that he’s transferring to Florida, ending a whirlwind week of speculation after his visit to Gainesville last week.
“I had to come down and see it for myself,” Moody said by cell phone Monday. “After seeing the campus, meeting with the coaches and players, I decided this was where I wanted to be.” Moody will sit out this season because of NCAA transfer rules, but will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2008. A 6-foot-1, 205-pound tailback from Coppel, Texas, Moody finished last season as USC’s second-leading rusher, gaining 458 yards on 79 carries before sitting out the final three games for the Trojans with an ankle sprain. Moody chose the Gators after visits to Texas, Oklahoma State and North Carolina. He’s considered by many observers as a tough runner between the tackles who can catch the ball out of the backfield, but lacks breakaway speed at the college level. Moody said he intends to enroll at Florida immediately. . .Sophomore starting cornerback Markihe Anderson is questionable for Saturday’s season opener against Western Kentucky with a sprained right knee. Anderson suffered the injury Saturday in practice. “He’s got a strained MCL (medial collateral ligament),” Meyer said. “They say for sure (he’ll play) the second week and there’s a chance he may play the first week.”. . .Sophomore Jarred Fayson ballooned up to 210 pounds in an effort to get stronger for the dual role of receiver/running back this season. The coaching staff felt Fayson put on too much weight. Fayson was placed on a diet at the beginning of camp and is now down to a lighter 205 pounds.

GEORGIA

Georgia has long been hyped for Saturday’s opener against Oklahoma State. The Hairy Dawgs defense know they will be playing what was dubbed the “most powerful offense in the world” in a promotion on Oklahoma State’s athletic department Web site prior to the spring game. That label has been pointed out to them by the coaching staff. “Oh, yeah, oh yeah,” safety C.J. Byrd said. “Not trying to talk any junk or anything, but yeah, it will be a good little game.”

KENTUCKY

Kentucky overconfident? UK coach Rich Brooks admits to being concerned about his team having the big head and coming out flat against the Division I-AA Eastern Kentucky Colonels in Saturday’s opener.
“You worry about some things,” Brooks said. “You have to go out on the field and see if those (are) things you’ll need to continue to worry about. It’s an anticipation that I think always kind of brings an adrenaline rush at this time of year.”. . .

LSU

Four of the 60 college coaches who voted in the USA Today preseason poll ranked LSU No. 1. LSU coach Les Miles wasn’t one of them. Miles revealed Monday he voted Southern California No. 1 in his preseason poll, reigning BCS national champion Florida No. 2 and his Tigers No. 3. Miles downplayed the significance of the preseason polls from his perspective. “You guys think we live and die with the preseason rankings,” Miles said. “It doesn’t make any sense until about Week 8. Preseason rankings … allow people to get excited.” LSU is No. 2 in the coaches’ and The Associated Press preseason polls. It’s the Tigers highest preseason ranking in the USA Today poll since its inception in 1982, and their highest going into the season in the AP poll since LSU opened at No. 1 in 1959.

OLE MISS

Ole Miss’ Greg Hardy is going to busy on both sides of the ball in Saturday’s season opener against Memphis. Ole Miss coach Ed Oregron told the Jackson Clariion-Ledger the Rebels plan to use the sophomore “50 percent” of the time. “You’ll see him all over the field,” Orgeron said. “You’ll see him on first, second and third down. You may see him on the first series. It all depends on what’s happening.”
Said Hardy: “I’m anxious to see how well I do. I’m pretty confident, but there’s always that little, ‘What if?’ So we’ll just see what happens.”

MISS. STATE

Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said he’s confident he has a team that can finally compete with the likes of No. 2 LSU in Thursday’s season operner. “We feel like we’re in a position where we have a chance to play good football,” Croom said. “That’s no guarantee that we’re going to win this week or any week, for that matter, but at least you feel good going into a game: ‘Hey, we can compete with these guys. We’ve got a chance.’ In the past, in all honesty, we were just trying to build a foundation. Really, that’s what we’ve been doing for three years is just trying to build a foundation, because realistically we didn’t have a very good chance. That’s just the way it was.”

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina starting strong safety Emanuel Cook, suspended from USC since his arrest last week on a gun charge, has a hearing with the university’s judicial council today about his status at the university. The hearing comes a day after Cook was released from Palmetto Richland hospital following an appendectomy over the weekend. “He’s in a recovery stage. He probably would be out one to two weeks if he’s eligible,” Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said Monday night. “We’ll find out about that later on.”Cook, 19, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 21 after campus police observed him and another student with a gun outside a dorm last Thursday. The charge is a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison or a $2,000 fine. Lowell Bernstein, Cook’s attorney, said the gun belonged to the other student, Frank Edward Gore of Chester.
. . .Middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley practiced Monday after resting his high left ankle sprain for five days. Spurrier expects Brinkley to be ready Saturday.

TENNESSEE

Vols’ coach Phillip Fulmer is finally pleased with his offensive line. He’s found eight guys he thinks that can play. One question mark was the right side of the line, but Fulmer is happy with his choice of starters that include sophomore Chris Scott at right guard and junior Ramon Foster at right tackle. “We’re in pretty good shape with those guys,” Fulmer said. “Ramon has played well at both guard and tackle. Chris has been very consistent. That’s the good thing about it, there’s so much upside to them.”. . .Linebacker Ellix Wilson of Memphis Melrose is expected to be ready to play Saturday despite a partial MCL tear.

VANDERBILT

Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said he has been encouraged by the preseason performances of punter Brett Upson and kicker Bryant Hahnfeldt. “I think our specialists have had a really good preseason,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, they’ll continue to do that.We need to cover better on punts,” he said. “Our kickoff returns need to improve. Our punt returns need to be better, too. We let too many balls hit the ground last year.”