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Justice Department to investigate whether college football's Bowl Championship Series is an illegal enterprise. Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga., and Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, are introducing a resolution rejecting the oft-criticized bowl system as an illegal restriction on trade. The resolution would require Justice's antitrust division to investigate whether the system violates federal law....

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Bo Pelini is the new coach at Nebraska, leaving the defensive coordinator post at LSU for a job many Cornhusker fans thought he should have been given four years ago. Interim athletic director and former coach Tom Osborne announced Pelini's hiring Sunday, after introducing him to the players. "We need a head coach with strong defensive credentials and great leadership," Osborne said. "We were also looking for someone who can inspire confidence and get players to play with great effort. "And, of course, we also wanted our new head coach to understand our traditions, including the importance...

This year’s college football bowl pairings were released Sunday, and the last-place teams from the biggest conferences will be crying all the way to the bank. The top teams from the small conferences will be crying poverty. In NCAA Division I football, profits are higher for doormats from the six "major" conferences--Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern--than for champions from the five smaller conferences.

Ohio State remained the top team in the latest BCS standings that were released on Sunday. But if the Buckeyes take a look back over the shoulder, they'll see a familiar foe: Michigan. The Wolverines, boosted by a 20-6 home win over Iowa on Saturday, vaulted past idle USC in the new standings. It is the first time since Oct. 27, 2001 that the same conference has held the top two spots in the standings (Nebraska at No. 1 and Oklahoma at No. 2, both out of the Big 12). Meanwhile, West Virginia leapfrogged Auburn for the No. 4 spot...

We have the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, ID pitting Boise State v. Boston College and The Alamo Bowl with Michigan v. Nebraska. Should be a fun day....

In 1986, the rock band Boston released its third album, Third Stage, which was the musical equivalent to Colorado's effort in the Big 12 Championship game a few weeks back. The '70s air-guitar heroes had released one of the greatest all-time debut albums in 1976 (Boston) and then followed it up two years later with a sophomore effort (Don't Look Back) that hadn't been equaled until Dwayne Jarrett's 4th-down catch in South Bend. But then the self-proclaimed "just another band out of Boston" took eight years off. And look what happened. Bowl teams can be like that. After taking as...

Columbus- Ohio State senior linebacker Bobby Carpenter does not know if he will play in the Fiesta Bowl after breaking his right fibula against Michigan. Speaking for the first time since the injury, Carpenter said Sunday he did not need surgery, but the 6-to-8 week recovery time puts the final game of his career on the edge of his timetable. The Fiesta Bowl will be played on Jan. 2, 44 days after the Buckeyes' 25-21 win over Michigan. Carpenter began walking without crutches only in the past few days, while still wearing a protective boot. He not only has the...

Another season of college football is just around the corner. As fans and players from Boston College to Hawaii gear up for the season, they will undoubtedly engage in casual discussion (or heated debate) some of the serious problems facing college football, especially Division I. Below is a list problems and suggested solutions. Media Relations: Commercial breaks during games have become obnoxious. The frequency and duration of television time outs has come to the point that they impact the game itself by stifling any momentum built by a team or enthusiasm built up in the crowd. The NCAA needs to...

IT'S enough to make you wonder why they insist on putting the seat down. A new survey shows 22 per cent of professional Australian women crouch or squat over the toilets in their workplaces rather than risk contact with the seats. And another 14 per cent - making more than a third of women overall - wipe the seat first, then crouch over the seat just to be safe. The survey, conducted by Initial Healthcare, gathered the responses of 200 women working in advertising agencies, publishing, finance, pharmaceutical and general business in Australia last month. Forty-six per cent of respondents...

Hopefully, AP's move will destroy BCS Now, coaches must also show integrity and pull out. COMMENTARY By Mike Celizic NBCSports.com contributor Updated: 12:42 p.m. ET Dec. 22, 2004 It took six seasons for the Associated Press to realize it was being used by an inherently flawed and unjust system. But at last it has disassociated itself from the BCS and its fraudulent national college football championship. advertisement We can only hope that this is the signal event that finally will trigger the collapse of the current bowl system and force the university presidents who have so zealously and wrong-headedly preserved...

New Orleans Southern Miss vs North Texas New Orleans Dec. 14 7:30 p.m. ESPN Champs Sports Syracuse vs. Georgia Tech Orlando, Fla. Dec. 21 7:45 p.m. ESPN GMAC Bowling Green vs. Memphis Mobile, Ala. Dec. 22 8 p.m. ESPN Fort Worth Marshall vs. Cincinnati Fort Worth, Texas Dec. 23 6:30 p.m. ESPN Las Vegas UCLA vs. Wyoming Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 23 9:45 p.m. ESPN Hawaii Hawaii vs. UAB Honolulu Dec. 24 7 p.m. ESPN MPC Computers Virginia vs. Fresno St. Boise, Idaho Dec. 27 2 p.m. ESPN Motor City Connecticut vs. Toledo Detroit Dec. 27 5:30 p.m. ESPN Independence...

Waunakee man sinks hole-in-one, bowls perfect 300 in 24 hours (Published Friday, October 17, 2003 08:56:45 AM CDT) Associated Press MADISON, Wis. -- Paul Hughes is hot these days. The 74-year-old Waunakee man hit a hole-in-one and bowled a perfect 300 game in a 24-hour span earlier this week. Hughes, a retired heating and plumbing business owner, sank the hole-in-one on the 149-yard fifth hole at the Pleasant View golf course in Middleton Monday afternoon. He bowled the perfect game at Bowling Green lanes in Middleton Tuesday. "It's a super feeling," Hughes said. Ted Donker, director of golf operations at...

PHOENIX - The Bowl Championship Series will form a committee to discuss changes that eventually could lead to a college football playoff. One president from each of six conferences -- the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern -- will be picked for the committee this month. They are expected to make a recommendation in 2005. "There are four options. We can go back to the old system, we can stay where we are, we can tweak it, or we can go to a playoff," BCS coordinator Mike Tranghese said Friday. "We're going to spend some...

Wednesday, April 24 Updated: December 8, 8:32 PM ET 2002-03 Bowl Schedule All times Eastern Bowl Date/Time/TV Conference Affiliation New Orleans Bowl New Orleans Tuesday, Dec. 17 7 p.m. (ESPN2) Cincinnati (7-6) vs.North Texas (7-5) GMAC Bowl Mobile, Ala. Wednesday, Dec. 18 8 p.m. (ESPN2) Marshall (10-2) vs. Louisville (7-5) Mazda Tangerine Bowl Orlando Monday, Dec. 23 5:30 p.m. (ESPN) Clemson (7-5) vs. Texas Tech (8-5) Sega Sports Las Vegas Bowl Las Vegas Wednesday, Dec. 25 4:30 p.m. (ESPN) UCLA (7-5) vs. New Mexico (7-6) ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl Honolulu Wednesday, Dec. 25 8 p.m. (ESPN) Hawaii (10-3) vs. Tulane...