December 19 , 2006 HOME - SPORTS NEWS

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS- (covers.com): alabama silent on possible recruiting violations. Alabama Crimson Tide officials would not comment on reports that coach Nick Saban might have violated NCAA rules limiting contact with potential recruits. The Miami Herald and canesports.com reported that three south Florida junior prospects described conversations with Saban during his recruiting trip last week that might have exceeded NCAA rules limiting face-to-face contact with recruits to "exchange of a greeting" between April 15 and May 31. Coaches are allowed to evaluate high school players at their schools during that period. If violations occurred, they were likely secondary and wouldn't lead to significant penalties. Alabama spokesman Doug Walker said Thursday the university would not comment on the reports. Alabama is listed at +8000 on newbodog.com to win the 2008 BCS Championship. Miami Krop junior linebacker Etienne Sabino said Saban told him he's "the big physical type of linebacker" Alabama needs. Miami Northwestern High junior Brandon Washington said Saban asked if "my heart was in Miami." He has verbally committed to playing for the University of Miami Hurricanes. Northwestern teammate Marcus Fortson said he spoke to Saban for "a few minutes" and that the coach told him Alabama "is a great place to get a degree."
NCAA FOOTBALL PICKS: (associated press): usc safety arrested. USC safety Josh Pinkard was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of driving under the influence, coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday. Carroll planned to speak with Pinkard, a 21-year-old junior, either Tuesday evening or Wednesday. ''We're looking into it, and we'll find out the details,'' Carroll said. ''As usual, we'll handle it internally. We take this seriously, and we want to make sure we understand all of the circumstances.'' Pinkard could not immediately be reached for comment. It was not known whether he had an attorney. Pinkard missed nearly all last season after injuring a knee in the opener against Arkansas. He redshirted last season and had reconstructive surgery. He was expected to play a significant role in the upcoming season for the Trojans, who were No. 4 in the final AP Top 25. Belmont.com has the Trojans as +250 favorites to win the BCS Championship in 2008. Authorities said Pinkard was arrested in the early morning of May 18 after a California Highway Patrol officer noticed a car swerving on a local freeway. The CHP report identified Pinkard as a USC student, but did not mention the football team. Pinkard was scheduled to appear in court July 24.

NCAA FOOTBALL FREE PICKS- (associated press) : coaches want new 5 year rule for elgibility.

The move to 12-game schedules in college football has revived a proposal that would extend player eligibility to five years. The NCAA football issues committee, led by Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson, has requested that the proposal be discussed at the spring meetings of Division I football-playing conferences. Even if the idea gains traction, it would have to go through several NCAA committees before a membership vote. ''We'll run it up the flagpole to see if anybody salutes it,'' said former Baylor coach Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. The NCAA's leadership has taken no position on the proposal because it is still preliminary, spokesman Bob Williams said. ''If a certain community feels change needs to be made within the structure of eligibility, then they propose it and it works through the process. The membership decides after that,'' Williams said. Pederson said the football issues committee would weigh feedback from conference meetings before deciding whether to pursue legislation. Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin's athletic director and former football coach, said he likes the proposal because it creates more team depth. But Alvarez fears it would limit opportunities because fewer roster spots would open each year. Under current rules, student-athletes in all sports generally have five years to complete four years of eligibility. Football scholarship reductions in the 1990s fueled the initial call for five years of eligibility. Administrators shot down the proposal, mainly because it separated football from other sports and ran counter to the traditional four-year academic cycle. Teaff pointed out that it's now the norm for college students to take more than four years to finish degrees. It's doubtful the scholarship limit would ever increase, Teaff said, yet the standard schedule has increased to 12 games and the possibility exists for a playoff system. Though major programs are allowed 85 scholarships, attrition and redshirting can leave them taking the field with significantly fewer scholarship players, Teaff said. Under the five-year proposal, there would be no redshirting or medical hardship cases. ''The redshirt thing, with 12 games, becomes a huge burden,'' Teaff said. ''Then there is the bowl game for many of the teams on top of the 12. Teams need everybody available.'' Though players wouldn't be required to stay all five years, some of them would, Alvarez said. That's a problem, he said, because not everybody who signs a letter of intent becomes a contributor. ''There would be an entitlement to five years,'' Alvarez said. ''As a coach, you want them to graduate in four. If they're not contributing, you need that scholarship to replenish your team.'' Teaff downplayed Alvarez's concern about mediocre players hogging roster spots. He said players usually transfer if they're not playing. He also noted that players who redshirt under current rules are on scholarship for five years anyway.
NCAA FOOTBALL PICKS- (associated press): wyoming punter transfers

