SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly would like to pick his starting quarterback after the first 19 practices. That way the Irish will have the final 10 days or so to get ready for their opener against South Florida on Sept. 3.

The Irish quarterback derby will feature Dayne Crist, the starter last season until he hurt his knee and needed surgery for the second straight year; Tommy Rees, who started the final four games, all victories, including a win over Miami in the Sun Bowl; second-year player Andrew Hendrix; and freshman Everett Golson.

Kelly says he's like everyone else. He's not sure who the starter will be.

ALABAMA: Coach Nick Saban says he's worried about what his team does, not what people think it can do. Saban compared the preseason expectations and predictions greeting his team when it opened practice Friday with visiting a fortune teller.

The Crimson Tide is favored to win the SEC title. Saban says quarterback contenders AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims will be evaluated daily and says he's happy with where both stand.

FLORIDA STATE: Coach Jimbo Fisher and his wife Candi said they have started a fundraising organization to raise money to help their youngest son, Ethan, and others fight a rare life-threatening blood disease.

Six-year-old Ethan was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia earlier this year.

IOWA: The Hawkeyes usually despise hyperbole. So when defensive coordinator Norm Parker said this spring that sophomore linebacker James Morris is the kind of kid who belongs on a Wheaties box, observers noticed.

Morris stepped in at middle linebacker when injuries decimated the linebacking corps.

OHIO STATE: Two days after several Ohio State freshmen proudly displayed wristbands supporting deposed Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel, the university has taken them away and refunded the players' money.

Ohio State spokesman Jerry Emig said Friday that officials wondered if wearing the wristbands - which said "JT" - could be an NCAA violation.

VANDERBILT: New Coach James Franklin finally got to take his team on the field Friday, and heavy thunderstorms hit Nashville a few hours before taking the field. So Franklin says he'll be moving up the wet ball drill he originally had scheduled for a couple weeks into fall practice.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Rain and thunderstorms forced South Carolina's third practice of fall camp indoors.

The team is scheduled to practice again at 9:30 a.m. today and that workout should be open to the public.

SOUTHERN MISS: At the Golden Eagles' first preseason practice on Friday, linebacker Tim Green and defensive end Deddrick Jones returned to the field for their first practice at full strength eight months after being shot in an off-campus altercation in November, just hours after the Golden Eagles upset nationally-ranked Central Florida.

TENNESSEE: Senior defensive tackle Malik Jackson has sprained his right knee. Coach Derek Dooley said after the Volunteers' practice on Friday that Jackson likely would miss a couple of weeks of fall practice.

Associated Press