Florida Sports Wire

JAX SPORTS NEWS: No bid for JU in FCS, top-seeded Appalachian State headlines playoff field

By Craig Haley
FCS Executive Director

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - A regular season in which there was not a definitive No. 1 team will gets it answer from the upcoming Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.

On Sunday, the NCAA selected Appalachian State (9-2) as the No. 1 seed for the expanded, 20-team bracket.

Teams whose hope for at-large bid were dashed included Liberty (8-3), Dayton (10-1), Jacksonville (10-1), Cal Poly (7-4) and Montana (7-4), the national runner-up in each of the past two seasons. Montana, which had only six wins against Division I opponents, had been made a record 17 straight playoff appearances.

The other seeds were No. 2 William & Mary (8-3), No. 3 Delaware (9-2), No. 4 Montana State (9-2) and No. 5 Eastern Washington (9-2). All five seeds as well as seven other teams the NCAA selection committee determined to be the next- best earned first-round byes on Saturday, Nov. 27.

Top-seeded Appalachian State, which won three straight FCS titles from 2005-07, qualified for its sixth straight and 18th overall playoff appearance. Coach Jerry Moore's squad shared the SoCon title with Wofford, but earned the conference's automatic bid by winning the head-to-head meeting.

Reacting to his team's No. 1 seed, Moore told ESPNU, "I think the big thing is pretty obvious that you play at home as long as you win. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort to stay No. 1."

The first-round byes are a result of the field being expanded from 16 to 20 teams.

Eight teams will play in the first round on Nov. 27, with the four winners advancing to the second round on Saturday, Dec. 4.

The quarterfinals follow on Friday, Dec. 10 and Saturday, Dec. 11. One semifinal will be held on Friday, Dec. 17 and the other on Saturday, Dec. 18.

There will be a three-week break leading up to the championship game on Friday, Jan. 7 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.

The 10 automatic qualifiers were all conference champions: Montana State (Big Sky), Coastal Carolina (Big South), William & Mary (CAA Football), Bethune- Cookman (Mideastern Athletic Conference), Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley), Robert Morris (Northeast Conference), Southeast Missouri State (Ohio Valley Conference), Lehigh (Patriot League), Appalachian State (Southern Conference) and Stephen F. Austin (Southland).

The 10 at-large bids selections went to Eastern Washington (Big Sky), Delaware (CAA), New Hampshire (CAA), Villanova (CAA), South Carolina State (MEAC), North Dakota State (Missouri Valley) Western Illinois (Missouri Valley), Jacksonville State (OVC), Wofford (SoCon) and Georgia Southern (SoCon).

The CAA had the most qualifiers with four, and each received a first-round bye. The Missouri Valley and the SoCon had three qualifiers each. All three Missouri Valley teams will play in the first round.

FSU NOTEBOOK: Youngsters making most of new opportunities

www.jaxfootballnews.com

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – One of the most interesting developments every football preseason is the development and ascent of underclassmen into prominent contributors.

Six days into Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher’s first preseason camp, several players have stepped to the fore in most timely fashion. Among the group are sophomore wide receivers Rodney Smith and Willie Haulstead, as well as redshirt freshman defensive tackle Demonte McAllister.

Smith and Haulstead were already on an accelerated development curve when the Seminoles learned that junior wideout Jarmon Fortson was no longer a part of the program. The same could be said for McAllister, who was competing for a spot in the rotation before Tuesday’s announcement that junior Moses McCray was lost for the season with a knee injury.

Those absences create opportunities that McAllister, Smith and Haulstead hope to capitalize on.

“For me it means I have an opportunity coming in behind Everett (Dawkins) and try to work my way into the rotation,” said McAllister. “Moses is a big loss for us, but we are going to continue to fight hard and make a difference.

Fisher isn’t overly concerned about the Seminoles’ lack of experience along the interior line, despite the fact that none of the contenders have more than one year of collegiate experience in the trenches.

“Demonte is coming on very well,” said Fisher. “[Freshmen] Cam Erving and Darious Cummings - those guys are going to be good players. Darious is really physical inside. He’s 290 pounds with a great body. Plus you’ve got the top three guys – Jacobbi (McDaniel), Amp (McCloud) and Everett (Dawkins) – and Demonte is coming on.”

It helps that the entire segment ranked among the best on the team when it came to re-shaping their bodies – adding weight and improving lean muscle mass – through the rigorous offseason strength and conditioning program.

“I feel great,” McAllister said. “I am up to 280 now. I am more explosive off the ball; more than I was when I weighed 258. The defensive line is looking great. We are out there hustling really hard. We are trying to compete and making a stand [so] we are a great defense. …

“This past summer we have been eating right, working hard in the weight room. We have seen a tremendous jump in weight and getting stronger. We are ready to take it on.”

It doesn’t hurt that the group of young defensive linemen square off against one of the nation’s most talented and experienced offensive lines on a day-to-day basis.

“It helps tremendously,” he added. “They are playing all five starters from last year, so going against them helps a ton.”

The youth movement is alive and well at wide receiver as well, where only juniors Bert Reed and Taiwan Easterling are proven veterans in a sea of talented youngsters. Smith and Haulstead played sparingly as true freshmen, combining for just two receptions, but they are tall and physical talents, not unlike Fortson.

That should make them easy targets for quarterback Christian Ponder.

“Being a big target for Christian is good, because he’s not going to see too many 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2 corners (defending),” said Haulstead. “Rodney is over 220 pounds and I’m just under 220 pounds. We’re both fast and can run a little bit with Bert, even though he’s going to beat us in the end. … It puts us in position where we can go get the deep ball and get the short ones and turn them into big plays.”

Smith enjoyed a break-out spring performance and has moved into Fortson’s starting slot on the practice field, buoyed by the confidence he lacked this time last season.

“The playbook is getting easier to me,” said Smith. “The only thing I have to do is keep my mind right when I’m getting tired.

