IRVING, Texas – It was Mike Tyson in the flesh – and in the ring.

For months, the public has seen only video clips of the former world heavyweight champion training to fight Jake Paul. But during an open workout on Tuesday night, Tyson, 58, provided a glimpse of what might be ahead when he fights Paul on Friday night at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

All 14 boxers on the fight card participated in the open workouts, but none received cheers as loud as Tyson. He rewarded hundreds of spectators at Toyota Music Factory by showing flashes of his old power.

“Kick his ass, Mike,’ was a popular cry, as fans made it clear they wanted Tyson to hit Paul as hard as he was hitting the mitts held by one of his trainers Tuesday night.

Although the session clearly impressed the crowd, it lasted only about three minutes.

“When I agreed to this fight and I started training, I said, ‘What the (expletive) am I thinking of?’ ‘ Tyson said in the ring after his workout. “And I finished the process and now the fight’s the party.

“All the hard work is done.’’

The workouts culminated with Paul. He boxed while wearing a rooster wig, a nod to his newest nickname, El Gallo.

“I feel really good,’ Paul said during his in-ring interview. “Sharp, powerful, explosive. And it’s going to be a short night for Mike.’

What is this strange scent I detect? A most uncommon aroma, this is. If I didn’t know better, I would say I catch a whiff of, get this, anti-SEC bias.

The College Football Playoff selection committee doesn’t seem all that impressed with the conference that touts it “just means more.”

The committee brought the hammer down on the top end of the SEC on Tuesday night, when the latest CFP rankings were unveiled.

So ends the CFP’s longstanding infatuation with the SEC.

Throughout the playoff’s history, the selection committee consistently rewarded the SEC more than any other conference. Often, this seemed warranted. The SEC houses some great football.

More parity formed within the SEC this season. Georgia regressed. Every SEC team has lost at least one conference game.

Some would argue that signals a robust, rugged league in which any team can beat any opponent, but this committee appears skeptical of the number of truly elite teams residing in the SEC.

The CFP committee is not a static group. Its group of selectors evolves, so, naturally, opinions can change from one year to the next. Conference performance evolves, too.

And yet, it felt nonetheless remarkable to see the SEC with just one team in the CFP’s top six, while the Big Ten claimed four spots within the top five.

CFP committee turns the screws on Tennessee, Georgia

Indiana and Brigham Young zoomed past No. 7 Tennessee, despite the Vols beating Mississippi State comfortably on Saturday.

Indiana shot from No. 8 to No. 5 courtesy of its 20-15 victory at Michigan, which is a .500 team.

BYU, which the committee snubbed last week, climbed from No. 9 to No. 6 despite needing a last-minute field goal to rally on the road past Utah, which played its third-string quarterback and has now lost five in a row.

How to explain the Vols’ rankings stall?

“It really came down to the play last week of both Indiana and BYU,” said CFP selection committee chairman Warde Manuel, who is Michigan’s athletic director.

UP AND DOWN: Army, Georgia lead CFP ranking winners and losers

That’s a strange assessment considering BYU, in particular, languished before making a mad-dash escape.

While the Vols caught an elbow from the committee, SEC peer Georgia absorbed a haymaker to the chin.

Down, down, down, the Bulldogs fell, from No. 3 to No. 12.

Georgia’s great transgression? Losing 28-10 at Ole Miss, a team that jumped from No. 16 to No. 11 in the rankings.

“Their offense hasn’t been consistent. The committee discussed that. They struggled with some turnovers,” Manuel explained of Georgia’s freefall of nine spots in the rankings.

This shift in thinking on Georgia sends the message that its game Saturday against Tennessee is a CFP elimination game for the Bulldogs. Never mind that Georgia’s strength of schedule ranks No. 1 nationally by multiple evaluators. This committee values record more than strength of schedule.

Why did Miami receive kinder rankings treatment in defeat than Georgia?

Look to the records.

“First loss for Miami, and the second loss for Georgia,” Manuel said. “That obviously played a factor into it.”

That explanation might make sense, if not for last week’s rankings, when one-loss Georgia ranked one spot ahead of undefeated Miami.

Apparently, one loss is OK, but not two. And definitely not three, no matter how tough your schedule is. Georgia’s game against Tennesse will be its fourth against teams ranked in the top 11.

Manuel also pointed to the decisive margin of defeat for Georgia, while Miami lost by one possession.

The preference of record over schedule strength helps explain why undefeated Indiana, which hasn’t played anyone ranked in the CFP’s top 25, sits ahead of a batch of one- and two-loss SEC teams that boast superior schedule strength.

Texas can’t complain, though. The SEC’s rookie got whipped at home by Georgia and lacks a marquee victory, but Texas nonetheless ranks No. 3.

Perhaps, the committee forgot the Longhorns are now in the SEC.

