Schools and cities from Texas to Georgia are shutting down in anticipation of freezing rain and snow forecast for much of the Southern U.S. The severe weather is expected across a stretch from New Mexico to Alabama starting Wednesday night and early Thursday.

Another weekend of conference play in college basketball is underway with plenty of marquee matchups Saturday including a showdown between two of the top programs from the Mountain West. New Mexico will put its perfect 5-0 record against conference opponents on the line when it hosts San Diego State on CBS.

Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador threatened to declare the property a natural protected area or seize it by force if Vulcan didn’t accept a $360 million offer for the gravel pits. Vulcan maintains the Punta Venado deep-water port facility has an estimated value of more than $1 billion.

President-elect Donald Trump announced his plans to rename the “Gulf of Mexico” in a press conference this morning at Mar-a-Lago.

In some high-elevation areas, including in parts of Texas, wind chill was plunging the feels-like temperatures to subzero levels.

The ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling President Biden put in place on his way out of office doesn’t apply to federal waters off the Louisiana coast, but state Attorney General Liz Murrill is challenging the action she calls “blatantly illegal.

The Carson National Forest has re-purposed the historic Tres Piedras home of wildlife conservationist Aldo Leopold.

A Texas community is mourning the loss of Navasota Police Sgt. Mark Butler, who died while saving others from a wrong-way driver during a pursuit. The cruise line pushed back heavily at the request and accusation.

Appalachian St. at Marshall, 1 p.m. Bryant at Mass.-Lowell, 1 p.m. Bucknell at Navy, 1 p.m. CCSU at Fairleigh Dickinson, 1 p.m. Davidson at St. Bonaventure, 1 p.m. Fairfield at Canisius, 1 p.m. Manhattan at Niagara, 1 p.m. Penn at Cornell, 1 p.m. UMBC at Maine, 1 p.m. Wagner at Mercyhurst, 1 p.m. Army at Boston U., 2 p.m.

Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) told Newsweek: "ERCOT has issued a Weather Watch from January 20-23 due to predicted extreme cold weather across the ERCOT region, higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves. Winter precipitation is also expected across parts of the state.

Colgate at Lafayette, 1 p.m. Maine at UMBC, 1 p.m. Mercyhurst at Wagner, 1 p.m. Albany (NY) at Binghamton, 2 p.m. Canisius at Fairfield, 2 p.m. Cornell at Penn, 2 p.m.

The SS United States was poised to set sail at the end of last year on her final voyage from Philadelphia to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to become an artificial reef. But Coast Guard concerns have complicated the trip south.