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News Nuggets, 10.26.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Mountain West outsider banging hard on BCS door

Oklahoma and Utah moved into premium positions in the Bowl Championship Series standings Monday.

The Sooners are in second place, jumping ahead of Miami after the BCS standings debuted last week with Oklahoma surprisingly in third.

Southern California remains in first place with a grade of .9843. Oklahoma's grade is .9325 and Miami is now third at .9239.

The top two teams in the final BCS standings will meet in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 4.

Utah is now sixth, a position that would guarantee the Utes a spot in one of the other three big-money bowls if they can hold on to it.

``I think it's great,'' Utes coach Urban Meyer said.

He found out about his team's small but important jump from seventh to sixth from his wife, who left him a phone message.

``Her comment on this message — I didn't get to talk to her — was 'Hey you're No. 6. Make sure you stay there. That's really great coaching,''' he said. ``I'm glad she's cleared that up.

``Honestly, if we were eight or nine, it's, let's go. Let's go play.''

A top-six finish in the BCS standings guarantees a spot in either the Orange, Fiesta, Rose or Sugar bowls, each with payouts of over $14 million. To even be considered for a BCS bid, a top-12 finish is required.

Utah, a Mountain West Conference member, is trying to become the first team to play in a BCS game from a conference outside the six leagues — Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Southeastern Conference — that have automatic berths.

The Utes (7-0) are one of seven Division I-A teams with perfect records. They beat MWC rival UNLV 63-28 on Saturday.

Boise State of the Western Athletic Conference, the other unbeaten from a BCS-impaired conference, moved up a spot from last week to 13th.

Conference USA member Louisville is 17th on the BCS list and WAC upstart Texas-El Paso, which has accepted an invitation to join C-USA next season, is No. 24.

The BCS is using a new formula that relies more on The Associated Press Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today coaches poll than ever before. The Sooners have been No. 2 in both polls all season but trailed close behind Miami last week in the BCS standings because of their relatively weak computer ranking.

A compilation of six computers are used to determine one-third of a team's BCS grade, with a team's highest and lowest computer rankings thrown out.

USM dominates league's weekly awards

Linebacker Michael Boley and return specialist John Eubanks of Southern Mississippi have been named Conference USA's defensive and special teams players of the week for the roles they played in the Golden Eagles' 51-10 rout of East Carolina on Saturday.

Tulane quarterback Lester Ricard earned the offensive honor after his record-setting performance in a wild 59-55 win over UAB.

Award thumbnails, announced by the league office on Monday:

OFFENSE

Lester Ricard QB Tulane: Ricard tied a Conference USA record and set a new Tulane single-game mark with six touchdown passes in the Green Wave’s 59-55 win over UAB. He completed 36-of-49 passes for 417 yards (the third-most in school history) and did not throw an interception. Ricard threw the game-winning TD with 27 seconds remaining as he became just the second Tulane QB to pass for 400 yards in a game.

DEFENSE

Michael Boley LB Southern Miss: Boley wins the award for the third time this season following his efforts in a win over East Carolina. He finished with 11 tackles, including a career-high five tackles for loss. Boley also recorded two sacks and had one pass breakup.

SPECIAL TEAMS

John Eubanks KR/PR Southern Miss: Eubanks had 132 yards in returns in the win over East Carolina. He returned a punt 51 yards to the three-yard line to set up one touchdown, while running a kickoff back 84 yards to set up another. Eubanks has taken over the national lead in kickoff return average.

Compiled from a Conference USA report.

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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