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News Nuggets, 08.30.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Tulane TV lineup includes East Carolina game

Sixteen Tulane Athletics events featuring six different Green Wave programs will be broadcast across the state of Louisiana, in addition to two of the football team's games being slated for a wider audience.

The school and its multimedia rights-holder, ISP Sports, jointly announced that Cox Sports Television will provide the statewide coverage involving a number of Wave sports teams, with DelGiorno Broadcasting Corporation producing the events.

At least eight of the contests slated for Cox Sports will air live while others will be shown on a tape-delay basis. All six of the Wave's 2004 home football games will be aired at 11 p.m. on the Saturday nights following the games.

DelGiorno Broadcasting will also produce four Tulane basketball games, including at least one women's basketball contest, four baseball games, one volleyball game and one women's soccer match.

In addition to the Cox Sports broadcasts, Tulane's Sept. 4 season-opening football game at Mississippi State will be telecast nationally on ESPN2.

ESPN Regional will carry the Tulane's game at East Carolina Oct. 9 as well as the Wave's home contest versus UAB Oct. 23..

C-USA's postseason pal flees ESPN for CSTV

The league that is Conference USA's Liberty Bowl partner is trail-blazing a path out of the grasps of ESPN.

In a move that is the first of its kind, the Mountain West Conference will move its football and basketball games from ESPN to College Sports Television in the fall of 2006.

The seven-year, $82-million deal announced last week includes coverage on television, radio, satellite radio, video-on-demand and the Internet, according to an Associated Press account.

Mountain West games have been on ESPN since the league began play in 1999.

The MWC is the first Division I-A football and men's basketball league to sign with College Sports Television, which went on the air in 2003.

"This partnership will provide the Mountain West Conference more exposure over a variety of mediums than any other conference," MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson said in the AP report.

College Sports Television, which also runs CollegeSports.com, has agreements with Comcast, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable.

The MWC's football champion is still contracted to play its Conference USA counterpart in the Liberty Bowl, which is telecast nationally by ESPN.

League trio lands on Unitas Watch List

IRVING, TX — Three Conference USA quarterbacks are among the 22 preseason candidates for the 2004 Johnny Unitas Award, given annually to the nation's most outstanding senior quarterback.

Cincinnati's Gino Guidugli, Louisville's Stefan LeFors and Danny Wimprine of Memphis are the league's contenders for the honor, given annually by the Frank Camp Chapter of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation.

Guidugli enters his fourth season as Cincinnati's starting quarterback holding virtually all of the school's passing records. He opens the 2004 campaign as the school's all-time leader in pass completions (670), pass attempts (1,214), passing yardage (8,822) and passing touchdowns (53). He ranks among the top six in C-USA history in all four categories.

LeFors, a first team All-Conference performer last season, performed well in his first season as a starter. The left-hander threw for 3,145 yards and 17 touchdowns in guiding the Cardinals to a 9-4 record and a sixth straight bowl appearance. LeFors threw for a career-best 469 yards in a loss to #13 TCU and tossed for 406 in a 34-10 win over Army.

In 30 career starts, Wimprine has set 25 Memphis records and will enter his senior season as the all-time leader in pass completions (583) and attempts (1,071), passing yards (7,323) and TD passes (59). In 2003, he set new school single-season marks in completions (246), attempts (440) and passing yardage (3,174) while guiding the Tigers to their first bowl appearance in 32 years with a victory in the New Orleans Bowl.

Rasheed Marshall of West Virginia, the team against which East Carolina will open its season, also made the list. The Mountaineers will host the Pirates Saturday in Morgantown.

Darian Durant of North Carolina is the only quarterback from a Carolinas school to make the cut. Stan Hill and James Kilian of future C-USA members Marshall and Tulsa, respectively, also made the list.

The Unitas organization noted that additional candidates may be added at a later date based on performance.

The committee will announce five finalists plus any ties on Oct. 20. The 2004 recipient will be announced Dec. 1, with the award presentation to be made in Louisville on December 10 at the Clarion Conference Center.

Unitas, a University of Louisville alumnus, entered the Professional Football Hall of Fame after a remarkable 18-year NFL career. He was was selected the top quarterback of all-time by the Hall of Fame's 36-member selection committee.

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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