Placekicker and punter Aric Goodman, who handled most of Wyoming's kicking duties last year as a true freshman, will transfer to another school, coach Joe Glenn said Monday. "He just wasn't happy here," Glenn said. "That's what he told
me." Goodman led Wyoming in scoring with 48 points, converting on 10 of 16 field goal tries and 18 of 20 extra-point kicks. But Goodman and Jake Scott shared kicking duties throughout the season. It was Goodman who missed the extra point in overtime at Virginia that allowed the Cavaliers to take a 13-12 victory. Glenn said he didn't know where Goodman would transfer. Glenn also cited academic reasons in saying that wide receiver Darion Donnelly would not return next fall. Donnelly played in 10 games last year, but caught just one pass for 18 yards.
NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL FREE PICKS- (covers.com): odds to win 2007-08 heisman. Steve Slaton +600
John David Booty +600
Darren McFadden +700
Brian Brohm +750
Colt Brennan +900
Ray Rice +900
Mike Hart +1100
Tim Tebow +1300
Pat White +1600
Chad Henne +1600
C.J. Spiller +1600
Colt McCoy +1900
Percy Harvin +2100
Chase Daniel +2100
C.J. Gable +2300
Johnathan Stewart +2600
Anthony Morelli +4100
Matthew Stafford +5100
NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL FREE PICKS: (associated press): penn state linemans has career ending injury. Penn State offensive lineman Elijah Robinson's football career is over after he sustained a neck injury in spring practice. Sportsbook.com lists Penn State at +3000 to win the 2008 BCS Championship. Robinson walked off the field and was not hospitalized after the injury, but team doctor Wayne Sebastianelli discovered after examinations that Robinson was born with a tight spinal canal, team officials said. Any impact to Robinson's head could pinch the spinal column and result in paralysis, the team said Thursday in a statement. Robinson, of Camden, N.J., had been in the running for a starting spot on the line. He had two years of eligibility left. "This is a big loss for the team," coach Joe Paterno said. "I'm disappointed for him in regards to his football career, but you can't take any chances with his future." FREE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS- (covers.com): hoosiers coach still under going treatment.

Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner is still undergoing medical treatment and remains intent on returning to the sideline this fall. Athletic department officials released a short statement from Hoeppner on Tuesday, the first update on his health since an announcement nearly two months ago that he would not coach spring practice to recuperate from brain surgery. ''I continue to receive medical treatment and remain inspired to return to coaching when my health permits,'' Hoeppner said. ''I love Indiana University and Indiana football and will make decisions in the best interest of the program, as I have always attempted to do.'' Sportsbook.com has Indiana listed at +5000 to win the National Championship in 2008. Hoeppner had brain surgery twice in a 10-month span and has now left the team three times since December 2005. His last major public appearance was in late February when he spoke during an NCAA luncheon in Indianapolis. He also attended a news conference earlier that month to announce Indiana's newest recruits although the assistant coaches answered most of the questions and provided most of the details. Hoeppner left Miami (Ohio) in December 2004 to return to Indiana, his home state, and take over a Hoosiers program that last went to a bowl game in 1993. A year later, he had a tumor removed from his right temple and last September he had a second operation on the right side of his head. He then left the team for two weeks but watched both games from the press box before rejoining the team. Hoeppner later implied follow-up tests showed no recurrence of the tumor, but that doctors had removed only scar tissue. Hoeppner is 9-14 in his two seasons at Indiana, and he has reinvigorated enthusiasm in the program by reaching out to students and fans. In December, Hoeppner signed a two-year contract extension that would keep him in Bloomington through June 2012. But last month, Hoeppner announced he was skipping spring practice to regain his strength and energy, and when the Hoosiers played their annual crimson-and-cream game on April 14, he did not attend. Assistant Bill Lynch filled in as interim coach during each of Hoeppner's absences. Indiana also has two football camps scheduled in mid-June, but there has been no announcement regarding whether Hoeppner would run them. Athletic director Rick Greenspan has not provided many updates on Hoeppner's condition, citing both privacy concerns. In Tuesday's statement, Hoeppner again asked the media to respect his privacy, and Greenspan said he hoped Hoeppner would recover quickly. ''Hep's health is of the utmost interest and concern to us,'' Greenspan said. ''We'll continue to provide him with all of the support that we can with hopeful anticipation that he'll get well as quickly as possible.''

