College football notes: Alabama safety suspended for loan from assistant coach

National notes • Assistant strength coach placed on administrative leave.
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Alabama has placed an assistant strength and conditioning coach on administrative leave for lending money to suspended defensive back Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, The Tuscaloosa News reported Thursday.

Clinton-Dix was suspended indefinitely by coach Nick Saban on Wednesday for violating unspecified team rules, but no other details were released.

The Tuscaloosa News, citing unidentified sources, reported that Corey Harris was put on administrative leave. The newspaper said that while the Alabama compliance office was looking into the loan of less than $500 that Harris made to Clinton-Dix it found that Harris also had a connection to a sports agent. The loan could violate NCAA rules about student-athletes receiving extra benefits.

Alabama athletic department spokesman Doug Walker said he could not comment on personnel matters.

Clinton-Dix is second on the team with 24 tackles and is a projected first-round NFL Draft pick.

Ole Miss looks into players' hate speech

A University of Mississippi professor says that a group of Ole Miss students, including football players, disrupted a production of a campus play with "hate speech" on Tuesday night.

Michael Barnett, the assistant theatre chair, said that several students in the play told him that audience members were disruptive and used "derogatory terms" for homosexuals during a production of "The Laramie Project" on campus.

Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze confirmed to The Associated Press Thursday that football players were in the crowd. Barnett says a group of football players apologized after the play.

"Several of the students said they did not feel the apology was genuine," Barnett said. "They seemed to feel that [the football players] didn't realize what it was that they were apologizing for."

"The Laramie Project" is about reaction in the city following the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man in Wyoming.

Playoff committee members revealed

A person with knowledge of the process tells The Associated Press that Southern California athletic director Pat Haden, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long and Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich are expected to be members of the College Football Playoff selection committee.

The committee will pick the four teams that will play for the 2014 national championship.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because the committee members were still being finalized by conference commissioners.

CBS.com has reported that Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez and West Virginia AD Oliver Luck were expected to be on the committee.

BCS executive director Bill Hancock has said the commissioners likely will have the 12- to 18-member panel completed by the end of this season.

Clowney misses practice with injury

South Carolina All-American defensive end Jadeveon Clowney did not practice Thursday because of bruised ribs, but is expected to play against Kentucky on Saturday night.

Gamecocks defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward says Clowney was held out of drills because of the ribs. Ward says he'll be in the lineup for the 13th-ranked Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference). —

Saturday's top 25 schedule

• No. 1 Alabama vs. Georgia State, 10:21 a.m.

• No. 2 Oregon at Colorado, 4 p.m.

• No. 3 Clemson at Syracuse, 1:30 p.m.

• No. 4 Ohio State at No. 16 Northwestern, 6 p.m.

• No. 5 Stanford vs. No. 15 Washington, 8:30 p.m.

• No. 6 Georgia at Tennessee, 1:30 p.m.

• No. 7 Louisville at Temple, 10 a.m.

• No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 25 Maryland, 10 a.m.

• No. 10 LSU at Mississippi State, 5 p.m.

• No. 11 Oklahoma vs. TCU, 5 p.m.

• No. 13 South Carolina vs. Kentucky, 5:30 p.m.

• No. 14 Miami vs. Georgia Tech, 1:30 p.m.

• No. 17 Baylor vs. West Virginia, 6 p.m.

• No. 18 Florida vs. Arkansas, 5 p.m.

• No. 19 Michigan vs. Minnesota, 1:30 p.m.

• No. 20 Texas Tech at Kansas, 10 a.m.

• No. 21 Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State, 1:30 p.m.

• No. 22 Arizona State vs. Notre Dame at Arlington, Texas, 5:30 p.m.

• No. 23 Fresno State at Idaho, 3 p.m.

• No. 24 Mississippi at Auburn, 5 p.m.