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News Nuggets, 01.25.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Rivers puts on Senior Bowl show for pro scouts

MOBILE — Philip Rivers might as well have been back in Raleigh, flinging the ball around to his favorite receivers and running the same old offense. The North Carolina State quarterback was efficient as ever in the South's 28-10 victory over the North on Saturday in the Senior Bowl, passing for 213 yards and directing all his team's scoring drives.

The nation's top-rated passer was the only quarterback who looked completely at ease in the game, an NFL audition for college seniors. "I played in 51 straight games in college. I'm a coach's son. I've been around the game for so long, I feel like I just have kind of a knack for getting people going," said Rivers, an Alabama native. "I just kind of took pride in doing that."

Rivers completed 12 of 19 passes, two for first-quarter touchdowns, to earn Most Valuable Player honors. Florida State's Darnell Dockett set up a touchdown with a fumble recovery and was the South's defensive MVP.

Ohio State receiver Michael Jenkins was picked as the North's offensive MVP after catching seven passes for 69 yards. Ricardo Colclough of Division II Tusculum College in Tennessee claimed defensive honors.

Conference USA had seven players in the game, including East Carolina offensive tackle Brian Rimpf, who played for the North team.

Frogs about to hop to MWC?

FORT WORTH — Texas Christian University is expected to accept an invitation next week to join the Mountain West Conference beginning in the 2005-06 school year, according to a published report.

TCU could receive a formal invitation as early as Monday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in its Friday editions, citing unnamed sources.

The school's athletic committee, which has studied a possible move for months, is expected to recommend to trustees at the board's meeting Jan. 30 that the school leave Conference USA, the newspaper said. The board can veto the move but is expected to approve it, the newspaper reported.

TCU athletic director Eric Hyman declined to comment.

The move would end months of speculation about TCU's athletic future and solidify a place for the Horned Frogs in a major conference. The Horned Frogs would join Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming in a nine-team league.

TCU has been on the move since the Southwest Conference dissolved in 1995. The Mountain West would be TCU's fourth conference in 10 years. TCU joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1996 and left for Conference USA after the 2000-01 season.

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said during a teleconference this month that he hoped to resolve the Mountain West's expansion plans by the end of January. He declined to comment Friday on whether an invitation would be extended to TCU.

The newspaper quoted New Mexico athletic director Rudy Davalos as saying that he hasn't heard a definitive answer on TCU but that "when these expansion conversations first started, the talk has always centered around TCU."

Colorado, Colorado State confer on new pact

DENVER — Colorado and Colorado State are near agreement on a contract to resume their football rivalry in 2008 after a two-year break. "We don't have anything finalized yet, but we're really close," Colorado Athletic Director Dick Tharp said last week.

The two teams will play this fall and in 2005, but would not play again until 2008, the next season the NCAA football calendar will allow Division I-A teams to play 12 games.

"We're making good progress (in the negotiations)," Colorado State Athletic Director Mark Driscoll said. "The bottom line is, both of us want to get a deal done."

Six games under the current contract were played at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High. Tharp and Driscoll said some games could be played there under the new contract, but Colorado added 1,903 club seats and 40 luxury boxes last season, and Tharp wants the Buffaloes to play their home games on campus, where Folsom Field now seats 53,750.

Colorado State plans to add 15 luxury boxes and 5,000 seats to its stadium for a total capacity of about 35,000. Driscoll has said he'd like Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium to seat as many as 50,000 eventually.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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