“The spring gave me a little more confidence that I can go out there and make plays. It gave me the opportunity to work harder and earn a spot (in the rotation).”

Haulstead is more confident as well, thanks to a better grasp on the playbook.

“Personally, I know more so I can play faster,” Haulstead added. “I just feel more comfortable.”

Neither will back away from the contact that receivers coach Lawrence Dawsey demands when it comes to downfield blocking. Their added strength is the perfect complement to a physical mentality.

“I came from a Wing-T offense (in high school), so I’m used to blocking,” Smith said. “Now I just have to adjust to the pro-style offense and get my routes down.

“I’ve got a defensive player’s mentality. I like to hit. That gives me a big advantage. I can go up for the ball and I also have speed for a big guy. Now I can go into the middle and I don’t have to worry about me getting hit by linebackers. I can still move with the weight that I have. That’s a good thing, too.”

McCray, Pressley lost for season

Fisher announced at the end of Tuesday’s morning practice that McCray and Pressley were lost for the year with torn ACL injuries. Pressley, who was battling for time among a deep tailback corps, was injured Friday. McCray, who has 14 career starts in two seasons, was injured Saturday.

“Neither one was hit,” Fisher said. “They were cuts on the field and there wasn’t anyone around them. They just stuck their foot in the ground and it went out. It’s very unfortunate because they’re both great kids.”

Fisher likes two-a-days

While some schools, most notably Georgia, have discontinued two-a-day practices, Fisher sees a real value in the double-up opportunities.

“I do (like them) because I think it’s a great mental conditioning deal and it’s a great challenge for guys to push themselves,” said Fisher. “Until you hit the limit you don’t know what you’re capable of and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The Seminoles will practice twice on Thursday and again next week on Monday and Wednesday.

“Now is the time we’ve got to grind and keep pushing them because they’re getting tired,” Fisher added. “We’re through six practices, going into seven, and that’s when it’s easy to take the easy way out.”

Noteworthy:

Nigel Bradham and Jacobbi McDaniel earned praise from Fisher for goal line stops at the end of Tuesday’s morning session…Tuesday’s afternoon practice will be in shells (helmets and shoulder pads) and likely include more work on the passing game. The evening practice is closed to the media…Fisher was pleased with the morning session, which culminated with a goal line drill as the ‘Noles worked out in full pads. “We’re learning to compete,” he said. “Guys are pulling the pin, learning to compete and making some plays. We’ll still make some mistakes, but we’re getting physical at times when we needed to. The effort was very good today.”

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Brent Beard's ACC Notebook

by BRENT BEAIRD
www.jaxsportsnews.com

Six months after undergoing ligament surgery on his right thumb, Miami's Jacory Harris conceded that the pain of missing spring practice was even worse than the pain of playing much of the season injured. Harris said he began throwing again in late May and acknowledged that the rehabilitation process has been gradual. Always an issue for Harris: His weight. He says he weighs 195. "I'm trying to get to 205, trying my best - eating every day, doing the things it takes," Harris said. Harris said he's found a common theme in his interception problems of 2009.

NUETRAL SITE GAME: Speaking to the Philadelphia Daily News, Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw confirmed that his school has been in discussion in recent months with his counterpart at Miami for a future neutral site game. One of those potential neutral site venues is slowly becoming a go-to destination for college football. Yankee Stadium, which will host both a bowl game and the Notre Dame-Army clash this year -- and rumored to be in the mix for a Colorado-Army match-up -- is rumored to be at the top of the neutral-site list for the schools. "We would always be interested in playing a game like that at a neutral site," Bradshaw told the Daily News.

HENDERSON UPDATE: Sentrel Henderson is finally in the process of becoming a Cane. "He's in the process of enrolling, will be on campus Aug. 3," Henderson's father, Sean, told CaneSport.com. Sean Henderson said since his son hasn't been admitted to UM yet, "he can basically be considered a verbal commitment right now."

Sean Henderson also said, contrary to some rumors, the pair has not visited the campus. He said they have only spoken to one UM coach so far - that was Jeff Stoutland for "just a couple of minutes" yesterday.

"That was our first contact with Miami," Sean said. "We haven't met or talked to coach (Randy) Shannon yet. Coach Stoutland, he was pleased. He gave me assurance that they had a scholarship waiting for Seantrel. And we felt it would be the best fit for Seantrel at Miami."

Sean Henderson also said his understanding is that Seantrel has gotten through the Clearinghouse. Henderson was released from his USC letter-of-intent July 6 in the wake of severe NCAA sanctions on the school. Now the 6-foot-6 behemoth will be playing ball in Coral Gables.

During the recruiting process Henderson also gave serious consideration to Florida, Notre Dame and Ohio State. After he was granted his release by USC, Miami became his top choice. Now he is working through the process of being accepted to the school, and sources also say he isn't yet through the NCAA Clearinghouse. Assuming he is cleared, Henderson would be eligible to play right away at Miami. (canesport.com)

NORTH CAROLINA: While the details are very scant right now, a report emanating from a website dedicated to covering North Carolina is reporting that the NCAA is investigating certain aspects of the school's athletic programs.

Including a certain program that's expected to challenge for an ACC title this fall.UNC athletic director Dick Baddour confirmed to Inside Carolina.com that the governing body of collegiate athletics has been sniffing around the school but, again, refused to get into any of the specifics of a probe that's apparently in its infancy.

"I can acknowledge that representatives from the NCAA have been to Chapel Hill to speak with some of our student-athletes," Baddour said. "One of the things that they instructed us in very clearly is that we are to maintain the confidence of their visit and their review. They've requested that we not discuss it publicly. Obviously, we're going to fully cooperate with the NCAA in every way that we can by making things available to them and in particular by following their instruction on discussing it publicly."

