COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University says former football star Maurice Clarett has been granted re-entry to pursue his degree after he spent more than three years in prison.

Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch says in a statement that Clarett started classes on Monday after he was readmitted by the College of Education and [...]]]> Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University says former football star Maurice Clarett has been granted re-entry to pursue his degree after he spent more than three years in prison.

Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch says in a statement that Clarett started classes on Monday after he was readmitted by the College of Education and Human Ecology, where he was originally enrolled.

Clarett says in a statement that it is a “surreal feeling to be back at Ohio State” and that he doesn’t want to be a “distraction or nuisance” to the football team or other students.

Clarett led the Buckeyes to the 2002 national championship in his only college season. He pleaded guilty in 2006 to aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon, and served 3½ years in a Toledo prison, where he took college-credit courses.

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LOS ANGELES—Southern California is cleaning house in its tarnished athletic department, throwing out much of what got the school in severe NCAA trouble.

Athletic director Mike Garrett and Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy are the first two items to go.

In a letter to school supporters Tuesday, incoming USC president Max Nikias said [...]]]> Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—Southern California is cleaning house in its tarnished athletic department, throwing out much of what got the school in severe NCAA trouble.

Athletic director Mike Garrett and Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy are the first two items to go.

In a letter to school supporters Tuesday, incoming USC president Max Nikias said Garrett will be replaced Aug. 3 by Pat Haden, the former Trojans quarterback who became a successful businessman and a member of USC’s board of trustees. The school also will return its copy of Bush’s trophy to the Heisman Trust, among several measures to disassociate itself from the tainted tailback.

The NCAA cited Garrett’s administration for a lack of institutional control while slapping the school with heavy sanctions last month, but Haden believes he can change the culture of a program that has been wildly successful and heavily scrutinized over the past decade.

“We’re going to do better,” said Haden, also the color analyst on NBC’s Notre Dame broadcasts for the past decade. “We have to do better. We don’t have any choices here. We stub our toe, there’s going to be some problems.”

USC was hit with four years of probation, a two-year bowl ban and severe football scholarship restrictions after the NCAA found serious rules violations in the athletic department, primarily around the football and men’s basketball teams. Most involved illegal benefits for Bush and O.J. Mayo, the talented basketball player who spent just one season at USC.

Haden said the school’s plan to get rid of nearly all references to Bush and Mayo—right down to scrubbing their images from school murals and removing Bush’s No. 5 jersey in its place of honor in the lobby of Heritage Hall—are all part of the NCAA’s directive to disassociate the school from the athletes.

Bush’s Heisman has been on display alongside the trophies won by Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Matt Leinart, Carson Palmer, Charles White and Marcus Allen. It was still in place Tuesday, but will be gone by the time students show up on campus next month.

Nikias also doesn’t start his new job until Aug. 3, but he’s already at work reforming the Trojans’ image.

“The Trojan Family honors and respects the USC sporting careers of those persons whose actions did not compromise their athletic program or the opportunities of future USC student-athletes,” Nikias said.

After pledging support for new football coach Lane Kiffin, Haden said he realizes the enormity of his task in restoring credibility to USC, where the NCAA found numerous violations during the tenures of football coach Pete Carroll and men’s hoops coach Tim Floyd. After twice telling Nikias he didn’t want to be considered for the job, Haden agreed to take it last week.

“We want to compete ferociously and win in every sport, but we want to do it ethically and within the rules,” said Haden, a former Rhodes Scholar who became a venture capitalist after an NFL career with the Los Angeles Rams. “We’re going to have a culture of compliance around here. Every meeting is going to start with the No. 1 item as compliance. … We’re going to try to be perfect. When we make mistakes, we’re going to fess up, and we’re going to try to do better next time.”

The 66-year-old Garrett has been the Trojans’ athletic director for 17 years, but he received caustic criticism for his handling of USC’s scandals. The school didn’t say whether Garrett retired or had been fired.

Both Garrett and Haden are former USC football players. Garrett won the Heisman Trophy in 1965, while Haden was the Trojans’ starting quarterback for three years in the 1970s under coach John McKay.

Haden also said he’ll hire McKay’s son, J.K., as an associate athletic director to serve as his liaison to the football program. McKay and Haden played together at USC and have been best friends for over 40 years.

“It’s a tough job, because you can only do so much, and there are people out there who are trying to get to your guys every day,” said McKay, an attorney who served as general manager with the XFL’s Los Angeles franchise. “We’re going to do our best to make sure nobody can question our effort on compliance.”

