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News Nuggets, 11.25.03
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Assistant with ECU ties departs Tar Heels football staff

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina defensive backs coach Jim Fleming has resigned from the team. The Tar Heels lost to Duke 30-22 Saturday to wrap up their season with a 2-10 record, 1-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They allowed 278.2 passing yards per game, third-worst in the ACC.

"Jim and I discussed his status with the football program on Sunday and came to the mutual understanding that it was time for a change," coach John Bunting said Monday in a release.

Fleming was the head coach at Sacred Heart for two years before coaching at North Carolina for two seasons. Earlier career stops included a four-year stint on Steve Logan's staff at East Carolina. He coached outside linebackers in 1994 and defensive backs from 1995-97.

The 1995 Pirates finished 9-3 and won the Liberty Bowl, featuring a defense that intercepted 19 passes and was seventh in the nation in pass efficiency. In 1996, ECU was 8-3 and finished first in the country in turnover margin. In his final year in Greenville, the Pirates were second in Conference USA in pass defense.

UCF contacts O'Leary about coaching job

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator George O'Leary has been contacted by Central Florida about its vacant head coaching position. O'Leary acknowledged Monday that Central Florida athletic director Steve Orsini placed an exploratory call to him last week. Orsini was an assistant AD at Georgia Tech when O'Leary coached there.

``I'm sure there will be others that come up, too, but I'm coaching,'' O'Leary said, referring to his current job. ``What can I do?''

Georgia Tech's head coach for eight seasons, O'Leary was hired by Notre Dame in December 2001. He resigned less than a week later, admitting he lied on his resume two decades earlier in an effort to jump-start his career.

Vikings coach Mike Tice, who played for O'Leary at Central Islip (N.Y.) High School in the mid-1970s, hired his former mentor as an assistant nearly a month after the Notre Dame news broke.

C-USA 2003-04 hoops overview

2002-03 champion: Marquette (American); Memphis (National); Louisville (tournament).

2003 NCAA teams: Louisville; Marquette; Cincinnati; Memphis.

2003 NIT teams: DePaul; UAB; Saint Louis.

Top returning scorers: Morris Finley, UAB, 18.3; Demon Brown, Charlotte, 16.8; Corey Santee, TCU, 16.2.

Top returning rebounders: Charles Gaines, Southern Mississippi, 9.6; Andre Brown, DePaul, 9.0; Erroyl Bing, East Carolina, 8.7.

Top returning playmakers: Antonio Burks, Memphis, 5.6; Travis Diener, Marquette, 5.5; Corey Santee, TCU, 5.0.

Top newcomers: Robert Whaley, Cincinnati, JUCO transfer; Nate Daniels, Louisville, JUCO transfer; Sean Banks, Memphis, freshman.

Coaching changes: Robert McCullum, South Florida (Western Michigan head coach).

What you should know: The league will change dramatically over the next few seasons with more than half of the current membership headed for other conferences; Houston will get a big boost with the return of Marcus Oliver who missed last season with a knee injury; Memphis has seen its number of losses drop in each of coach John Calipari's three seasons.

Postseason prospects: NCAA: Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis; Marquette. NIT: Charlotte, DePaul.

BCS standings: USC returns to No. 2, TCU tumbles out

Below are the BCS standings announced on Monday. The BCS conferences are the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, PAC-10 and ACC. The champion of each BCS conference is guaranteed a berth in one of the four BCS bowls (Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar Bowls). BCS affiliate Notre Dame, an independent, may also qualify for a BCS bowl with a finish in the Top 12 in the standings.

Teams from other Division I-A conferences or independents other than Notre Dame can be assured of a berth in one of the four BCS bowls only by finishing in the Top 6 of the standings. Teams without direct BCS affiliation are denoted in bold:

 No./Team/Record/Rating/Previous
 1 Oklahoma 12-0 1.90 1
 2 Southern Cal 10-1 6.89 3
 3 Louisiana State 10-1 9.04 4
 4 Michigan 10-2 10.25 9
 5 Ohio State 10-2 14.57 2
 6 Texas 9-2 14.98 5
 7 Georgia 9-2 15.06 6
 8 Tennessee 9-2 17.97 7
 9 Florida State 9-2 21.76 11
10 Miami (FL) 9-2 22.19 12
11 Florida 8-3 23.83 13
12 Iowa 9-3 28.57 NR
13 Miami (OH) 10-1 28.71 14
14 Purdue 9-3 31.98 NR
15 Washington State 9-3 36.35 10

Associated Press basketball poll

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll, as announced on Monday, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 23, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

[Conference USA and Carolinas teams in bold.]

Rank/Team/Record/Points/Previous
 1. CONNECTICUT (69) 0-0 1,796 1
 2. DUKE (1) 0-0 1,677 2
 3. MICHIGAN STATE (1) 0-0 1,623 3
 4. ARIZONA 0-0 1,494 4
 5. MISSOURI 0-0 1,438 5
 6. KANSAS (1) 0-0 1,414 6
 7. SYRACUSE 0-0 1,334 7
 8. FLORIDA 0-0 1,217 8
 9. NORTH CAROLINA 0-0 1,172 9
10. KENTUCKY 0-0 1,115 11
11. TEXAS 0-0 1,100 12
12. ILLINOIS 0-0 946 13
13. SAINT JOSEPHS 1-0 865 17
14. OKLAHOMA 0-0 862 14
15. WISCONSIN 0-0 719 15
16. GONZAGA 0-1 714 10
17. LOUISVILLE 0-0 615 16
18. CINCINNATI 0-0 538 18
19. WAKE FOREST 1-0 528 20
20. STANFORD 0-0 521 19
21. NOTRE DAME 0-0 427 21
22. PITTSBURGH 1-0 348 22
23. MARQUETTE 1-0 226 23
24. NORTH CAROLINA STATE 0-0 118 24
25. OKLAHOMA STATE 0-0 102 25

Others Receiving Votes:

MARYLAND 64, XAVIER 63, CALIFORNIA 61, OREGON 57, OHIO STATE 39, UTAH 30, BRIGHAM YOUNG 23, ARIZONA STATE 15, AUBURN 15, LOUISIANA STATE 14, PROVIDENCE 13, UCLA 13, COLORADO 12, MISSISSIPPI STATE 8, SOUTHERN CAL 8, ALABAMA 7, PURDUE 7, MICHIGAN 6, BUTLER 5, MANHATTAN 5, TEMPLE 5, GEORGIA 3, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 3, NEVADA 3, WICHITA STATE 3, ARKANSAS 2, ILLINOIS-CHICAGO 2, VERMONT 2, DAYTON 1, INDIANA 1, SETON HALL 1.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2003 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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