If Texas beats Arkansas this weekend but gets leapfrogged by Indiana and BYU, we’ll know the committee figured out the Longhorns’ conference affiliation.

Big Ten better positioned for seeding than SEC teams

Before anyone sheds a tear for the proud and mighty SEC, let’s pause to say that the conference remains in great shape to qualify four teams for the 12-team field.

Texas, No. 10 Alabama and No. 11 Ole Miss are best-positioned for a bid, while the winner of the upcoming Tennessee-Georgia clash will emerge on firmer footing.

However, these rankings tamp down the notion of the SEC qualifying five playoff teams.

It’s looking like four from the Big Ten, four from the SEC, and four split among everyone else. Big Ten teams are positioned for the most coveted seeds.

So, does the committee have an ax to grind with the SEC? I’m not convinced of that. Conference vendettas are a bigger deal to fans than to committee members.

Instead of a malicious bias against the SEC, this committee suffers from a record bias combined with an eye-test bias.

Its crush for teams like Texas, No. 4 Penn State and Indiana can be linked to those teams’ records. The committee overlooks Indiana’s comparatively soft schedule because the Hoosiers are easy on the eyes. They’re playing well on both sides of the ball.

That eye-test bias stopped short of helping No. 10 Alabama or Ole Miss, though, two talented two-loss teams that smashed their last two opponents. Alabama climbed just one spot after demolishing LSU on the road.

This committee trumpets a clear message: Don’t expect your strength of schedule to cover for your record, no matter what conference you call home.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has slightly adjusted his preseason promise to Colorado superfan Peggy Coppom.

Before the season, he vowed to get his team to a postseason bowl game in her honor. But now the Buffaloes control their own destiny in their quest for the Big 12 Conference championship. Coppom also turns 100 years old next week.

Sanders wants more for her.

“I was really dedicated to get Peggy to a bowl game,” Sanders said Tuesday at his weekly news conference in Boulder. “Now we trying to get Peggy to the game. Yeah, it was a bowl game. Now it’s the game.”

The Buffaloes (7-2) are now in position to go to the playoff — if they keep winning. If they win their final three regular-season games against Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State, they will play for the Big 12 Conference championship on Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas. If they win that, they will get a berth in the new 12-team College Football Playoff and might even earn a first-round bye if they are among the four highest-ranked conference champions.

On Tuesday, they moved up to 17th in the playoff rankings after debuting last week at No. 20.

Deion Sanders credits ‘flipping the dern roster’ for success

This is all happening a year after the Buffs finished 4-8 in Sanders’ first season as coach − and just two years after they finished 1-11. His defense is noticeably more physical than last year, leading to a question about the transformation Tuesday.

“We flipped the dern roster, remember?” said Sanders, who was hired in December 2022. “Remember all the changes? Yeah, we flipped the roster. That probably has a lot to do with it. We got the people that we wanted. You can’t keep forgetting: We got here in December a couple of years ago, right? That’s kind of tough. Backs were up against the wall. It was kind of tough. We flipped the dern roster, and I’m proud of them. I’m proud of these young men. I’m proud of the coaching staff. Flipped that, too.”

In his first year, he overhauled the roster with an unprecedented influx of 51 scholarship transfer players in 2023, retaining just nine returning scholarship players last year out of a roster limit of 85. Then he flipped the roster again with 39 new scholarship transfers after last season. He also recast his coaching staff this year after his top two assistant coaches left for other jobs.

Deion Sanders talks Utah game

Colorado plays Utah at home in a ‘Big Noon’ game Saturday on Fox. The Utes don’t have a great record (4-5) but do have a stingy defense under head coach Kyle Whittingham. The Utes rank No. 1 nationally in third-down defense, with opponents converting only 23.8% of third downs against them. They also rank 1 in scoring defense (17.1 points allowed per game) and eighth in team pass efficiency defense (107.07).

Sanders called Whittingham a “true legend.”

“You cannot take this team lightly,” Sanders said. “I don’t give a dern what their record is. As long as he’s over there on that sideline, you better be prepared for a tough game. Thank God it’s at home and it’s early. I like it like that.”

How does the atmosphere in the SEC compare to the Big 12?

Receiver Will Sheppard transferred to Colorado from Vanderbilt and had eight catches for 79 yards and a touchdown in last week’s win at Texas Tech, where fans threw tortillas and trash on the field. On Tuesday, he was asked how the game-day atmosphere in the Big 12 compares with playing in large, hostile stadiums in the Southeastern Conference.

He didn’t try to sugarcoat it.

“Nah, it doesn’t stack up,” Sheppard said.

What is Deion Sanders earning for this stretch run?

As his team keeps winning, Sanders also is in position to keep improving his stakes. His contract with Colorado gave him $150,000 for reaching six wins and now gives him $100,000 for each additional win after that in the regular season.