A few months after abruptly leaving Tennessee to return to USC, Kiffin’s self-described dream job has changed drastically. He must rebuild the Trojans under probation and scholarship limitations—and now Kiffin is working for a boss who didn’t hire him. Yet Kiffin, whose staff was cited for several minor NCAA violations during his 14 months at Tennessee, looked tanned and relaxed when he walked through Heritage Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

“He is my coach, and I love my coach,” Haden said. “I think he’s going to be successful here. J.K. McKay is committed to doing it right, and I think Lane is, too. I don’t want to say we’re not going to have any issues. We will. We’re going to have guys whispering in our guys’ ears, but we’re going to do our best. I don’t think we’re going to have a problem with compliance with Lane. I think he knows where we’re coming from.”

Garrett has been mostly unapologetic in the face of the Trojans’ NCAA problems, even saying last month that the NCAA’s ruling revealed “a lot of envy” of the Trojans. Two weeks ago, Garrett was forced to send a letter of apology to five schools after falsely accusing them of breaking NCAA rules by contacting star tailback recruit Dillon Baxter about transferring.

While praising Garrett’s work in rebuilding the USC football program and shepherding construction of the Galen Center basketball arena on campus, Nikias said the USC athletic department under his presidency “will seek to excel in the coming years in a manner that is consistent with the highest values” of the school.

Garrett initially received praise for unexpectedly hiring Carroll, who led a dominant decade for the Trojans’ football team, including seven Pac-10 titles and two national championships. Carroll left USC earlier this year to take over the Seattle Seahawks.

“Wish pat haden the very best in taking over as USC AD!” Carroll wrote on his Twitter account. “I’ll support in any way. Congrats!”

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CORAL GABLES, Fla.—Miami and Notre Dame have agreed to renew a football rivalry that during the 1980s helped define each program and decide several national championships.

The Hurricanes and Fighting Irish will play Oct. 6, 2012, at Soldier Field in Chicago, then play a home-and-home starting in 2016 at South Bend, Ind. They [...]]]> Associated Press

CORAL GABLES, Fla.—Miami and Notre Dame have agreed to renew a football rivalry that during the 1980s helped define each program and decide several national championships.

The Hurricanes and Fighting Irish will play Oct. 6, 2012, at Soldier Field in Chicago, then play a home-and-home starting in 2016 at South Bend, Ind. They play in Miami the next season.

The rivalry dates to the 1950s and Notre Dame leads the series 15-7-1.

But it was during the 1980s, when Miami became a national power, that the rivalry got interesting.

In 1985, Miami embarrassed Notre Dame 58-7 in Jerry Faust’s last game as coach of the Fighting Irish.

Faust was replaced by Lou Holtz. Soon after Notre Dame was a national title contender again and the Miami-Notre Dame game was routinely one of the biggest of the season.

Miami won three national championships in the 1980s and beat Notre Dame during the regular season each time. Notre Dame beat Miami in 1988, when the Irish won their last national title, and in 1990.

The tense and at times nasty series was dubbed Catholics vs. Convicts by some Notre Dame supporters.

The 1988 game was marked by a pregame shoving match and the next season the teams nearly squared off at midfield before the coin toss.

After the 29-20 victory by the Irish in 1990—which knocked Miami out of the national title hunt and helped Notre Dame go the Orange Bowl with a chance to win another championship—the series was stopped.

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CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati Department of Athletics is enjoying another record-breaking season ticket sales pace that has surpassed the 20,000 mark for the first time ever, setting the stage for a possible preseason sellout of available season tickets for Bearcats Football this fall.

Nipper Stadium

Cincinnati has established program attendance standards over [...]]]> Courtesy: gobearcats.com

CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati Department of Athletics is enjoying another record-breaking season ticket sales pace that has surpassed the 20,000 mark for the first time ever, setting the stage for a possible preseason sellout of available season tickets for Bearcats Football this fall.

Nipper Stadium

Cincinnati has established program attendance standards over the last four seasons. The Bearcats drew a total of 181,477 fans in 2007 before setting back-to-back regular season average records with program-best 191,788 and 203,741 clips in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The increases have been a reflection of season ticket success at the box office in the last four years and have shown a growth from the 2009 season until the 2010 season of 17%, another UC record.

