Kentucky opened the season picked to finish 14th in the Southeastern Conference football media preseason poll. Six games into the season, the Wildcats are ranked No. 15 nationally and have emerged as one of college football's biggest surprises.
Coach Will Stein has led Kentucky to a 5-1 start, the program's best since 2023, and the best start for a first-year Kentucky coach since Alpha Brumage in 1913. Stein has proven he’s not afraid to take risks, with two of those wins sealed by gutsy two-point conversion attempts in overtime.
The turnaround has earned Stein the title of the SEC’s top coach and Kentucky the title of the most surprising team at the midway point of the season, by a vote of Associated Press writers who cover the conference.
Trinidad Chambliss is making his final season of eligibility worth the offseason headache. Through five games, the Mississippi quarterback has completed 70.1% of his passes for 1,435 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s also scrambled for 113 yards and five scores. Chambliss has regularly found himself in the Heisman conversation this year, especially after a big win against LSU and former coach Lane Kiffin. His efficiency as a passer and ability to make plays with his legs have made him one of the SEC’s most dangerous players.
Texas junior edge rusher Colin Simmons has built a reputation as a game-wrecker, and for good reason. Simmons tops the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with 9.5 sacks through five games and has a conference-high 12 tackles for loss. He set a program record with 5.5 sacks in a single game against Tennessee. He also has 17 tackles, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Simmons' knack for consistently disrupting opposing quarterbacks can't be ignored in any scouting report.
Freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon has looked poised and confident in the pocket for Tennessee, completing 61 passes for 697 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for 130 yards and three scores in five games. He exited Tennessee’s win over Auburn early with a shoulder injury initially sustained against Texas, adding a wrinkle to an otherwise promising start. The Vols are 4-1, with their sole loss coming against then-No. 1 Texas in a game that remained within reach until a swatted Hail Mary attempt. Brandon’s composure against top-tier opponents and early production have given Tennessee plenty of reason to be optimistic about the state of its offense moving forward.
Quarterback Austin Simmons never earned his starting job back at Ole Miss last season after Chambliss stepped in while he missed time with an injury, but he has found a new home in Missouri. The senior quarterback has led Mizzou to a 5-1 start and the No. 13 rank in the AP Top 25 while throwing for 1,434 yards, 14 touchdowns and only one interception.
It didn’t take Mississippi State sophomore quarterback Kamario Taylor long to turn heads. Taylor, in his first year starting, leads the SEC in touchdown passes (17) and has a third-best 1,450 passing yards. He’s helped the Bulldogs to a 4-1 start, with the lone loss coming against a front-runner Alabama team. Taylor played through a foot injury in that game, further emphasizing his importance to the Bulldogs’ success. His early production has made him one of the conference’s most exciting breakout players to watch this season.
Texas A&M entered the season with high aspirations after an 11-0 start last year and clinching the No. 7 seed in the College Football Playoff. Despite returning nine starters and 65% of its total production, the Aggies have looked like a shell of that team. Ranked No. 8 in the preseason poll, Texas A&M opened with a 2-0 record before being humbled with a 31-21 loss to an unranked Kentucky team and a 35-6 defeat at LSU. After bouncing back with a win against Arkansas, the Aggies’ season took another hit with a 27-6 loss to Missouri — very likely putting playoff hopes well out of reach. With a 3-3 overall and 1-3 conference record, A&M is off to its worst start since joining the SEC in 2012.
The Aggies’ shaky start has placed Mike Elko on the hot seat. A 3-3 record and three conference losses have left little margin for error moving forward for a Texas A&M team that entered the year with high expectations and an experienced roster. The second half of the season will be critical for Elko as he tries to get his program back on track and secure a desirable bowl.
The Aggies' offense and special teams unit took a hit when junior receiver and return specialist Terry Bussey went down with a season-ending leg injury against Kentucky. Bussey entered the season with a career 1,251 all-purpose yards and was a preseason third-team All-SEC selection as a kickoff specialist after averaging 23.4 yards per return in 2025.
AP Sports Writers Brett Martel, Charles Odum, Eric Olson, James Vertuno, Kristie Rieken and Mark Long contributed to this report.
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Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor (1) looks downfield against Alabama during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Starkville, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/James Pugh)
CAIRO (AP) — Iran-backed Houthi rebels hit the headquarters of the Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco in an overnight strike, two regional officials said Wednesday, damaging the offices of the firm’s chief executive and other top officials.
The strike, in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Dhahran, was the latest demonstration of the Houthis' ability to attack high-profile targets.
There were no casualties in the attack, which the officials said damaged the building's top three floors. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
The Houthis had warned earlier they were targeting Dhahran with a ballistic missile.