While Baddour would not confirm that the football program is part of the investigation, a source told the website that is indeed the case. The only confirmation from the website as far as the scope of the NCAA's look is that it's not related to academics.

ESPN.com's Joe Schad has provided further details into the situation, including the fact that it's only the football program the NCAA is looking into. Specifically, the NCAA is poking around sports agents and their interaction with UNC football players. One source told Schad that the NCAA was questioning players -- including defensive tackle Marvin Austin, who had flirted with leaving for the NFL early -- about gifts or extra benefits, ostensibly "to make sure no Reggie Bush stuff is going on."

A second source said that the NCAA asked all of UNC's projected NFL draft picks to provide phone records so investigators could see which agents they had spoken with.

The players were also asked who paid for the travel, who paid their rent and which agents they had met with and when, according to the second source. Austin recently tweeted about a trip to Miami.

According to the Raleigh News & Observer, defensive tackle Marvin Austin and wide receiver Greg Little have been interviewed, the paper writes, in connection with improper involvement with sports agents.

Davis is preparing for his fourth season in Chapel Hill and has guided the program to consecutive eight-win seasons, which includes the program’s first back-to-back bowl seasons since the late 1990s when Mack Brown left for Texas.

Davis has a 20-18 record with the Tar Heels, including 11-13 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He inherited the program from John Bunting. The Tar Heels have gone to just two bowl games in six seasons, during which they were a woeful 27-45.

The Tar Heels are expected to contend for the ACC’s Coastal Division title with a defense that returns nine starters from a unit that ranked among the nation’s best last year. North Carolina opens the season against LSU in Atlanta on Sept. 4.

FLORIDA STATE: (Interview with AD Randy Spetman) The football indoor practice facility is still in the infancy of the design phase. It will eventually be built on one of the three practice fields. We’ve made design changes, which took the budget from 25 million down to 16 million dollars.
- The student / football dorm doesn’t have any new news, but we are actively raising funds for the facility.
- We have a 3 year project on the table to renovate Doak Campbell. The steel structure under the stadium will be completely sandblasted and painted. The entire budget for the project will be 6 million dollars.

Q: What is the current state of football ticket sales?
A: As of today, I’m pleased to say that we’ve reached the 2009 total level of ticket sales.

Q: There were rumors of ESPN wanting to televise our spring game. Why did that not happen?
A: ESPN wanted to do the spring game gratis, and they wanted to take over all the logistics. How the game was run, and the time of the game. We would have received no cash, and people would have stayed home to watch the game on TV rather than come to Tallahassee. It would have defeated Jimbo’s goal of a record spring game crowd.

Moreover, ISP pays us 5.6 million dollars per year, and they need to generate revenue to pay us. They’ve turned Seminoles.com from a zero moneymaker into a 200K annual return. They have a goal of a 1 million dollar annual return from the site, and the PPV spring game helps that.

Q: Have you found a replacement for the cancelled Air Force game?
A: We have not as of yet. We’ve contacted no less than 65 schools to fill the vacancy, and we’re going to have to pay more money to buy an opponent. However, whatever we make is more than if we’d have travelled out to Air Force.

Q: Will the Thursday night football games be in the new ESPN TV contract, and will we have a home game for any of them?
A: They will be. It’s something that ESPN wanted in the negotiations. As far as us playing at home, the number of classes in the Moore would compel FSU to have a fall break for a home game. However, we’ve found that home teams win 83% of Thursday night games, so we’ve presented thoughts to President Barron.

Q: Are there any plans to have Coach Bowden come back to be honored this season?
A: We do not expect Coach Bowden to be back for a game in 2010. It’s still emotional for him, and he wants to give Jimbo space to coach the football team. We’ve inducted him into the FSU Hall of Fame, but we will wait until at least 2011 to honor him at his request.

Q: What are the thoughts of Samford at noon, and will this be routine for a noon season opener?
A: The TV rights dictated that the game would be at noon, not FSU. As far as future openers, we’ve explored a number of options, including an ACC Conference game as an opener.

Q: Are there any talks of future neutral site games?
A: Unless we have a 2 million dollar guarantee, which is our revenue for a home game, we won’t consider it. Atlanta and Jacksonville have approached us, but there is nothing on the table. Orlando has not approached us at all.

CLEMSON: The recruitment of Cortez Davis has taken another twist. The Daytona Beach (FL) Mainland product had originally committed to Clemson on October 17, 2009. Then he switched to Florida State on February 27. Now the four-star recruit has switched back and re-committed to Clemson, as first-reported by Tigerillustrated.com. "I just recommitted back to Clemson. I'm back," Davis first told Tigerillustrated.com Sunday afternoon. "I've known I was going to do this for a few days."

The defensive back indicated that he told recruiter of record, defensive ends coach Chris Rumph, head coach Dabo Swinney, recruiting coordinator Jeff Scott and defensive backs coach Charlie Harbison about his decision. (tigerillustrated.com)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Brent Beard's SEC Notebook

by BRENT BEAIRD
www.jaxsportsnews.com

ESPN formally announced Monday that its College GameDay football show this fall will expand — and add Erin Andrews. The Saturday morning show, which began 24 years ago as an hour-long studio show from ESPN's Connecticut studio but now attracts thousands as it airs at college campuses hosting big games, will run three hours starting at 9 a.m. ET, up from two hours and a 10 a.m. ET start last season.

It also will be simulcast for the first time on ESPN Radio. The show will also allow Andrews, who is America's most-famous TV sideline reporter and who recently signed a new contract to stay at ESPN/ABC, to appear as a part-time host and feature reporter.
"The biggest reason I wanted to stay was because they'd expand my role," Andrews said Sunday in her first interview about her new contract. "It's time for me to try new things. … The hosting stuff is what I'm really looking forward to."