“It’s truly impressive how the Cincinnati area has embraced our football program” says Director of Athletics Mike Thomas. “The atmosphere around Bearcats Football is outstanding and our fans are a big reason why we have won back to back BIG EAST Championships. I cannot wait to feel the pulse of the crowd when we open the home part of the 2010 season on September 11.”

UC has enjoyed sell-out crowds in eight of the last 18 regular season contests over the last three years and has logged 9 of the top 10 crowds in school history since a crowd of 35,097 saw the Bearcats defeat Marshall on September 22, 2007. That game saw an overflow mass of fans gather in the area immediately south of the stadium to watch the game, with some patrons actually climbing trees to see the action between the Bearcats and Thundering Herd.

With a little over two months to go until its opener against Indiana State on Saturday, Sept. 11, UC is currently 4,300 season ticket sales ahead of its 2009 rate according to year-to-date comparisons. The goal is for the 2010 season to be SOLD OUT by the home opener, save for tickets that must be held back for BIG EAST opponents and other non-conference teams per contract.

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PHOENIX—The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has been asked to conduct a criminal investigation into claims that current and former Fiesta Bowl employees made illegal campaign contributions to politicians friendly to the bowl.

Secretary of State Ken Bennett requested the probe in a letter to Attorney General Terry Goddard last Friday. Bennett’s office has been [...]]]> Associated Press

PHOENIX—The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has been asked to conduct a criminal investigation into claims that current and former Fiesta Bowl employees made illegal campaign contributions to politicians friendly to the bowl.

Secretary of State Ken Bennett requested the probe in a letter to Attorney General Terry Goddard last Friday. Bennett’s office has been investigating the Fiesta Bowl since a complaint was filed in late December.

In an investigation in December by The Arizona Republic, past and present employees told the newspaper that they were encouraged to write checks to specific candidates and were reimbursed by the bowl. Such contributions would violate state election laws. Fiesta Bowl officials have consistently denied that contributions were coordinated or reimbursed.

Goddard’s office said Monday it has received Bennett’s letter and is reviewing the matter. It declined further comment.

Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

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Terrelle Pryor is among 30 of the nation's top collegiate quarterbacks who were selected to the 2010 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award watch list.

COLUMBUS– Ohio State junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor is among 30 of the nation’s top collegiate quarterbacks who were selected to the 2010 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award watch [...]]]> Associated Press

Terrelle Pryor is among 30 of the nation's top collegiate quarterbacks who were selected to the 2010 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award watch list.

COLUMBUS– Ohio State junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor is among 30 of the nation’s top collegiate quarterbacks who were selected to the 2010 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award watch list. Preseason consideration is based on player performance during the previous year and expectations heading into the 2010 college football season.

Last season Pryor passed for 2,094 yards with 18 touchdowns and led the Buckeyes with 779 yards and seven TDs on the ground. The Rose Bowl MVP passed for a season-high 266 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 72 more and set an Ohio State bowl game record with 338 yards of total offense as the Buckeyes upset the Oregon Ducks on New Year’s Day, 26-17. He enters his junior year with more than 4,800 yards of total offense and is the fifth Buckeye quarterback to rush for more than 1,000 career yards with two years of eligibility remaining.

Pryor is one of 13 juniors to make the list and joins counterparts Ricky Stanzi (Iowa) and Scott Tolzien (Wisconsin) from the Big Ten.

Appearing on the Watch List is not a requirement for a player to be awarded The O’Brien. Quarterbacks from all 120 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools are eligible for the award until the field is narrowed to 16 semifinalists Monday, Oct. 25. The Foundation and the Selection Committee will announce three finalists Monday, Nov. 22. The 2010 winner will be announced on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show Thursday, Dec. 9.

The 34th Annual O’Brien Awards Dinner will be held Feb. 21, 2011 at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio—Receiver Duron Carter has left Ohio State and enrolled at a community college in Kansas.

Carter is the son of former Ohio State and NFL star Cris Carter. He has had academic problems and was declared ineligible for the Rose Bowl when semester grades were released in December. Coach Jim Tressel announced his [...]]]> Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Receiver Duron Carter has left Ohio State and enrolled at a community college in Kansas.

Carter is the son of former Ohio State and NFL star Cris Carter. He has had academic problems and was declared ineligible for the Rose Bowl when semester grades were released in December. Coach Jim Tressel announced his departure Monday.

Carter caught 13 passes for 176 yards as a freshman last season. He’s enrolled at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.