“I heard you get like, you know, $100K extra per win,” his quarterback son Shedeur recently asked his father, as shown on Well Off Media. “Where mine at?”

“I don’t know what y’all talking about,” Deion Sanders replied on the video.

Sanders’ bonuses are in addition to his $5.7 million in regular guaranteed pay this year. His contract also says he will get a $450,000 bonus if his team is invited to a playoff bowl game.

Colorado’s other postseason possibilities

If the Buffaloes lose one or more of their final three regular-season games, it could drop them out of the Big 12 title game and instead land them in a non-playoff bowl game such as the Alamo, Holiday or Las Vegas bowl in late December.

Either way, this will be the Buffaloes’ best season since 2016, when they finished in the Alamo Bowl with a record of 10-4.

Fox’s ‘Big Noon’ pregame show will travel to Boulder this week for the game.

On Tuesday, Sanders was asked if he’s gotten a chance to “take a step back” to appreciate the transformation of his program.

“I never take a step back,” Sanders said. “I try to take a step up. I’m always with my head out the window: I’m trying to see around the corner, not trying to see straight ahead. It’s normalcy to see what’s in front of them. I’m trying to see around the corner.”

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

(This story was updated to add new information.)

BELLEAIR, Fla. — Brittany Lincicome, a two-time major champion and mother of two, brought a basketball to her press conference on Tuesday. She was there to talk about her decision to walk away from full-time competition, but she stayed late so that WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark could sign the basketball for her young daughters.

“I’m just, I’m going to be honest, I’ve never watched women’s basketball,” said Lincicome, who’s playing on a sponsor exemption this week at The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, “and then to see her at the Final Four, we were in Vegas that week and I watched every minute of it, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.”

LPGA rookie Gabriela Ruffels expects to be starstruck Wednesday at Pelican Golf Club when Clark plays in the event’s pro-am alongside World No. 1 Nelly Korda on the front nine and tournament host Annika Sorenstam on the back. Tickets sales for the Belleair, Florida, event are 12 times the typical number.

Clark, who along with Sorenstam is a Gainbridge ambassador, took part in the Women’s Leadership Summit on Tuesday afternoon before meeting with the media. The event’s moderator, Lauren Thompson, asked Clark what she wants her overall message and brand to be about. A heady question for a 22-year-old, but an important one give Clark’s global influence. The NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer has revolutionized women’s basketball.

“Coming from college and now to professional level, I’ve just been myself,’ she said. ‘I think that’s what resonates with people. Like what you see on the court is kind of how I am off the court. I’m the same person.”

Clark’s “I’m-just-me” approach often translates to candid answers. Toward the end of the session, Thompson asked a series of rapid-fire questions to the panel, which included former supermodel and entrepreneur Kathy Ireland, Sorenstam and Clark.

What’s your biggest fear?

Ireland talked about being paralyzed by fear. Sorenstam said waking up and not having a purpose.

And Clark?

“Cats,” she said. “I really don’t like cats.”

The room erupted.

Clark went on to explain that there was a particularly mean black cat on her street growing up, and that led to a lifelong fear.

Apologies to anyone in the room who has a cat, she added.

As far as answers go, it was as genuine as they come. Much like her answer to what’s your favorite snack. Right after Sorenstam said “any fruit,” Clark shot back with Doritos, nacho cheese flavor.

For a generational talent, she’s highly relatable.

When it comes to her golf Wednesday, which gets starts as 7 a.m., Clark has one goal: Not to hit anyone in the gallery.

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Growing up, she got a set of pink golf clubs for one of her birthdays and begged her dad to take her out to the course. She played just about every sport as a kid and loved being outside.

There are times when Clark can shoot in the mid-80s, but most of the time she’s just praying to break 100. Clark said her handicap is “like 16.”

Pebble Beach Golf Links is on her bucket list. Later this month, she’ll play a few rounds in Arizona when she’s with family over Thanksgiving.

She has pro-am experience, having teed it up in the John Deere Classic pro-am in the summer of 2023.

“I’ll probably be nervous tomorrow, too,” said Clark. “I don’t know. I mean, I remind myself, like I don’t really care what happens. Doesn’t really matter. I don’t play golf for a living.

‘Just have fun with it. This isn’t super serious. Enjoy the experience. There are so many people that would kill to be in my position or in my shoes.”

Los Angeles Sparks superstar Cameron Brink is making waves in the 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

The magazine revealed on Tuesday that Brink, 22, will be one of the ‘trailblazing, young elite female athletes’ featured in the upcoming issue, which hits newsstands in May. Brink, who sported a white bikini in her photoshoot from Boca Raton, Fla., joins a lineup of athletes, including Jordan Chiles, Caroline Marks, Ali Truwit, Gabby Thomas, Eileen Gu, Suni Lee and Nelly Korda.

