By Zac Ellis

The biggest star of college football’s spring practice was Jack Hoffman, the seven-year-old Nebraska fan battling pediatric brain cancer. The Cornhuskers inserted Hoffman into their spring game on April 6, engineering a play for the youngster to run in a 69-yard touchdown. The video of Hoffman’s play (above) currently has more than seven million views on YouTube.

But the ride isn’t over for Hoffman just yet. HuskerInsider.com reports that Hoffman and his parents, Andy and Brianna Hoffman, accepted an invitation to visit the White House and meet President Barack Obama. The family was set to visit with the president on Monday.

Hoffman befriended former Husker running back Rex Burkhead last year while battling brain cancer, and the Nebraska player helped spearhead the “Team Jack” program, which raised awareness of the disease to help find a cure. Burkhead was drafted by the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals over the weekend.

By Holly Anderson

We don’t cover the draft here for the same reason we don’t cover recruiting, but dissecting this year’s No. 1 overall pick is right in our wheelhouse, because #MACTION. 

I'm a Kansas City Chief and it feels amazing! I'm speechless right now but also so blessed! Feels good to be number one!!!—
Eric Fisher (@Big_Fish79) April 26, 2013

#MACtion lives on a Thursday night! Eric Fisher drafted number one.—
Jacob Corrigan (@Jacob_Corrigan) April 26, 2013

CHIEFFEWAS—
Chris Driver (@Jerkwheatery) April 26, 2013

#DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION #DRAFTMACTION—
Holly Anderson (@HollyAnderson) April 26, 2013

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D.J. Fluker, before becoming ‘Bama’s 14th first-round NFL draft pick in Nick Saban’s tenure. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

By Zac Ellis

The SEC hogged the spotlight once again in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night. Twelve SEC players were selected on the draft’s opening night, a total that tied the 2007 ACC for the most ever from one conference in the first round. And while the SEC was setting new heights for the league, Nick Saban was doing the same for his tenure at Alabama.

Three Crimson Tide players — cornerback Dee Milliner, offensive guard Chance Warmack and offensive tackle D.J. Fluker — were picked consecutively in the first round, with selections No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11. The picks upped Saban’s total of first-round draft picks to 14 during his six seasons at Alabama.

That mark is significant: Saban’s 14 first-rounders pushes the coach past legendary Crimson Tide coach Bear Bryant in that regard, as Bryant produced 13 first-round picks with Alabama. The difference? It took Bryant 25 seasons to get to that number in Tuscaloosa, according to AL.com’s Jon Solomon.

Saban and Alabama have recently dominated the rest of the SEC in first-round picks as well. Since 2009, Florida’s seven first-round selections are the league’s second-highest total behind Alabama’s 14.

By Holly Anderson

The greatest beauty and cruelty of college football is the brevity. The short seasons are here and gone before we feel we’ve fully grasped their import, and, at most, we are granted only a few years to appreciate the players we most admire before they’re shipped off to be homogenized into the NFL. It’s only natural, then, that draft season is the bleakest time of year for us. We wish all departing players well, but it always chokes us up a bit.

Jarvis Jones (right) and a chicken-salad bust of Jarvis Jones (left) at a Manhattan Subway. #DraftWeek!!! http://t.co/t8hzrRuvN9—
Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 23, 2013

Never does this hit home harder than when Subway gets ahold of promising draft prospects. Was it just a few short months ago that we were marveling at Jarvis Jones’ Cocktail Party performance? He was an apex predator, an eater of Gators, and now he’s chicken salad. So wags the weary world away.

Matt Barkley, Lane Kiffin and the USC Trojans suffered through a painful season in 2012. (Bill Kostroun/AP)

By Zac Ellis

Matt Barkley’s senior season at USC didn’t exactly go as planned. And coach Lane Kiffin could be a big reason for that — at least, according to Barkley.

In an interview with Yahoo! Sports’ Michael Silver, Barkley reflected on his senior season in 2012, when the preseason No. 1 Trojans stumbled mightily in the shadow of high expectations and limped to a 7-6 record after a 6-1 start. But Barkley alluded to internal issues that might have soured the atmosphere within the program, saying he wishes he’d been more vocal as a leader in the locker room.

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it long and hard,” Barkley said. “I learned how to handle adversity last season, and maybe I could have done a few things differently. I could’ve had a bigger voice, given more input and taken it to the next level — pretty much as the owner of the company might … not just letting things happen.”