That hosting will come during GameDay's first hour, which will air on ESPNU. The final two hours, when Andrews will serve as a reporter, will remain on ESPN — with Andrews also working the sidelines at the game being played at the GameDay site. "She's very versatile," says ESPN executive Norby Williamson. "We've always been looking for opportunities for her."

With GameDay expanding, its main host Chris Fowler no longer will call ESPN Thursday night college games — but will work more weeknight ESPN studio shows. Fowler's replacement on Thursday games: Rece Davis. (USAToday.com)

VANDERBILT: Bobby Johnson suddenly announced his retirement a week before SEC Media Days were set to begin. In eight seasons, Bobby Johnson's teams won 12 SEC games, lost 52. That's 18.75 percent. Johnson, 59, went 29-66 in eight seasons at Vanderbilt after coming over from Furman University. Robbie Caldwell, his long-time assistant, will serve as interim head coach for the 2010 season. Some op-ed articles are saying Johnson, who was considering retiring in the next two years, left now in order to give Caldwell and his staff an opportunity to coach.

It is an unusual time to walk away from coaching, to be sure. The first reaction from people around the league was concern that health might be an issue. It was not, said Johnson who, at 59, is in great shape and still hits a golf ball nine miles.
But to listen to Johnson’s press conference was to get little clues. Over the course of eight seasons there were a lot of losses like the one to Florida in 2005. Johnson lost 66 games in eight years at Vanderbilt. Twenty-six of those losses were by seven points or less. That’s a lot of heartache.

I don’t have to tell you that Vanderbilt is a tough job. It’s a small, private school with high academic standards in a conference that has won four straight national championships and five of the last seven. Only three coaches in the history of the school (Dan McGugin, Art Guepe, and Johnson) have held the job for eight or more years. It can be argued that at this point in history, when the SEC is so dominant, the Vanderbilt football job is more difficult than it has ever been.

But what Johnson did after leaving Furman and taking over in Nashville in 2002, was close the gap between Vanderbilt and the rest of the SEC East, which was enormous. Week in and week out, the coaches in this conference would tell you, Vanderbilt became a very tough out under Johnson. What Vanderbilt may have lacked in blue chip talent the Commodores made up for with good coaching and a relentless approach to the game.

After a 2-10 record (0-8 in the SEC) in 2009 there had been some grumblings about Johnson. The offense was very bad last season, averaging only 8.9 points in eight SEC games. Johnson reassigned some coaches on the offensive staff but didn’t fire anybody. Some thought that wasn’t enough but if you know Johnson you knew that firing coaches was not going to happen. This coaching staff had been very loyal to him and they had all suffered through too many close losses together. (AJC.com and Tennessean.com)

GEORGIA: Georgia plans to reprint some 14,000 football media guides — at a cost of about $50,000 — to remove references to ousted athletics director Damon Evans. The Bulldogs’ annual media guide, which is distributed to donors, recruits and the media, as well as sold to the general public, was printed shortly before Evans’ June 30 DUI arrest and subsequent resignation.

Approximately 21,000 media guides were in the original printing, Felton said. Although some have been distributed, mostly to media and recruits, the majority remain in boxes. UGA is holding off on distribution to about 9,000 donors until the guides are reprinted. The reprints also are expected to be distributed at SEC Media Days next week in Hoover, Ala., and to be used for sales in the university bookstore and online.

Felton said the reprint would involve “probably at least 14,000″ copies and cost in the $50,000 ballpark. Only a few pages will be altered. Evans’ name will be removed from the athletic-director line in the “general information” section on page 2. His photo will be removed from page 77 and his bio on page 207 will be replaced. (Athens-Banner)

NO TWO-A-DAYS: Coach Mark Richt and the Bulldogs are ditching the dreaded days of double workouts that are a tradition in college football. Georgia had only two days last preseason when it practiced twice in a day and one of those days, the Bulldogs scrimmaged in the morning and held another practice at night for about an hour that ended around 10:15 p.m.

The NCAA permits 29 practice opportunities before the first game. Georgia players will begin preseason practices earlier - July 31 - five weeks before the Bulldogs open the season against Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 4.

CO-STARTERS AT RB: Washaun Ealey and Caleb King will being preseason practice as co-starters on the depth chart at running back.

JACKSON LEAVING: Three days after being hit with a multigame suspension, running back Dontavius Jackson has decided to transfer from the University of Georgia. Jackson was arrested early Saturday morning and charged with six misdemeanors, including driving under the influence and hit and run. The next day, head coach Mark Richt suspended the redshirt sophomore for at least the first six games of the 2010 season. Jackson will leave school at the end of this semester, although there's no word on where he may end up continuing his collegiate football career. In four games last season, Jackson rushed for 38 yards on four carries

Cornerback Branden Smith was a passenger in the vehicle driven by Jackson but was the only one of the five people in the 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche not arrested because he “was determined to have not been drinking,” according to the police incident report obtained by the AJC today. Also, an identification card issued to Vance Cuff, a Georgia cornerback, was found on a female passenger in the vehicle and taken into evidence, according to the incident report. Cuff was not in the vehicle.

A passenger in Jackson's vehicle, wide receiver Tavarres King (a starter on depth chart), was hit with an underage drinking charge. The redshirt sophomore has also been suspended indefinitely by Richt, but is facing just a one-game suspension. Per UGA policy, any athlete hit with a first-time alcohol offense is subject to a suspension of at least 10 percent of that season's games.

Thus, both Jackson and King are facing, at bare minimum, missing the season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette. The arrests of Jackson and King bring the number of Georgia players arrested this offseason to seven - all since the start of spring practices in March. Three have been dismissed from the team - quarterback Zach Mettenberger, outside linebacker Montez Robinson and punter Trent Dittmer. (AJC.com)

SOUTH CAROLINA: A trip South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders reportedly took to Miami, Fla. with close friend Marvin Austin, a defensive end for North Carolina, and possibly others appears to be at the heart of the NCAA's investigation into impermissible dealings with sports agents stretching across the Carolinas.

