WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department has sent a pointed letter to the NCAA asking why there isn’t a playoff system for college football.
The department has been urged to launch an antitrust investigation into college football’s Bowl Championship Series, to ensure that some schools don’t get preferential treatment in access to the national championship game.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - The executive director of the BCS says that a return to the old bowl system is more likely than an NFL-style playoff for major college football in the near future. (more…)
CHAMPAIGN (AP) - Illinois middle linebacker Martez Wilson will skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft.
Illini sports information director Kent Brown said Monday that Wilson has filed paperwork to enter the draft.
Wilson led Illinois with 112 tackles this season. The Chicago Simeon graduate also had four sacks and an interception in the kind of season Illinois has been waiting for since he came to Champaign in 2007.
Wilson chose Illinois over Ohio State, Notre Dame and other schools. But he struggled to live up to that promise until the 2010 season, in part because of injuries.
Wilson sat out most of the 2009 season after having neck surgery. He was also stabbed before that season while reportedly helping a former teammate during a fight outside a bar.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Michigan fired coach Rich Rodriguez on Wednesday, ending a disappointing three-year tenured marred by too many losses and NCAA violations at college football’s winningest program. (more…)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Pittsburgh has fired football coach Mike Haywood, a day after he was arrested on a domestic violence charge. (more…)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A jovial Joe Paterno insists he has no plans to stop coaching after this week’s Outback Bowl.
The 84-year-old Penn State coach said during a news conference Tuesday that he “honest to goodness” has not entertained thoughts of stepping down after 45 seasons leading the Nittany Lions.
Sitting beside Florida’s Urban Meyer, Paterno called rumors he may quit after Saturday’s game against the Gators “ridiculous.” He said he feels great and is still having fun coaching.
Paterno also said he’s not happy to see Meyer leaving coaching after the Outback Bowl. Meyer announced his resignation earlier this month because of health concerns and he wants to spend more time with his family.
“I don’t know Urban’s situation,” Paterno said when asked about Meyer walking away from a program he’s led to two Southeastern Conference championships and a pair of national titles in six seasons.
“I’m being selfish when I say I hate to see guys like that leave the game,” Paterno added. “To me, I’m different than Urban. I’ve got people calling up saying: ‘When the hell are you getting out?’”
When laughter in the room subsided, Paterno continued.
“I don’t know. People think I’m going to quit this year or next year. I haven’t even thought of it,” he said. “I honest to goodness have not thought of it.
“The situation around me is very stable. The athletic director was a kid that I recruited as a walk-on, the coaches have been with me … the (school) president has been with us now maybe 14, 15 years. We have a lot of fun together. I don’t see any reason to get out. … I feel great.”
Paterno’s comments came a day after the website PennState.Scout.com quoted the coach’s wife, Sue, as saying rumors about Paterno’s health and future with the Nittany Lions were “lies.”
“Who started the crazy rumors?” Sue Paterno said. “He’s fine. No one has to identify who starts it. We don’t even know where it starts.”
The coach alluded to various internet speculation as well, saying there was talk back in State College, Pa., about him possibly being hospitalized in Hershey.
“Geez, Hershey Hospital? I was home chewing out somebody for being late for a meeting,” Paterno, the all-time bowl wins leader with 24, said. “It’s ridiculous. I don’t know when I’ll get out. I honestly don’t know.”
CHICAGO (AP) - Jim Delany has spent more than two decades as commissioner of the Big Ten, overseeing two conference expansions and the formation of the Big Ten Network. (more…)
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - The NCAA has determined that the father of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton broke rules by shopping his son to Mississippi State, but that the overwhelming Heisman Trophy favorite apparently didn’t know about it. (more…)
The Olivet Nazarene University men’s basketball team lost 79-58 to Lee (Tenn.) on Thursday in the first round of the NAIA Division I National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Read Friday’s edition of The Daily Journal for more details.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A person familiar with negotiations says Brian Kelly will be Notre Dame’s next football coach.
