Ole Miss looks to rebound vs Oklahoma, Missouri and Vanderbilt eye playoff path in key matchup

Things to watch this week in the Southeastern Conference:

No. 8 Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 SEC) at No. 13 Oklahoma (6-1, 2-1), Saturday, noon ET (ABC)

Oklahoma bounced back from a loss to Texas with a 26-7 win against South Carolina. Quarterback John Mateer led the charge, completing 18 of 26 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown, looking significantly more comfortable after returning from a hand injury.

Mississippi fell 43-35 to Georgia, blowing a nine-point lead in the final six minutes of the game, and now faces the top defense in the country. This is just the third meeting between these two programs; a year ago, Ole Miss sacked Jackson Arnold nine times and won 26-14.

No. 15 Missouri (6-1, 2-1 SEC) at No. 10 Vanderbilt (6-1, 2-1), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

A battle of two surprise teams looking to stay in the mix for the SEC title game and a nice win for the College Football Playoff resume.

Vanderbilt's storied season continued last week with a 31-24 win over LSU. Diego Pavia accounted for three touchdowns, two on foot and one in the air. Missouri escaped Auburn with a 23-17 overtime win sealed with a three-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Beau Pribula.

Missouri has won the last five against the Commodores, including a double-overtime thriller in 2024.

— Lawson Luckie’s breakout game came at the right time for Georgia. The tight end connected with quarterback Gunner Stockton five times for 43 yards and three touchdowns during the Bulldogs’ win against Ole Miss on Saturday.

— Zabien Brown played a significant role in the Crimson Tide’s 37-20 win against Tennessee. The cornerback recorded a 99-yard pick-six on the Vols’ final first-half possession, giving Alabama possessions directly before and after the half and leading to a momentum swing. Brown allowed 16 yards across six targets and notched a career-high seven tackles.

— Colin Simmons recorded a career-high three sacks in the Longhorns’ 16-13 overtime win against Kentucky on Saturday. The edge rusher ranks second in the SEC and seventh nationally with seven sacks this season. He also leads the Longhorns with eight tackles for loss.

Gunner Stockton has found the end zone on foot more than any other SEC quarterback with seven rushing touchdowns. … Arkansas WR O’Mega Blake is catching up to Mario Craver (668) and Chris Brazzell (602) with 582 receiving yards through seven games. … Missouri receiver Kevin Coleman has connected with quarterback Beau Pribula 44 times, the most receptions of any SEC pass catcher. … Arkansas leads the conference in offensive yards per game (513.7). … Tennessee still has the lead in passing yards per game (310.7) and points per game (44.1). … Texas A&M’s defense has held opponents to the lowest third-down conversion percentage in the SEC (22.7) and second-lowest nationally behind only Ohio State (21.1).

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is now the standalone favorite to win the Heisman Trophy with 3-1 odds, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Simpson has led the Crimso Tide to four straight wins against ranked conference opponents, completing 89 passes for 1,069 yards, nine touchdowns and only one interception along the way.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is a close second among bettors with 13-4 odds.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (2) celebrates his touchdown with running back Makhilyn Young (22) during the second half of an NCAA college football game against LSU, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

The White House and a bipartisan group of governors are pressuring the operator of the mid-Atlantic power grid to take urgent steps to boost energy supply and curb price hikes, holding a Friday event aimed at addressing a rising concern among voters about the enormous amount of power used for artificial intelligence ahead of elections later this year.

The White House said its National Energy Dominance Council and the governors of several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, want to try to compel PJM Interconnection to hold a power auction for tech companies to bid on contracts to build new power plants,

The Trump administration and governors will sign a statement of principles toward that end Friday. The plan was first reported by Bloomberg.

“Ensuring the American people have reliable and affordable electricity is one of President Trump’s top priorities, and this would deliver much-needed, long-term relief to the mid-Atlantic region," said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to be at the White House, a person familiar with Shapiro’s plans said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. Shapiro, a Democrat, made his participation in Friday’s event contingent on including a provision to extend a limit on wholesale electricity price increases for the region’s consumers, the person said.

But the operator of the grid won't be there. “PJM was not invited. Therefore we would not attend,” said spokesperson Jeff Shields.

It was not immediately clear whether President Donald Trump would attend the event, which was not listed on his public schedule.

Trump and the governors are under pressure to insulate consumers and businesses alike from the costs of feeding Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers. Meanwhile, more Americans are falling behind on their electricity bills.

Consumer advocates say ratepayers in the mid-Atlantic electricity grid — which encompasses all or parts of 13 states stretching from New Jersey to Illinois, as well as Washington, D.C. — are already paying billions of dollars in higher bills to underwrite the cost to supply power to data centers, some of them built, some not.

However, they also say that the billions of dollars that consumers are paying isn’t resulting in the construction of new power plants necessary to meet the rising demand.

Pivotal contests in November will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who’s footing the bill for the data centers that underpin the explosion in demand for artificial intelligence. In parts of the country, data centers are coming online faster than power plants can be built and connected to the grid.

Electricity costs were a key issue in last year's elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, a data center hotspot, and in Georgia, where Democrats ousted two Republican incumbents for seats on the state’s utility regulatory commission. Voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City all cited economic concerns as the top issue, as Democrats and Republicans gird for a debate over affordability in the intensifying midterm battle to control Congress.

Gas and electric utilities sought or won rate increases of more that $34 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, consumer advocacy organization PowerLines reported. That was more than double the same period a year earlier.

Meta's Stanton Springs Data Center is seen Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Newton County, East of Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)