According to multiple published reports, the NCAA questioned Saunders last week about his relationship with an unidentified agent. Specifically, the NCAA has inquired about who paid for hotel rooms and other travel related expenses during the trip to South Florida.

Saunders confirmed the meeting with NCAA investigators to ESPN.com. He was quoted as saying, "I'm not really sure what's going on right now in terms of who's in trouble and how much." South Carolina athletics director Eric Hyman released a statement at approximately 5:45 p.m. Sunday, stating: "The NCAA has been in contact with us regarding a possible rules violation in one of our programs. We have and will continue to cooperate fully with their inquiry. We have confidence in our compliance program and will work with the NCAA to bring this matter to a resolution in a timely fashion."

Saunders is from Durham, NC and has several friends on the UNC team. His father is respected columnist Barry Saunders of the Raleigh News & Observer. (Gamecockcentral.com)

RICHARDSON INJURY: An injury to Quentin Richardson's right shoulder knocked him out of South Carolina's PapaJohns.com Bowl loss to UConn in January. Now an injury to the other shoulder has placed the offensive lineman's availability for the 2010 season in jeopardy. According to a press release issued by the school, the junior tackle will be forced to undergo surgery after suffering an injury to the left shoulder. The release did not state how Richardson suffered the injury. His status for the 2010 season will be determined after the surgery, the release read. Richardson started the first four games of the season last year before being relegated to a backup role and then reclaimed the starting job in the regular-season finale. All told, the lineman played in eight games in '09. (The State)

Next year (2011) figures to be a financial bonanza for USC with seven home games in Columbia in addition to the season opener against ECU in Charlotte. But since ECU comes to Columbia twice while the Gamecocks go to Greenville once in subsequent years, the Pirates will collect a large single game check before the series wraps up in 2016. After an apparent one-year hiatus from appearing on the nationally televised Thursday night opener, USC will return to that slot in 2012. The opener that season is scheduled for Thur., Aug. 30th against ECU at Williams-Brice Stadium. (Gamecockcentral.com)

NONCONFERENCE OPPONENTS: 2010 - Southern Miss (9/2), Furman (9/18), Troy (11/20), at Clemson (11/27); 2011 - East Carolina (at Charlotte) (9/3), Navy (9/17), The Citadel (11/19), Clemson (11/26); 2012 - East Carolina (9/30), UAB (9/15), Wofford (11/17), at Clemson (11/24); 2013 - North Carolina, at Central Florida (9/28), SC State, Clemson; 2014 - East Carolina (at Charlotte) (8/30), Furman, Troy, at Clemson and 2015 - at East Carolina, Central Florida (9/26), The Citadel, Clemson. (Gamecockcentral.com)

SPURRIER ON STAFF: Scotty Spurrier has accepted a GA position on his father’s staff. The 23-year-old Spurrier, who was a backup receiver and special teams player for the Gamecocks, never gave much thought to working in the corporate world after graduating from USC this past spring with a degree in sport and entertainment management. Spurrier, the youngest of Steve and Jerri Spurrier’s four children, used to attend practices after school when his dad was coaching at Florida and Washington. When he officially starts his G.A. work with the start of preseason practice next month, Scott Spurrier will be where he always envisioned he would be. (Gamecockcentral.com)

TENNESSEE: Matt Sims, a JUCO transfer, turned some heads last weekend at the Manning Passing Academy at Nicholls University. ESPN's Chris Mortensen called him the "wow guy" on Twitter after watching him throw in a skills competition he narrowly lost, praising Simms for his arm strength, accuracy and spinning ability. McElroy also told Mortensen he wished he "had an arm like that." Obviously there's more to playing the position than just natural talent, and for the most part there haven't been any real doubts that Simms has plenty of it. But by his own admission Simms was missing a couple of other pieces as he tried to assert himself in a battle with Tyler Bray during his first spring with the Vols, though he's expecting more breakthroughs like he had in Louisiana now that he's settling in at UT

FIGHT UPDATE: According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, one facet of a police report seemingly points the finger of blame at senior defensive tackle Chase Nelson as the person who started a fight that ultimately escalated and ended with two patrons -- including an off-duty police officer -- hospitalized and two UT players charged for their respective roles. In a statement given to the Knoxville Police Department, 20-year-old Gary Russell -- one of the two hospitalized -- claimed that Nelson started a fight with him inside Bar Knoxville.

The fight quickly turned into a brawl that spilled out into the street and resulted in the injuries to the KPD Officer Robert Capouellez, and safety Darren Myles and freshman wide receiver Da'Rick Rodgers facing charges. Myles was subsequently dismissed from the football program.

No charges have been filed for the alleged assaults on either Russell or Capouellez, but the investigation into the incident is ongoing. In another twist to this head-scratcher of a story, Nelson, the News Sentinel writes, has been serving an academic suspension since the end of the spring semester and has not taken part in any team activities. (cft.com)

Coach Derek Dooley suspended indefinitely sophomore linebacker Greg King and sophomore defensive tackle Marlon Walls, though their roles in the incident are not clear. University of Tennessee campus police detained and interviewed senior receiver Denarius Moore, junior college transfer defensive tackle John Brown and incoming freshman receiver Matt Milton. (CBSsportsline.com)

EXTRA BENEFITS: Meanwhile, the university is investigating whether UT players received extra benefits in the form of not having to pay a cover charge at Bar Knoxville. The owners of the club indicated in interviews shortly after the incident that players were allowed in without a cover charge, which could be an NCAA violation. One of the co-owners of the bar disputes that the players were receiving extra benefits, saying that no cover charges applied to some non-athletes as well. Regardless, Morton said they're "done with" VIP treatment for known athletes. It would be a violation of the NCAA’s extra benefits bylaws, similar to a manager of a movie theater giving football players discount movie tickets or a restaurant owner allowing players to eat on the house. (espn.com)

FLORIDA: Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach visited with Coach Urban Meyer recently to discuss the quick passing game with John Brantley.

