Jon Solomon, Birmingham News: The NCAA Division I Board of Directors supports creating a rule that would require players earn nine academic credits in the fall term to be eligible for all of the following season. The board plans to introduce the legislation in August. Under the proposal, players who fail to earn nine credits in the fall would miss four games the next season. There would be an opportunity to gain two of the games back if the player earns a total of 27 credit hours by the end of the following summer.
Dick Weiss, New York Daily News: Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick says the school's football program plans to remain independent. "Our priorities are to remain independent. The Big East is a great partner for us for a whole host of reasons and, in a dynamic industry, we're just doing what we have to do, but we're not changing our priorities."
Greg Bolt, Eugene Register-Guard: Audits of the University of Oregon’s controversial separation deal with ex-athletic director Mike Bellotti found no criminal wrongdoing but said the university failed to follow established policies and had inadequate legal advice.
Ray Melick, Birmingham News: The NCAA Legislative Council passed a rule that was proposed in January to limit the number of assistant coaches a team can send to any one high school on any given day during the spring evaluation period. This rule may go down as the "Tiger Prowl" rule, because it was Auburn's coaching staff that took a not-uncommon practice of overwhelming the campus of five-star prospects in numbers too big to ignore but throwing in the attention-getting twist of having those coaches arrive in a limousine.
Gary Laney, Baton Rouge Advocate: Louisiana State's Les Miles opposes expansion by the Southeastern Conference. "I think the teams we have are certainly very competitive and when you go to expanding a 12-team conference, what team are you going to bring in that will bring with it a strength, a financial package and a strength of following that will add to the conference?"
Josh Flory, Knoxville News Sentinel: Derek Dooley, yet to coach his first game for Tennessee, has purchased a West Knox County home on 13 acres for $2.24 million.
Matt Tait, Lawrence Journal-World: Kansas' Turner Gill got a ride over the weekend in an Indy Racing League two-seater.
Joe Biddle, Tennessean: Should the SEC expand to 16 teams, Atlantic Coast Conference members Florida State, Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech would be prime targets. If the league goes in another direction, how about asking Texas and Texas A&M to join ranks?
James Pennington, Kentucky Kernel: Maybe the SEC-ESPN deal isn't all it's cracked up to be. Thanks to Get The Picture.
Doug Roberson, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Tech and Alabama have agreed to reschedule their two-game series that was to be played in 2013 and 2014. Make-up dates haven't been announced.
Neil White, Columbia State: Former South Carolina quarterback Chris Smelley, now a reserve catcher for Alabama, received a standing ovation Sunday from Gamecock fans during an appearance as a pinch-hitter in South Carolina's 20-15 victory.
Norm Wood, Daily Press: Virginia has self-reported a secondary recruiting violation for a Facebook post.
Tennessean: Longtime Tennessean photographer George Walker IV helped rescue former Vanderbilt Coach George MacIntyre from his flooded home in Bellevue on Sunday. Walker said that he saw the former coach's son Matt standing outside the home needing help to move his father, who is bedridden with multiple sclerosis.
Zach Silka, Toledo Blade: Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher doesn't anticipate the league losing any teams in expansion, but if it does, Steinbrecher says he's ready.
Jack Bogaczyk, Charleston Daily Mail: West Virginia has scheduled a 2014 victory against Towson.
Jim Kleinpeter, Times Picayune: LSU center T-Bob Hebert was arrested for driving while intoxicated early Saturday morning. He is the son of former Saints quarterback and WWL radio host Bobby Hebert.
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Texas/A&M would be a great fit for a Pac-12 because it would preserve the rivalry dynamic.
Posted by: Kevin W. | May 03, 2010 at 04:12 PM