The sight of smoke rising from some of Saudi Arabia’s most sensitive facilities in recent days has rattled the region and global markets while increasing questions for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he's evaluating whether the U.S. should join Saudi strikes against the Houthis in the latest front in the Iran war.
The Saudi energy ministry reported a “limited fire” at the Aramco building Tuesday night. Aramco didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Wednesday, Saudi civil defense authorities in the capital, Riyadh, said debris from an intercepted strike had left one person injured. The state-run SPA news agency published images showing a damaged building and a vehicle with a large cylindrical object, seemingly part of a missile, lodged in its hood.
The Saudi-led coalition said that it had intercepted two Houthi drones, four cruise missiles and one ballistic missile targeting Riyadh, a ballistic missile targeting Dhahran and a cruise missile targeting Al-Kharj, a key military and industrial city. Alerts for incoming missiles were also sounded around Riyadh, though details weren't immediately clear.
The Houthis called the attacks retaliation for “treacherous Saudi aggression” against Sanaa, the rebel-held Yemeni capital, and other areas, as the kingdom backs the forces of neighboring Yemen's internationally recognized government in a major military offensive launched a week and a half ago. The rebel-run Health Ministry reported two dead in attacks in Yemen on Tuesday and blamed the Saudis.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Saudi airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has been targeted multiple times in the past week with strikes that have killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 300 others, greatly affecting aviation across the kingdom.
The Houthis, hardened by years of civil war, have emerged as Iran's most effective armed proxy of the moment, but experts say they also have their own agenda. Either way, they are applying increasing pressure on a key U.S. ally.
There has been an “unprecedented surge” in combat casualties along Yemen's front lines, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, particularly in the city of Marib, along the Red Sea coast and the besieged city of Taiz, where the World Food Program says it can no longer reach more than 600,000 people who depend on aid.
Main roads leading into Yemen's third-largest city have been closed amid rebel attacks, with regular clashes on the outskirts and overnight bombardment.
Residents are increasingly worried about dwindling supplies of fuel and food.
A Taiz resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing the Houthis could seize the city, said that long lines now formed outside shops, and public transportation has become increasingly scarce because of fuel shortages. The sound of loud explosions keeps her awake at night, she said in a telephone interview, adding that downtown Taiz hasn't been shelled.
On Wednesday, schools in Taiz were ordered closed for a month.
A senior Houthi official told The Associated Press that regional and international powers have reached out in an effort to stop the attacks on Saudi Arabia as part of a ceasefire deal.
Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, said that Oman has tried to get both sides back to the negotiating table, and Russia and China also tried via Iran.
“We’re welcoming any mediation that leads to an end of the war and the blockade between Sanaa and Riyadh,” he said. “We’re ready for a comprehensive end of the war and the blockade from both sides, not just a temporary ceasefire.”
The rebels continued to warn of attacks on both airports and oil facilities. More than 3,000 flights scheduled to depart from airports across Saudi Arabia have been canceled or listed as not operating in the past week, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
The escalation has highlighted Saudi Arabia’s struggle to intercept Houthi missiles and drones. The kingdom has pressed allies like the United States for more military support. Regional officials say Saudi Arabia, the world’s top purchaser of U.S. weapons, is running low on interceptors.
The Saudis are trying to stop daily attacks across a territory about three times the size of Texas. Experts say intercepting all of the missiles and drones is impossible. The Houthis have a large arsenal capable of reaching targets well over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away, with some warheads capable of changing direction midflight.
The fighting between the Saudis and Houthis erupted this year when the rebels blamed the Saudis for a strike on the airport in Sanaa. That revived anger over a Saudi blockade of the Houthis, who in turn declared a blockade against the kingdom.
The Saudi-led coalition is also striking oil targets. Earlier Wednesday, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said that two people were killed in an airstrike on Tuesday on an oil facility near the Ras Isa port in Hodeida province. The coalition attacked another oil facility in Sanaa.
The targeting of fuel storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas marks a new phase, said Ahmed Nagi, senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, a think tank. He said that in a war of attrition, the rebels could risk losing much of their military capacity.
“The Houthis are betting on pressure, while the Saudis are betting on time. The Houthis are trying to strike critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia to raise the cost of continued military intervention,” Nagi said.
The fighting has revived Yemen's civil war after four years of relative calm.
“There’s a huge fear,” said one Sanaa resident, Umm Shadi, after the Saudi-led strikes there on Tuesday, adding that people are largely staying home.
Cara Anna reported from Jerusalem. Sarah El Deeb and Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Ahmed al-Haj in Aden, Yemen, and Fatma Khaled in Cairo, contributed to this report.
FILE -Birds fly over a billboard advertisement for Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant Aramco, with Arabic that reads, "Saudi Aramco, soon on stock exchange," in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
