News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

07.31.06: Blue Edwards' twins' team seeking AAU title ... Bower suspends USM LB for two games ... Preseason honors piling up for Houston QB ... SMU grid luncheon will feature Forrest Gregg

07.30.06: Love, smitten with UCLA, spurns Tar Heels ... Wake won't enroll indicted football signee ... Slippery Rock backpedals after Title IX ruling

07.29.06: Whimper, Williams get multimillion-dollar deals ... Blazers DE nabs C-USA preseason honor ... TCU coach resigns over phone infraction

07.28.06: Navy game tickets available to Pirate Clubbers ... ECU grants extension, raise to Baldwin-Tener ... League football coaches visit New Orleans ... C-USA football media blitz set for CSTV

07.27.06: ECU recruiting thumbnail: Devon Wallace ... USM soph on Mackey watch list ... Scribes pick Miami to win ACC title ... New post-college football league in the works

07.26.06: "Meet the Pirates" shin-dig set for Aug. 19 ... Leukemia claims former UAB football star ... ACC honors Dukie Redick, Terp Infante

07.25.06: ECU last in poll; Allison, Graham get respect ... Former Pirate Ward joins Bulls baseball staff ... NCAA's impact lucrative for Indianapolis

07.24.06: Miami football player shot at off-campus residence ... 'Star-crossed' defensive back leaving Auburn ... Admission denied for Gamecock hoops signee

07.23.06: Accident claims life of Georgia hoops player ...
Ex-Navy quarterback Owens spared jail time ... Former Gamecock suing university

07.22.06: Blue Devils name new lacrosse coach ... Former Duke back issues $1 million challenge ... Current Duke back Harris gets tube time

07.21.06: Hoops recruiting thumbnail: Jontae Sherrod ... Tiger recruit says Irish used negative tactics ... Duke football hit by suspension, dismissals ... UK to report self over Internet shenanigans

07.20.06: ECU to hold public "celebration" of LeClair's life ... LeClair rites to be broadcast and live-streamed ... Future Pirate Fields tallies 8 points in East loss ... C-USA announces staff additions, promotions ... UCF uses buyout; Vols host Wolfpack in 2008

07.19.06: Irish fill baseball coaching vacancy ... Fork Union, Oak Hill getting review by NCAA ... Alabama cager denied fifth year of eligibility

07.18.06: ECU's Krog, Hauser recognized for academics ... UCF golfer fires record round of 60 ... Rutgers drops six sports to trim athletic budget

07.17.06: LSU paying baseball coach $450K per year ... Kruger uses rule change to play for dad ... MAAC adopts new hoops tourney format

07.16.06: UTEP track athletes achieve in classroom ... Former George Mason cager gives up on NFL ... Jury hears tape of Navy quarterback's call

07.15.06: GMAC Bowl in Mobile moves to January ... Louisville ponies up to lock down Petrino ... Tulsa names McCombs women's golf coach

07.14.06: N.C. prep hoops star re-routes to Memphis ... ECU's Flye, Ray land in CPL All-Star Game ... UNC-CH's Miller receives Clemens Award

07.13.06: Logan to have daily show on "The Bull" ... Marshall hires former Blue Devil as hoops aide ... Redick 'backs' out of Team USA workouts

07.12.06: C-USA unveils 2005-06 athletes of the year ... Rape trial underway for former Navy QB ... Clemson gridder on jet ski that killed coach

07.11.06: ECU recruiting thumbnail: D.J. McFadden ... Uggla poised to make history in All-Star game ... COSIDA recognizes former president Ford ... Houston associate AD Sparks succumbs

07.10.06: ECU alum Godwin to wear LSU's purple & gold ... Tulane resumes baseball stadium renovation ... Kelly rejoins O'Leary at Central Florida

07.09.06: Fitzgerald takes bittersweet promotion ... Paper defuses report on Mayo to USC ... More national acclaim for Houston's Lincoln ... SMU golfer wins Greater Cincy title

07.08.06: Former ECU slugger Hastings joins BC staff ... Tar Heel baseball stars transition to pros ... Rice's Britton packing to play in Philippines

07.07.06: Report: No. 1 prep hoops star choosing USC ... Motorcycle wreck claims Georgia Southern star ... NBA exhibition games coming to Dean Dome

07.06.06: Owls' St. Clair chosen for Team USA baseball ... Houston, Rice rookies make all-frosh team ... Case-era Pack hoops legend Dickey passes

07.05.06: National honors piling up for Houston's Lincoln ... Wade's wallet now packs a wallop ... Duke gets QB from prestigious prep program

07.04.06: Howard joins ECU media relations staff ... Bertman leads college baseball hall's first class ... Temple gets prized hometown grid recruit

07.03.06: Paper: C of C and Cremins come to agreement ... Four depart Oregon in search of playing time ... Gator recruit wins national prep QB award

07.02.06: College of Charleston hires Bobby Cremins ... Duke gets pair of football commitments ... Georgia Tech baseball coach gets extra year ... Big Sky Conference expands by one

07.01.06: SI.com columnist rates O'Leary among best ... Bogdan, Floyd get top awards in C-USA track ... Northwestern mourns passing of Walker

Conference USA has announced its updated television schedule for the 2006 football season. The schedule features more than 40 games to be nationally-televised on CSTV, ESPN, ESPN 2, TBS or Fox Sports Net.

CSTV appearances for East Carolina include the season opener at Navy on Sept. 2, a home game with Virginia on Oct. 7 and a conference game at Southern Miss on Oct. 28. ECU's home game with West Virginia on Sept. 23 is scheduled to be shown on ESPN or ESPN2.