“You put faith in your coaches, but when you see trends, things not happening the right way, and when the team rests on your shoulders, it’s almost like you have to step up. You can’t just let these things go by and watch them disintegrate in front of you. You’ve got to put the glue in somewhere. Looking back, I wish I’d been more forceful.”

Though Barkley never mentioned Kiffin by name, the implication of “trends, things not happening the right way” seems to point to a leadership problem. Barkley said the ups and downs of last season took a toll as the year progressed.

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Manti Te’o and the Notre Dame defense couldn’t stop Alabama’s offense in the BCS title game. (John Bazemore/AP)

By Zac Ellis

Those who watched Alabama’s drubbing of Notre Dame in January’s BCS title game saw the Crimson Tide overwhelm the Irish’s vaunted defense. While Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly can’t argue with that assessment, he doesn’t think the loss exposed one of the team’s defensive stars.

Kelly defended the play of star linebacker Manti Te’o, who was one of the country’s top defensive players and a Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2012. Kelly was asked in an NFL Network interview whether Te’o was exposed against Alabama, to which he simply replied, “No.”

Instead, Kelly contended that his team did not play up to its potential against a hungry Crimson Tide team.

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Steve Spurrier, your thoughts on media coverage of South Carolina’s pro day?

Steve Spurrier: “I noticed both USCs had their pro timing day today. One of them finished No. 7 in the country, the other was not (1/4)—
Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) March 27, 2013

in the Top 25, yet ESPN decided to go out to the one in California which did not finish in the Top 25 and televise their day live. (2/4)—
Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) March 27, 2013

It’s interesting that (ESPN) doesn’t come around here on signing day, they don’t come around here on pro timing day, and yet (3/4)—
Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) March 27, 2013

they want us to play all these Thursday night games. Maybe we need to consider playing on that new network, FoxSports 1" (4/4)—
Josh Kendall (@JoshatTheState) March 27, 2013

The OBC has clearly not been briefed on the WWL’s Take A Sun Bowl Loser To Work Day initiative.

Gonna miss you, Barrett Jones:

Umm guys I've really been out in the sun a lot lately…or so NFL.com thinks. http://t.co/Jnpj1HHnoR—
Barrett Jones (@BarrettAJones) February 25, 2013

We have at least three weeks’ worth of Sebastian photos on hand, in case this Miami story keeps dragging on. (AP)

Assorted newsy bits — of varying degrees of importance — you might have missed over the long weekend:

• Didn’t we already do this headline a week ago? ”Imminent” can mean a lot of things! In the cosmic sense, the NCAA’s investigation of Miami has spanned less than a fraction of an eyeblink, but here we are, riding on a human-speed space-time wave, just twiddling our bloggy thumbs until the ‘Canes’ notice of allegations drops. The latest rumblings, per Bruce Feldman, involve a very large book being thrown at ex-Miami and current Louisville assistant Clint Hurtt and other former ‘Canes colleagues. We’ll have more on this when we actually see the notice of allegations, unless we don’t see this notice of allegations, in which case we’ll be right back here next Monday writing a third variation on this same headline.

• And speaking of the NCAA: On the final day of the annual NCAA convention, the latest raft of changes — touted as an effort to streamline NCAA regulations — were unveiled. Your friendly neighborhood Bylaw Blogger takes a look at one proposal, regarding recruiting start dates, that was left out of the bundle.

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Five-star defensive end recruit Dee Liner has made a beeline away from Auburn. (Icon SMI)

• IMPORTANT DEE LINER, D-LINER NEWS. We did promise you at the end of the season that we wouldn’t get mired too deep in recruiting antics, not being super interested in prospects until they actually take the field in August, but exceptions will always be made for defensive ends named Dee Liner. Liner, a five-star prospect from Muscle Shoals who’s ranked by Rivals as the second-best overall recruit at his position, has decommitted from Auburn, citing the loss of his relationships with Gene Chizik and Trooper Taylor. This has been a public service announcement to remind you all that there is a defensive prospect out there named Dee Liner. Thank you.

• Coach-hirin’ follies! Coordinators snapped up by new schools since we last typed in this here box: Bill Cubit (OC) at Illinois, Josh Conklin (DC) at FIU, David Gibbs (DC) at Houston and — reportedly — Scot Loeffler at Virginia Tech.

• Roster blotter. Roster moves and non-moves since we last typed in this here box: Notre Dame’s Cierre Wood intends to turn pro; Oklahoma’s Aaron Colvin will return; Houston’s Charles Sims is staying a Cougar for one more year; and Nebraska’s Sean Fisher is forgoing a possible sixth season of eligibility in favor of medical school, the little scamp.

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