PHONY WILDER COMMIT: Those Gator fans who follow recruiting intently probably had a good laugh — or felt heartache– last night when news of James Wilder’s supposed commitment to Florida lasted all but, what, 20 minute. James Wilder is a behemoth. Easily one of the top-five talents in the country, Wilder (6-foot-2), a LB/RB from Tampa Plant is Florida’s top player according to the Sentinel rankings. Naturally, news of his commitment would vibrate through the national recruiting circuitry. I get an e-mail from my office with a reference about a tweet from 247Sports.com National Recruiting Analyst J.C. Shurburtt. His tweet read: “Got an e-mail from James Wilder saying he had committed to Florida.” This was around 7 p.m.

On my way home, I text trusty Sentinel recruiting editor Chris Hays about the development and whether he’s heard anything. He said that Wilder was headed to Georgia for an official visit before making any decisions.

Turns out Hays was right. By the time I get home, a couple of folks had tweeted to me that Wilder never committed. Shurburtt’s follow-up tweets confirmed: And here we go- reliable sources say that the James Wilder “I committed to Florida” e-mail is false.” Apparently some clown has a Facebook page in James Wilder Jr.’s name. Not sure if the e-mail was related to that or not.” I know I’m pointing out the obvious, but it’s truly amazing how fast news can travel these days. One pretty innocuous tweet from a reporter can captivate a fan base hungry for recruiting news — especially about arguably the country’s most important recruit. (orlandosentinel.com-Jeremy Fowler)

HAMMOND UPDATE: Florida wide receiver Frankie Hammond will plead guilty to DUI after his June 14 arrest and will likely serve the minimum sentence for first-time offenders, attorney Huntley Johnson told the Sentinel. A sentence won't be handed down until later this month. Johnson compares Hammond's case to former UF defensive end Carlos Dunlap, who received 50 hours community service, six months probation and about $1,000 in fines and court costs after a guilty DUI plea in late January.

Hammond, who caught four passes for 57 yards as a reserve last season, is at least the 28th Gator arrested in the Urban Meyer era. Johnson said Hammond's parents have confiscated his car to avoid any future issues. "He made a mistake, and it's one I'm willing to bet he won't repeat," Johnson said. (OrlandoSentinel)

ARKANSAS: Receiver Carlton Salters has left the team and intends to pursue a baseball career. Petrino announced the move Monday. Salters appeared in 27 games for the Razorbacks and had 13 catches for 185 yards and a touchdown. Last year, he played in eight games and had three catches on the season for 81 yards and a touchdown. Salters averaged 27 yards per catch. In spring 2007, he was an outfielder during his redshirt season for the Razorback baseball team.

Quarterback Ryan Mallett’s recovery from a second surgery on his injured foot is “coming along just fine,” Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said Thursday. McGee’s comments were made on the Shawn and Wally radio show Thursday evening. Mallett has worked closely with athletic trainer Matt Summers during his recovery, McGee added, which began shortly after Mallett broke a bone in his left foot during conditioning drills Feb. 17. Mallett underwent a second surgery to replace a screw in his foot June 9. He was expected to remain off his feet for two weeks.

LSU: Sophomore fullback Dominique Allen has been indefinitely suspended from the LSU football team, according to sources close to the program. Allen finished spring practice as the starting fullback. He participated in one game as a freshman. Allen was the starting fullback against Auburn. He had no carries in the Auburn game. Allen reported last summer overweight.

The only returning scholarship fullback on the roster is Kellen Theriot, who has not participated in a game in two seasons with the Tigers. Theriot moved to fullback in spring practice after working primarily as a linebacker. Theriot has been bothered by an ankle injury since coming to LSU. Two incoming freshmen will compete with Theriot for playing time at fullback. Those two recruits are Travis Dickson and Brandon Worle. Reportedly, Dickson has been impressive during summer drills. Dickson, whose brother Richard just completed his Tigers career, was a tight end in high school.

Allen is the fifth member of coach Les Miles' 2009 signing class to leave the program. The other four players are Carneal Ainsworth, Chris Garrett, Akiem Hicks and Stavion Lowe.

LOWE LEAVING: redshirt freshman offensive lineman Stavion Lowe of Brownwood, Texas - has received his release from the school and decided to leave the LSU program and seek a transfer. Lowe, a 6-foot-5, 296-pounder, becomes the eighth player since the spring to leave the program with eligibility remaining, including a second offensive lineman after Clay Spencer received a medical hardship last month. (Tigerbait.com)

NO GROUND GAME: There is no mystery why the Tigers have struggled over the past few years. They are not able to effectively run the football.

Rushing plays: 2005: 509 (367 tailback carries),2006: 450 (347 tailback carries),2007: 612 (375 tailback carries), 2008: 495 (356 tailback carries) and 2009: 435 (233 tailback carries)

Rushing yards: 2005: 1,951 (1,633 tailback yards), 2006: 2,155 (1,644 tailback yards), 2007: 2,998 (2,135 tailback yards), 2008: 2,168 (1,869 tailback yards) and 2009: 1,596 (1,100 tailback yards)

Yards per running play: 2005: 3.8 (4.4 tailback average), 2006: 4.8 (4.7 tailback average), 2007: 4.9 (5.7 tailback average),2008: 4.4 (5.3 tailback average) and 2009: 3.7 (4.7 tailback average)

Rushing yards per game: 2005: 150.1 (125.6 tailback average), 2006: 165.8 (126.5 tailback average), 2007: 214.1 (152.5 tailback average), 2008: 166.8 (143.7 tailback average) and 2009: 122.8 (84.6 tailback average)

Rushing touchdowns: 2005: 21 (16 tailback touchdowns), 2006: 25 (20 tailback touchdowns)
2007: 35 (25 tailback touchdowns), 2008: 27 (21 tailback touchdowns) and 2009: 15 (11 tailback touchdowns

OLE MISS: Ole Miss running back Rodney Scott was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace this morning after an on-campus fight, according to an affidavit. Scott was allegedly fighting with Elmer L. Johnson, who was also arrested and charged with disturbing the peace. The charge is a misdemeanor. Scott was released on bail at 1:30 p.m.

