News Nuggets, 09.03.03
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
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Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
Cowen's battle to bring down BCS moves to Capitol Hill
PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
09.02.03: Capsule:
TCU withstands all-out charge by Wave... .. J.T. to hook up
with fans in Cyberspace... .. Losman, Rivers contend for
Unitas Award... .. Deceased coach remembered fondly... ..
Labor Day Weekend scores of interest... ..
More... |
09.01.03: ECU-Cincinnati
TV Capsule... .. TCU-Tulane TV Capsule... .. Labor Day Weekend
scores of interest... .. Logan takes talents to Campbell... ..
More... |
08.31.03: College
football scores of interest... .. Sunday TV Capsules for C-USA
Teams... .. Construction alters access to Nippert Stadium... ..
More... |
08.30.03: Holtz
in full worry mode... .. Saturday TV capsules for C-USA and
Carolinas teams... .. Heralded quarterback transfers to Tulane... ..
More... |
08.29.03: ECU,
U of L coaches establish new pre-game traditions... ..
Pirates' Dougherty, Houston's McClary on Guy Award list... ..
TCU establishes separate baseball booster organization... ..
More... |
08.28.03: Muse
pushes Pirates' cause with ACC chief... .. Nix wins national
coaching honor... .. Revered former TCU football coach passes... ..
More... |
08.27.03: Logan
teams up with Hinton on weekly sports show... .. Injury no
barrier to recognition for Art Brown... .. Southern Miss, LSU
schedule two-game series... ..
More... |
08.26.03: J.T.
set for Cyberspace hookup with fans... .. Early TV exposure
plentiful for C-USA teams... .. Nevels wins scramble for Army
starting QB job... .. Green Wave elects team captains... ..
Attrition depletes Billikens' projected hoops roster... ..
More... |
08.25.03: Southern
Miss 'community blitz' package includes ear of corn... ..
Tough Louisville hoops slate heavy on national TV exposure... ..
More... |
08.24.03: USM-Cal
game selected for HD-TV telecast... .. ECU-Houston game
celebrates region's military bases... .. Charlotte slate
features two Final Four teams... ..
More... |
08.23.03: New
ECU depth chart packed with answers... .. Butkus committee
eyes seven C-USA players... .. Hawaii Bowl lands new title
sponsor... ..
More... |
08.22.03: Pirate
offense percolates, QB battle heats up... .. Bearcats offer
incentives for fans to attend ECU game... .. Cincinnati player
penalized for unapproved game... ..
More... |
08.21.03: Michigan
programs oppose schedule shifts to Friday night... .. Clock
ticking on ECU starting position battles... ..
More... |
08.20.03: Private
money rolls in for TCU basketball palace... .. Bearcats' hoops
slate loaded with heavyweights... .. Berry starts unraveling
Army QB logjam... ..
More... |
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Less than three months ago, Tulane was
seriously considering whether to throw in the towel in its struggle to
maintain a Division I-A football program in the face of the overwhelming
odds stacked against it and similar schools in the age of the Bowl
Championship Series. In the end, not only did the university decide to
recommit itself to big-time football, its president has gained the friendly
attention of an institution far more powerful than the BCS.
Scott Cowen's brainchild, The Presidential
Coalition on Athletic Reform, has attracted dozens of other CEO's of non-BCS
schools as allies and instigated a national debate about the cartel-like
characteristics of the BCS.
Congress is about to join that debate.
The House Committee on the Judiciary has
scheduled a Thursday hearing on "Competition in College Athletic Conferences
and Antitrust Aspects of the Bowl Championship Series" to look into the
lucrative BCS arrangement, which excludes schools from five of the 11
Division I-A conferences and bars all independents except Notre Dame from
membership.
The BCS leagues include the ACC, Big 12,
Big East, Big Ten, PAC-10 and SEC. The syndicate was formed, according to
its defenders, to crown a national champion, but no non-BCS school has been
invited to participate in any of its four annual bowl games since the BCS
was created in 1998. Detractors say that imbalance has resulted in daunting
financial and recruiting disadvantages for non-BCS schools.
Cowen, former San Francisco 49ers
quarterback Steve Young, NCAA president Myles Brand and Jim Delany will
testify at the hearing, according to a release from the Tulane News Bureau.
Cowen's school, Tulane, belongs to
Conference USA, a non-BCS league, while Young's alma mater, Brigham Young
University, is a member of the non-BCS Mountain West Conference. Delany's
conference, the Big Ten, is a vocal proponent of the BCS.
Thursday's 10:00 a.m. hearing will be
conducted in the Rayburn House Office Building and a press briefing with
Cowen will immediately follow, according to the Tulane announcement.
NCAA graduation rates on the upswing
INDIANAPOLIS — Division I college athletes
are graduating at a record rate of 62 percent and are 3 percent more likely
to graduate than non-athletes, according to an NCAA study released Tuesday.
The report showed athletes with a 2 percent overall increase in the
graduation rate compared with last year and a 1 percent increase over the
rate of non-athletes.
The study covered athletes on scholarship
who entered college in 1996 and measured the percentage of students who
graduated within six years. The NCAA has tracked graduation rates since
1984, but this was the first study compiled since more stringent academic
requirements took effect.
"This shows that academic reform is making
progress," NCAA president Myles Brand said. "But it is not yet complete."
The numbers showed almost across-the-board
increases. The only declines were among white male basketball players (52
percent) and white football players (61 percent). Both rates dropped by 1
percent. But it was mostly good news for the NCAA, which has been hit by
numerous scandals in the past year. Two schools, Georgia and Fresno State,
withdrew their men's basketball teams from postseason play last winter
because of academic fraud.
'Official Station' puts together TV syndicate for
ECU-UNC game
GREENVILLE — WITN-TV will bring the East
Carolina-North Carolina football game to viewers throughout the Carolinas,
the NBC affiliate announced on Tuesday. The game time for the Oct. 11
matchup has been set for 3:30 p.m. It will be the Tar Heels' first-ever
visit to ECU's Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
"We are excited to be producing and
distributing the ECU-Carolina game to the state of North Carolina," said
Mike Weeks, WITN-TV President and General Manager. "This will be the college
football contest everyone wants to see in 2003."
WITN will produce and distribute the game,
which will air on six television stations: WRAL in Raleigh, WXII in
Winston-Salem, WJZY in Charlotte, WECT in Wilmington, WBSC in Greenville
(S.C.)-Spartanburg-Asheville, and WITN in Greenville-New Bern-Washington.
The station estimates that 300,000 homes will tune in to the game.
The Pirates and Tar Heels last faced each
other in Chapel Hill in 2001, with UNC-CH winning that contest 24-21. It was
the schools' first meeting in 20 years.
WITN-TV — which is in the midst of a
multi-year agreement with ECU as "The Official Station of the Pirates" — is
a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Gray Television, Inc. The company operates 15
CBS-affiliated TV stations, seven NBC-affiliated stations and seven
ABC-affiliated stations, as well as four daily newspapers.
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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