Star Sports

HOOVER — First, please suspend disbelief and laughter for a few lines. Might want to suspend intellect, too, but here it comes: cheating is all but dead in the Southeastern Conference. Yes, they're tryin', but they're not cheatin'. OK, let's dial it back.

JACKSONVILLE — Jim Fuller hasn't set an exact date for his formal retirement as Jacksonville State's athletics director, but Wednesday he said he planned to work in his Kennamer Hall office through the month of August.

HOOVER -- Move over Alabama and Nick Saban. There's a new rock star in town. Florida's do-everything, Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow boasted a hoard of fans to rival those typically reserved for all things Alabama.

JACKSONVILLE — The Gamecocks signed a three-year contract for games with UAB on Wednesday and could be playing as many as four games against high-major Division I programs in Green's first season this year.

HOOVER — LSU coach Les Miles found a way to take some of the onus off his players before coming into this state. Defending a national title? Finding a quarterback? Those were all hot topics during the Tigers' visit to Southeastern Conference media days on Wednesday.

HOOVER -- LSU center Brett Helms obviously has a unique perspective on who will be LSU's new quarterback.

The sports phenomena affectionately dubbed March Madness is typically relegated to college basketball courts each spring when the NCAA holds its annual 65-team men's and women's hoops tournaments.

DALLAS — The nation's largest steroids testing program caught only two Texas high school athletes taking unauthorized substances out of more than 10,000 students who were tested, according to results issued Wednesday.

MIAMI — Chipper Jones strained his left hamstring, and Tim Hudson left after six shutout innings with tightness in his right elbow, tempering the glow of the Braves' 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night.

Josh Childress is leaving the Atlanta Hawks for Greek club Olympiakos, reversing the course of the many international stars who have signed with the NBA.

ALPE D'HUEZ, France — Carlos Sastre of Spain won the 17th stage of the Tour de France, taking the overall lead Wednesday from CSC teammate Frank Schleck on the hardest ride up three huge Alpine climbs.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is monitoring the ongoing rift between the Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR tried to even out the competition in the Nationwide Series on Wednesday by ordering all teams using Toyota motors to squeeze down their horsepower before this weekend's race in Indianapolis.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nebraska's Joe Ganz wasn't highly recruited out of high school, told he was too small to play quarterback on the college level. Any other conference, maybe that holds true. Not in the Big 12.

William Ming had his mind made up a long time ago, but Tuesday, he finally made his intentions known as the Athens High defensive end publicly committed to Alabama.

NASHVILLE — Initially, the Gamecocks were expected to put former Alabama cornerback Tremayne Coger at running back — alongside former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux — to improve their ground attack, which was a disappointing seventh in the league last year.

AUBURN — Scott Foxhall and Matt Heath have been named assistant baseball coaches at Auburn, announced Auburn Head Baseball Coach John Pawlowski on Tuesday.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ryan Perrilloux was nowhere to be found at LP Field Tuesday, but his influence on his new surroundings was unmistakable.

Ranking SEC football coaches based on what they have accomplished is a fairly simple task. But now let's try the tougher part: estimating their worth on the open market and ranking them accordingly. For example, if Program X could have any SEC coach for the next five years whom would it take?

SOUTHPORT, England — Padraig Harrington has two British Open titles, and it all started with a miss. But it wasn't his. The morning after he defended his title at Royal Birkdale, the Irishman already was looking ahead.