Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino's choice for the Big East's next commissioner is Jay Bilas, saying the ESPN analyst would be a "grand slam" hire.
A roommate of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion, who died last year following a hazing ritual from other band members, told HBO's Real Sports how Champion was literally beaten to death in the back of the band's bus. Rikki Wells is the first band member to speak publicly about the incident that occurred last November. Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel debuts on HBO Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Odds are against Tennessee's Derek Dooley, Arkansas' John L. Smith, Central Michigan's Dan Enos, New Mexico State's DeWayne Walker, Boston College's Frank Spaziani, Maryland's Randy Edsall, Idaho's Robb Akey, UNLV's Bobby Hauck, Buffalo's Jeff Quinn and Rice's David Baliff returning in 2013, based on Dennis Dodd's annual Hot Seat coaching rankings.
Six months after Boise State announced it would join the Big East in 2013, the Broncos not only still haven't officially withdrawn from the Mountain West, but remain in discussions with the MWC about staying in that league, industry sources told CBSSports.com.
BCS commissioners will recommend a seeded-four team playoff that will feature the "best four teams" as chosen by a selection committee, sources told CBSSports.com Wednesday. The Presidential Oversight Committee ultimately must approve the playoff on Tuesday in Washington D.C. The playoff will begin after the 2014 regular season.
Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Boise State, Oregon, Virginia Tech, TCU, Florida and Texas are the highest ranked teams based on the cumulative final BCS rankings for the past five seasons. These rankings could be one category the BCS commissioners use to determine how the revenue is divided for the upcoming 2014 playoff.
Following two days of meetings, the BCS commissioners continued to inch toward deciding college football's playoff format for 2014. Nothing of significance was determined Wednesday, but Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said different "options, plural" would be presented to the Presidential Oversight Committee on June 26.
Russell Reynolds Associates, a search firm where Big East acting commissioner Joe Bailey was a former partner, has been hired by the Big East to conduct the search for its new commissioner. Bailey was a former partner of Russell Reynolds Associates, which was selected over four other search firms. Bailey was named the Big East's acting commissioner after John Marinatto resigned on May 7.
When the SEC's new football schedule begins in 2013, it will consist of six divisional games, one permanent cross division rival and another game against a rotating cross division team. Sources told CBSSports.com that the SEC is expected to announce the league's scheduling opponents for the next 12 years and that rotating cross division game will be a one-year rotation.
Butler will now move to the Atlantic 10 this fall instead of waiting until the 2013 season, industry sources told CBSSports.com. Butler announced four weeks ago it was leaving the Horizon League for the A-10 but would not make the move until 2013. However, that changed when Horizon League presidents favored making the Bulldogs ineligible for the Horizon League's championships.
Some of college football's decision makers are now considering a "simplified plus-one," industry sources told CBSSports.com Thursday. However, Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas and ACC commissioner John Swofford both told CBSSports.com Thursday that they still favor a four-team playoff. A final decision will be made June 20, Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Wednesday he is confident that whatever playoff model is adopted in 2014 that the Irish will be included as long as the school finishes in the top four. Swarbrick also said he's confident in the future of the Big East