UM coach Houston Nutt said the incident started because Scott’s car was “keyed,” which is when somebody takes their car keys and scratches up the paint job on a vehicle. This morning, Nutt said Johnson was bragging about the damage and that’s when the fight ensued. “That’s what triggered it,” Nutt said. “(Rodney’s) car is torn up. But he’s got to handle it better.”

Scott recently won the Southeastern Conference Sportsmanship Award. During an Oct. 31 game, he stayed still for nearly 10 minutes underneath Auburn safety Zac Etheridge, who had suffered a serious neck injury. Scott’s actions possibly saved Etheridge from paralysis. Scott, 19, is competing with juniors Brandon Bolden and Enrique Davis for the starting tailback position. (Clarion-Ledger)

TICKET SALES UP: Ole Miss had sold 43,032 season football tickets as of Friday, up approximately 10 percent from this point last year. The school eventually sold its entire season ticket allotment prior to the 2009 home opener against Southeastern Louisiana. Last season was the first for Ole Miss to sell out of season tickets. (Clarion-Ledger)

MISSISSIPPI STATE: MSU, which sold a school-record 40,901 season tickets last year, had sold 39,409 as of Friday. That includes an anticipated 11,000 student tickets, which was the number MSU sold last year. (Clarion-Ledger)

ALABAMA: Mal Moore's legacy as the University of Alabama athletics director includes the recent football national title and facility upgrades for football, basketball, baseball and other programs. It appears it will also include at least a few more years. A deal is in the works that would extend Moore's contract beyond its current expiration date of June 30, 2011, according to multiple sources. Discussions have taken place for the 70-year-old Moore to stay in his current role perhaps through 2014, though any extension needs approval from the UA System Board of Trustees. (Al.com)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Brent Beaird's Thursday Notebook

By BRENT BEAIRD
www.jaxfootballnews.com

According to knowledgeable industry sources, the controversial reconfiguration could commence as soon as August. The key to the shakeup is whether the Big Ten opts to expand to 16 or become a mega-conference with 20 members. The linch-pin is Texas. If the Big Ten can entice Texas to join, it will expand to 20 and become the biggest power-broker in collegiate athletics.

That will ignite an arms race with such strong leagues as the SEC and Pac-10 looking to expand to keep pace. The fallout will be more far-reaching than any volcano in Iceland could spew.

Let's start with the Big East. The Big Ten is expected to take three out of a foursome including Pitt, Syracuse, Connecticut and Rutgers. UConn appears to be the odd-man out.

Then, the Big East will conduct its own raid. Again, according to industry sources with knowledge of the situation, the first choice will be UCF from Conference USA. Second pick? Temple. The third choice will be another C-USA school, Memphis.

Don't be surprised by the Temple selection. The Owls of today are not the ragtag athletic program that got booted from the Big East. In fact, Temple recently gave both its head football and head basketball coaches five-year contract extensions. Besides, Temple delivers the lucrative Philadelphia television market.

As for Memphis, some folks will be surprised UM gets the nod over East Carolina. Don't be. Memphis is a far better choice. Besides a much larger television market, Memphis offers a top-flight basketball program that will offset the loss of Pitt and Syracuse. As it turns out, hiring former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese as a consultant was a smart move by Memphis. (herald-dispatch.com)

EXPANSION PART II: The SEC cannot rest on its laurels because they have seen the numbers that I am about to share with you. These come from some very good reporting by Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune.

Right now it is a given that from its various shared revenue sources (TV, bowls, NCAA basketball tournament, etc.) The Big Ten pays each of its schools about $22 million per year while the SEC’s numbers are somewhere around $17 million per school. But:

The Big Ten Network has already succeeded beyond anybody’s hopes in a short period of time. Right now 45 million people subscribe to it, but and additional 75 million homes have access to it. It is available in 19 of the 20 largest TV markets in the country.

The Big Ten received a $60 million rights fee up front last year for the BTN from Fox Sports (which owns a 49 percent stake). Then the BTN made an additional $66 million in profit. Advertising revenue was up 30 percent last year in a down economy.

Greenstein reports that if the Big Ten expands and chooses the right schools, league officials have seen estimates of revenues doubling by the 22015-2016 academic year. And this is the best one of all from Greenstein: For every BTN subscriber in the eight-state footprint of the Big Ten, the league gets 70 to 80 cents a month. For every subscriber outside the footprint it is about 10 cents. So guess what happens if the Big Ten starts adding states like Nebraska, Missouri and New Jersey to their footprint? Not only do the subscriptions increase but the income the Big Ten gets from those subscriptions goes up as much as eight-fold in that state. If Nebraska joins the Big Ten, how many homes in that state will sign up for the BTN? I’d say just about all of them.

What if every Big Ten school is suddenly making $35 million a year and the SEC is still at $17 million? Over ten years that’s $180 million more per school that is invested. Would that not make a competitive difference over a decade? That is why the SEC can’t ignore what the Big Ten may do. (Tony Barnhart AJC)

TEXAS AD ON EXPANSION: Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds has made it clear that he's not ruling out any scenario when it comes to the prospect of joining the Big Ten, staying in the Big 12, or even taking the Longhorns to independence. "It's not something we have to think about," said Dodds regarding a potential move into the Big Ten should it expand to 16 teams, creating a super-conference. "It's something we are thinking about.”If we have our way, we're never going to get caught in a situation where we're not part of something that's really viable nationally. If that's the way the worlds goes, then we'll go in that world."