This season marks the second year of C-USA's partnership with CSTV (College Sports Television). The league and CSTV signed a six-year initial term in 2005 that includes national and regional exposure for football, men's and women's basketball and other C-USA sports.

The fastest growing independent cable network, CSTV has agreements with distributors that serve more than 65 million households nationwide. It deals with the top six distributors — Comcast, DirecTV, Time Warner, Charter, Cox and Adelphia — among others.

Conference USA will also be featured frequently on ESPN and its family of networks, having at least 13 regular season contests televised this fall, including 11 games as part of its contract with the network and two additional non-conference games that have been selected by the network through agreements with other conferences.

The second annual Conference USA Championship Game will be televised by ESPN 2 on Friday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. EST.

"We are very pleased to have so many of our football games on television and distributed to our fans throughout the nation," said conference commissioner Britton Banowsky. "We had one of the most exciting races in the country last season and we expect more of the same in 2006."

CSTV will air at least 19 national telecasts of C-USA football during the 2006 season, including 15 as part of the conference's package with the network. Texas-El Paso visits San Diego State on the opening night of the 2006 season, Thursday, Aug. 31, to kick off the schedule. Two days later, C-USA's league schedule will get underway on CSTV when cross-town rivals Houston and Rice renew their rivalry.

The UH-Rice battle is the first of 11 league contests scheduled to be televised by CSTV.

The ESPN schedule kicks off on Labor Day weekend when mid-South rivals Memphis and Ole Miss meet on Sunday, Sept. 3. C-USA teams are featured in non-conference games against traditional powers on three straight Saturdays, Sept. 16-23-30. The ESPN schedule also features seven unopposed windows, with four Friday night contests, two games on Tuesday and one Wednesday matchup. Six of those games feature a pair of conference teams in head-to-head matchups.

TBS will feature a C-USA school on its national package during the opening weekend of the season when UAB visits nationally-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday, Sept. 2. Two weeks later, another Conference USA-Big 12 matchup is featured nationally, this time on Fox Sports Net, as Marshall goes to Kansas State on Saturday, Sept. 16.

Additional Conference USA football television exposures remain a possibility, according to a release on the league website.

2006 C-USA FOOTBALL TELEVISION SCHEDULE

(Confirmed games as of July 31; All times EDT or EST)

CSTV National Telecasts:

Thursday, Aug. 31 UTEP at San Diego State 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 2 East Carolina at Navy 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 2 Houston at Rice 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 9 Texas Tech at UTEP 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16 South Florida at UCF 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 23 Tulsa at Navy 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 23 UTEP at New Mexico 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 23 Oklahoma State at Houston 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 30 SMU at Tulane 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 7 Virginia at East Carolina 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 14 UAB at Rice 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 21 Tulsa at Memphis 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28 UCF at Houston 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 28 East Carolina at Southern Miss 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 4 Tulsa at Houston 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 4 Tulane at Marshall 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 11 UCF at Memphis 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 18 UAB at Southern Miss 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 25 Game TBA 7:30 p.m.

ESPN Telecast Schedule:

Sunday, Sept. 3 Memphis at Mississippi 4:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 13 Pittsburgh at UCF 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 5 Southern Miss at Memphis 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 23 Fort Worth Bowl 8:00 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 29 AutoZone Liberty Bowl 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 7 GMAC Bowl 8:00 p.m.

ESPN 2 Telecast Schedule:

Saturday, Sept. 16 Texas at Rice 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 26 Southern Miss at UCF 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 3 Southern Miss at Tulsa 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 4 UCF at Marshall 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 27 UTEP at Tulsa 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 31 UAB at SMU 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 10 UTEP at UAB 8:00 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 1 C-USA Championship Game 8:00 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 22 New Orleans Bowl 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 23 Birmingham Bowl 1:00 p.m.

ESPN or ESPN 2 Telecast Schedule:

Saturday, Sept. 23 West Virginia at East Carolina TBA
Saturday, Sept. 30 Tennessee at Memphis TBA

ESPN 2/ESPN U/ESPN CLASSIC Telecast Schedule:

Saturday, Sept. 30 Rice at Army TBA

TBS Telecast Schedule:

Saturday, Sept. 2 UAB at Oklahoma 7:00 p.m.

FOX SPORTS NET Telecast Schedule:

Saturday, Sept. 9 Rice at UCLA (Prime Ticket) 10:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 16 Marshall at Kansas State 12:30 p.m.

WGHB-AM and WDLX-AM, which bill themselves as Pirate Radio 1250 & 930, have announced the addition of “The Morning Drive” with Jeff Charles to their weekday lineup.

Charles, East Carolina's longtime play-by-play announcer, will host "The Morning Drive" in the 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. time slot beginning Monday, Aug. 21.

The stations say plans call for a fast-paced, live show with updates on local news, sports, weather, traffic, and a variety of daily features.

Charles, a broadcast veteran, is entering his 19th year as “The Voice of the Pirates” in football and basketball.

Nebraska has reached an agreement for a home-and-home football series with Washington. The games are scheduled for 2010 and 2011.

The Huskies are the fourth high-profile opponent Nebraska has announced in the past three months. The series will begin in Seattle at Husky Stadium on Sept. 18, 2010. The Huskies will make the trip to Lincoln and Memorial Stadium on Sept. 17, 2011.

The games with Washington are the first contests scheduled for Nebraska in 2010 and 2011. The announcement of a home-and-home series with Washington comes after recent announcements of home-and-home series with Virginia Tech, UCLA and Tennessee.

he Huskers will play the Hokies in 2008 and 2009, take on the Brunis in 2012 and 2013, and square off with the Volunteers in 2016 and 2017.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.