Ohio State also announced that defensive end Keith Wells will not be part of the team in 2010. No reason was given. Wells saw limited action for the Buckeyes as a freshman in 2008 and redshirted in 2009.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. —One of the most powerful advocates of a college football playoff system believes the Big 12’s brush with death might eventually help doom the BCS.

It’s not going to happen right away, said Texas Rep. Joe Barton. But the promise of renewed television riches that persuaded the Big 12’s major [...]]]> Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —One of the most powerful advocates of a college football playoff system believes the Big 12’s brush with death might eventually help doom the BCS.

It’s not going to happen right away, said Texas Rep. Joe Barton. But the promise of renewed television riches that persuaded the Big 12’s major football members to reject overtures from the Pac-10 has shone the spotlight on the huge financial jackpot awaiting a playoff.

“The reason the Big 12 stayed together is the commissioner was able to put together a deal that enabled Texas and Texas A&M to go from about $8 million-$12 million a year to around $20 million a year” apiece, the Republican said. “I don’t really have a dog in the hunt as to how the conferences ought to be aligned. But I do think this moves us toward a playoff because we now know where the money is.”

After Colorado announced it was going to the Pac-10 and Nebraska agreed to become the Big Ten’s 12th member, the Pac-10 made a bid for all Big 12 South schools except Baylor. As Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott flew from campus to campus in Texas and Oklahoma making his pitch, the Big 12 teetered on the brink.

Momentum seemed to be building toward a handful of 16-team mega-conferences.

As the drama unfolded over several rumor-filled days, BCS haters took heart that a historic, tectonic shift in the collegiate landscape would naturally result in a championship tournament among four or five super leagues.

But after the Big 12 elected not to disband, only two other schools switched leagues, Boise State (Mountain West) and Utah (Pac-10.)

“I think what happened with the Big 12 staying together maybe postpones the creation of a playoff system,” said Barton, who has introduced anti-BCS legislation in Congress. “But it doesn’t eliminate it.”

BCS executive director Bill Hancock said he wasn’t worried.

“The fact is, the consensus of all of the schools in the 11 conferences support the BCS,” Hancock said. “There are some who have said they would rather do something else. But it’s a small percentage because the presidents of those schools know the BCS works. It does match the top two teams in a bowl game and it does preserve the importance of the regular season. And it does preserve the bowl system that so many people enjoy.

“I don’t see the universities changing their minds about a playoff or about the BCS system.”

Hancock refused to speculate on how long it might be before conference expansion again jumps into the headlines.

“The fact is, nobody knows. As of today, we have six automatic qualifying conferences.”

That number, however, could change in two years. The Mountain West, especially after adding two-time Fiesta Bowl winner Boise State, could gain an automatic BCS entry when the current four-year evaluation period ends after the 2011 regular season, though it lost Utah, which has won two BCS games.

“The official data won’t be compiled until after the four years, but intuitively looking at what they’ve done the last two years, we know the Mountain West is off to a good start,” Hancock said.

Another sign of the long-range health of the BCS is its new four-year, $495 million contract with ESPN. But Barton isn’t buying it.

“All those contracts have a kickout clause. They could go to a playoff and modify the contract,” he said.

Awaiting action by the House Energy and Commerce Committee is a bill that Barton introduced that would make it illegal to market something as a national football championship unless every eligible team was given a fair opportunity to win it.

“If we’ve learned anything through the basketball and baseball playoffs, it’s this: When you have a true playoff, the underdogs do stand up and bite every now and then,” Barton said. “It would be more fun and exciting and now we know for sure that it would also generate a lot more money.”

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Ohio State recruit’s condition upgraded after shooting

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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio—An Ohio State football recruit was shot and wounded twice in two months, and authorities believe the cases are unrelated.

Jamel Turner, 18, was left in critical condition by a shooting early Saturday in Youngstown. A 17-year-old girl was killed in the shooting.

Police Capt. Rod [...]]]> Associated Press

Ohio State recruit’s condition upgraded after shooting

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio—An Ohio State football recruit was shot and wounded twice in two months, and authorities believe the cases are unrelated.

Jamel Turner, 18, was left in critical condition by a shooting early Saturday in Youngstown. A 17-year-old girl was killed in the shooting.

Police Capt. Rod Foley said Monday the case apparently was unrelated to a drive-by shooting on April 16, when Turner was wounded.

Foley declined to discuss a possible motive for the latest shooting, but said Turner and Tracy Banks, who was killed, apparently were intended victims of a shooter who fired from outside a house.