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick thinks similarly. "You've got to think about it and evaluate it," he said, "and make sure you don't wind up with a different division of college football all of a sudden. DeLoss and I have a similar perspective." In a perfect world for Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish would keep their independence. The Longhorns would stay in the Big 12. But sweeping change could shake those worlds up. As for the possibility of Texas joining Army, Navy and the Irish as an independent football school, DeLoss Dodds says he's considering that, too."We've had those conversations," said the Longhorns' A.D. "We've thought about it. It's a possibility, but it's not something we're thinking about seriously. You could do it with football. It hurts basketball badly unless you find a conference. It's got a lot of flaws." Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe intends to set a deadline for Texas to commit one way or the other by the start of the 2010-2011 school year. (USATODAY.COM)

PAC 10 VS BIG 12 FOOTBALL SERIES: Rivals.com reported that the Big 12 and Pac-10 have talked about forming a football scheduling alliance for TV, similar to the conferences’ basketball Hardwood Series. Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott told Rivals.com this week that he and Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe like the idea of creating a football TV package of non-conference games between the two leagues because it would create national exposure and provide the financial growth both conferences are looking for in their next TV deal.

The cable portion of the Big 12 football TV contract expires in 2012 and is up for renegotiation in 2011. The Big 12’s network football contract with ABC/ESPN is good through 2015.

“It certainly makes some sense to look at,” Scott told Rivals.com. “Our analysis is looking at a few different option on parallel tracks and one of those would be strategic alliance, the core of which would be a TV pooling joint venture with the Big 12…Dan Beebe and I have had discussions about that since last September.”

Texas already has games scheduled with UCLA in 2010 and 2011 and Cal in 2015 and 2016.

The Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series started in 2007 and became a way to guarantee top competition for both conferences and garner more recognition for the level of play that both of the leagues in basketball. The series mirrors the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and was renewed in 2009. A football version of the Hardwood Series could be just as successful.

ORLANDO NUETRAL SITE GAMES: Orlando has taken a double-whammy to the gut in recent weeks, losing potential neutral-site games featuring Notre Dame and Florida State.
Nothing surprising there, right? Orlando simply cannot lure marquee college football matchups with its woefully out-of-date Citrus Bowl. You know it. I know it. Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan knows it.

While the $10 million in initial renovations is a nice measure, it is going to do nothing to get Orlando into the neutral-site game. Sadly, this is the worst time for the Citrus Bowl to be lagging behind its competitors. Neutral-site games are in vogue once again. This season alone, there will be some 23 games played outside home stadiums across the country, up from 13 in 2007. The Georgia Dome, new Cowboys Stadium and FedEx Field, are just a few of the stadiums hosting games in 2010.

Now University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., wants a piece, too, announcing earlier this week it would begin to court teams to play a neutral-site game there. Fiesta Bowl director of public relations Andrew Bagnato said the game would provide another way to bring money to Arizona. "The tourism industry needs anything we get right now," he said.

Indeed, Orlando is losing anywhere between $30 and $40 million in potential economic impact because it cannot draw teams to play here. While the Citrus Bowl does host the Capital One Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, Florida Classic and MEAC/SWAC Challenge, the last time it hosted a marquee FBS regular-season game was in October 2000 when Notre Dame played Navy.

Adding just one more game would make a tremendous difference to the economy. Miami and Notre Dame are in talks to renew their rivalry at Soldier Field in Chicago in 2012. Orlando should have been a player for that one. But instead it must sit and watch as Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Washington and now Phoenix plow ahead. (Orlandosentinel.com)

The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) is pleased to announce its top-selling institutions and manufacturers for the second quarter of the 2009-2010 fiscal year. These rankings represent royalties reported October 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009 on all collegiate merchandise sold.

Top-75 Universities
(1.) The University of Texas at Austin (2.) University of Florida (3.) The University of Alabama (4.) Louisiana State University (5.) University of Georgia (6.) The University of Michigan (7.) University of North Carolina (8.) The Pennsylvania State University (9.) The University of Oklahoma (10.) University of Notre Dame (11.) University of Kentucky (12.) University of Tennessee (13.) University of Nebraska (14.) West Virginia University (15.) Auburn University (16.) University of Wisconsin (17.) University of Missouri (18.) University of Arkansas (19.) The University of Kansas (20.) University of Illinois (21.) Florida State University (22.) University of South Carolina (23.) Texas A&M University (24.) Texas Tech University (25.) Clemson University

KANGAROO TV: If there’s a way to make a buck, college athletic directors will find it. That’s why I found this short blurb on something called “Kangaroo TV” so interesting. Stephen Ross — the owner of the Miami Dolphins — and Carl Peterson — a former executive with the Kansas City Chiefs — are pushing a new in-stadium device for fans.

The small handheld gizmo features a 6-inch screen that allows fans inside a stadium “to watch replays from different angles, check out the NFL Red Zone channel, look up stats and fantasy scores and more.” The Dolphins plan to give one device away for every two seats owned by season-ticket holders. The boxes only work inside stadiums.

So how do the Dolphins make money from giving these things away? To receive in-game video, replays, scores and stats a fan will need to subscribe to a service which costs about $250 per season.

And why are we writing about this on MrSEC.com? Because it’s only a matter of time before some SEC athletic director sees the opportunity to sign up his season-ticket holders to a new, in-game video service.

The idea of increasing the in-game experience AND making money would appeal to schools. Most ADs will tell you that the advent of HDTV and the proliferation of cable channels has had an impact on their season-ticket sales. These little boxes could help on that front.

You might not see them in 2010, but just wait… they’ll be coming to an SEC stadium eventually. And then you’ll be able to watch replays from different angles as well as call up stats and other scores from the comfort of your very own metal bench. (MRSEC.COM)