FREE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS- (associated press) mother of stabbed punter say's he's doing fine.

Florence Mendoza squirmed in a fourth-row bench Thursday as lawyers discussed the case against the former Northern Colorado backup punter accused of trying to kill her son. ''I don't think anybody would like to sit and hear what went on the night that their son was hurt,'' Mendoza said after a motions hearing for Mitch Cozad, charged with attempted first-degree murder in a knife attack on her son Rafael, the starting punter. ''It's hard (being here),'' she said. Rafael Mendoza was attacked on Sept. 11 in a dimly lit parking lot outside his apartment in Evans, a small town adjacent to Greeley. He suffered a 3- to 5-inch-deep wound in his kicking leg. Cozad, of Wheatland, Wyo., has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $500,000 bail. If found guilty of attempted murder, he could face up to 48 years in prison. Police have said they believe Cozad stabbed Mendoza to try to get the starting job, and the case drew quick comparisons to the assault by Tonya Harding's hit man on Nancy Kerrigan. Cozad's case is scheduled to go to trial July 30. A pretrial readiness conference was moved up to July 2, the last day the judge will accept a plea agreement. Asked whether talks were under way about a plea deal, defense lawyer Joseph Gavaldon said only that ''they're always ongoing.'' District attorney spokeswoman Jennifer Finch declined to comment. Florence Mendoza said she doesn't know how she'd feel about a plea deal. ''I think that would be up to my son,'' she said. Prosecutor Michele Meyer called four witnesses: two Evans police officers; a university police officer; and Nathan Cole, the university's coordinator for student rights and responsibilities. Cole testified about bringing an eviction notice and a no-trespass letter to Cozad's dorm room on Sept. 12. Cozad, who was suspended from the university and kicked off the team, had an hour to vacate his dorm room. While Cozad waited in Cole's office for his mother to pick him up, Evans police arrived, handcuffed Cozad and took him away, Cole said. After nearly two hours of testimony Thursday, Florence Mendoza walked outside and leaned against a concrete wall in the bright sun. She said her son still can't put the attack behind him. ''Too soon,'' she said. ''I think he's doing the best he can to handle it.'' Rafael Mendoza returned to the team just two weeks after the attack and averaged 39.9 yards on 56 punts last season. He hopes to punt for the Bears again next fall, his mother said. ''You've got to try out, same as every year,'' she said. COLLEGE FOOTBALL FREE PICKS: (associated press) odds to win 2008 national championship. USC +250

Florida +700

Michigan +800

LSU +1200

Texas +1000

West Virginia +1200

Oklahoma +3000

Penn St +3500 Arkansas +3500

Georgia +4500

Nebraska +3500

Virginia Tech +3500

Ohio St +2000

Florida St +3500

Wisconsin +3500

Texas A&M +6000 Louisville +2000

Auburn +6000

California +5000

Tennessee +5000

Miami FL +4000

Rutgers +5000

Notre Dame +4000

Alabama +7500

Iowa +10000

UCLA +5000

Clemson +7500

Oregon +10000

BYU +20000

Colorado +20000

South Carolina +10000

TCU +20000

Arizona St +20000

Oregon St +20000

Boston College +20000

Missouri +20000

Texas Tech +2000

Boise St +20000

Arizona +20000

Wake Forest +20000

Maryland +20000

North Carolina St +20000

Georgia Tech +20000

Hawaii +20000

Oklahoma St +20000

Pittsburgh +20000

Kansas St +20000

Purdue +20000

South Florida +20000

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