“We are thrilled to launch our shoot season for the 2025 issue with an extraordinary lineup of powerful female athletes,” MJ Day, SI Swimsuit editor in chief shared of the Boca Raton shoot. “This remarkable group, featuring Olympic medalists, world champions, and record holders, embodies the next generation of all-stars poised to transform the world of sports. They defy stereotypes and champion equality, inspiring young girls to envision themselves as both athletes and leaders. At SI Swimsuit, we’ve always celebrated the future of women, and there’s no better way to honor these remarkable achievements than by featuring them on the pages of our issue.”

It marks a full-circle moment for Brink. During an appearance on ‘Podcast P with Paul George’ in May, Brink named Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue as a publication she would love to be featured in.

“I’ve always loved (it). I think it’s super empowering,’ Brink said. ‘What a cool opportunity to step outside your comfort zone.’

Brink was drafted with the No. 2 overall pick by the Sparks in April and got off to a hot start, averaging 8.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists through 14 career games. Brink was named to the U.S. women’s 3×3 team at the 2024 Paris Olympics but ultimately withdrew from the team after suffering a torn ACL on June 18.

‘I will not be derailed and I will continue to love this life- I’m not defined by basketball, but it is something that I love deeply and I will work everyday to get back to it,’ Brink said on June 19. ‘It’s not goodbye basketball it’s just a see you later. I’m always so thankful for your thoughts and prayers.’

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NFL power rankings entering Week 11 of the 2024 season (previous rank in parentheses):

1. Kansas City Chiefs (1): Their +58 point differential is the smallest ever for a 9-0 team. They’ll take it. They’d also take a win at Buffalo on Sunday, which would effectively give them a four-game lead over the Bills, Ravens and Chargers in the race for the AFC’s top seed given a K.C. triumph in Western New York would mean wins over all those clubs.

4. Buffalo Bills (4): A team on a five-game roll – and 8-2 for the first time in three decades – is close to getting LB Matt Milano back from a torn biceps and might be able to bring back LB Tyrel Dodson, too, after he was waived Monday by Seattle.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

5. Philadelphia Eagles (10): QB Jalen Hurts has caught fire simultaneously with a team back atop the NFC East. His lowest passer rating during Philly’s five-game win streak is 115.0, a stretch during which Hurts became the first quarterback ever to rush for at least 10 TDs in four seasons (all consecutively incidentally).

6. Pittsburgh Steelers (8): Sunday, they’ll become the final AFC team to play a divisional game this season – and good chance QB Russell Wilson throws a TD pass for a league-best 23rd consecutive game while taking aim at a Baltimore pass defense ranked dead last in the NFL.

7. Washington Commanders (5): Local excitement around QB Jayden Daniels and this team remains palpable … yet still hasn’t prevented teams like the Steelers from enjoying home games at Northwest Stadium.

9. Green Bay Packers (7): Following the somewhat surprising trade of OLB Preston Smith, time for 2023 first-rounder Lukas Van Ness to deliver given he has yet to start in the NFL and has played fewer than 50% of the team’s snaps in both of his seasons.

12. Houston Texans (12): Their ongoing struggles continue to coincide with a depleted receiver corps. Yet how cool was it to see WR John Metchie III score his first NFL TD more than two years after his career was interrupted by a battle with leukemia?

15. Cincinnati Bengals (18): WR Ja’Marr Chase is the only player in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to have multiple games with at least 250 receiving yards and two TDs. Cincy is 1-1 in those contests.

18. Miami Dolphins (23): Though certainly modest by his standards, WR3 Odell Beckham Jr. is slowly integrating into this offense, snaring all five of his targets the past two games for a team suddenly sniffing the fringes of the wild-card race.

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21. Indianapolis Colts (21): Little to be excited about here, especially with CB Kenny Moore II calling out his teammates’ effort. But one who’s providing more output is rookie WR Adonai Mitchell, whose six-catch, 71-yard day Sunday was his best yet.

23. Chicago Bears (14): Taken down 15 times the past two weeks, rookie QB Caleb Williams has now been sacked a league-high 38. (Memo to next OC: Give. Swift. The. Ball.)

27. New Orleans Saints (31): Is RB Alvin Kamara a future Hall of Famer? Now this franchise’s all-time leading rusher, he has more games (24) with 50 yards rushing and receiving than anyone aside from HOFer Marshall Faulk (41) and McCaffrey (30).

29. Dallas Cowboys (26): It’s rare when a team gets rid of the same player a year too early and a year too late. But these are the Cowboys, who never should’ve re-signed washed-up RB Ezekiel Elliott, now averaging 3.2 yards per carry … when he’s actually active.

32. Las Vegas Raiders (32): Can the Turners turn around this offense? Given the Silver and Black lead the league in turnovers while managing the fewest rushing yards – only one way to go. Right?

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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.