Police were trying to determine Turner’s relationship with Banks.

Foley said detectives had identified a possible suspect, but no charges had been filed.

Turner was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he was listed in critical condition Saturday night with multiple wounds. Officials at the health center didn’t immediately return calls seeking a condition update for Turner.

In the April shooting, Turner was riding in a vehicle with two others on Interstate 680 in Youngstown when a dark car with tinted windows pulled alongside their vehicle and began shooting. Turner sustained a gunshot wound to the lower left ankle and another to the right hip.

Turner was a defensive standout for Ursuline High School in his hometown of Youngstown, but was declared academically ineligible last August. He enrolled in Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, but left earlier this year.

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel issued a statement over the weekend saying that he was praying for Turner.

Shelly Poe, a spokeswoman for the football program, said there would be no further comment Monday.

Asked if Turner was still a recruit in good standing, Poe said, “He signed in February. That’s really where that is. Until he would report to campus we can’t really, I mean we don’t grade them by one way or another.”

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When conference officials and member athletic directors meet in late July or early August, they'll face a thicket of questions in a brave, new world for the Big Ten.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Big Ten had neatly drawn up its football schedules for the next three seasons before Nebraska joined the conference.

Now [...]]]> Associated Press

When conference officials and member athletic directors meet in late July or early August, they'll face a thicket of questions in a brave, new world for the Big Ten.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Big Ten had neatly drawn up its football schedules for the next three seasons before Nebraska joined the conference.

Now those dates and travel plans have all been tossed to the wind.

When conference officials and member athletic directors meet in late July or early August, they’ll face a thicket of questions in a brave, new world for the Big Ten.

With Nebraska on board as the Big Ten’s 12th member, most likely starting in 2011, what will be the divisions in football? How should the conference schedule be set up? Where will the football championship game be played? Will there be different divisional alignments to balance other sports?

“We’ll meet, talk about divisions, try to figure that piece out and talk about a process for a championship game and a location process,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said Wednesday. “There’ll probably be other opinions in the room.”

No doubt. Some will want the divisions based on geography. Others favor a balance of power.

“I honestly think it will be amenable,” Minnesota AD Joel Maturi said. “We have a great group of AD’s who see the big picture and get along. It may not be easy but that is only because it is difficult and challenging. I really have no strong preference except the hope to continue some of our strong relationships/rivalries.”

Even once a consensus is reached on a divisional setup, there are a multitude of other considerations.

Commissioner Jim Delany acknowledged that just bringing Nebraska into the fold was only the first step.

“Making the integration successful, smooth and quick is the second,” he said in announcing the expansion.

Conference officials and ADs are trying to set up a workable date to meet and discuss the concerns.

For instance, how many games will teams play within and outside of their divisions?

“Really, it’s probably our major focus,” Smith said.

The general assumption is that the Big Ten will follow other conference models, splitting into two six-team divisions, with teams playing each of the other five teams in their division and then three teams in the other division on a rotating basis.

There is also some talk that football teams might eventually play a nine-game Big Ten schedule, five in the division and four out.

Even arriving at names for the divisions could be contentious — North and South? East and West? Bo and Woody? Paterno and Osborne?

No matter how the schedules are drawn up, some schools will likely grumble quietly. The conference will try to preserve old rivalries, but there are no guarantees that all will be played annually. There’s no question that new ones will be created.

“Rivalries grow up over time,” said Nebraska’s AD and the former coach of the football Cornhuskers, Tom Osborne.

Because they are in different conferences now, the enmity between Nebraska and Oklahoma may dim. Perhaps neighboring Iowa will offer a bit of bad blood for the Huskers.

“As time goes forward, because of proximity, because they’re a very fine program, I would imagine it could grow into a rivalry of some kind,” he said. “We’ve only played each other four times in the last 25 years or so, so there isn’t quite the history, but we’re looking forward to playing them, and there will be a lot of interest in those games.”

Detroit, Chicago and Indianapolis have already expressed interest in hosting the Big Ten football championship.

After all of the problems in football have been resolved, the ADs will address what to do with the other 24 Big Ten sports. The divisions set up for football might not work for women’s volleyball or baseball.

“Just because it works for football doesn’t mean it’s going to work that way for everybody else,” Smith said.

And there’s always the possibility the conference could expand to 14, 16 or even more schools, creating a whole new stadium full of questions.

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