Looks like the Sun Bowl won’t have the Big East’s No. 3 pick. Brett McMurphy apparently just chatted with Sun Bowl chair John Folmer.
We’ll see where the Big East turns.
- Neill
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Archive for August, 2009Dyson, Walker on Wooden listUConn senior guard Jerome Dyson and sophomore guard Kemba Walker are both on the list of preseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award. It’s a list of 50 players selected “based on last year’s individual performance and team records.” Luke Harangody of Notre Dame is the only 2009 Wooden All-American returning to college basketball in 2009-10. Nine schools had two players chosen to the Wooden Award preseason Top 50 and all are familiar names to fans who followed college basketball a season ago: Kansas (Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich), Michigan State (Kalin Lucas, Raymar Morgan) Duke (Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer), Michigan (DeShawn Sims, Manny Harris), North Carolina (Ed Davis, Deon Thompson), Purdue (Robbie Hummel, E’Twaun Moore), Connecticut (Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson), Villanova (Scottie Reynolds, Corey Fisher), and West Virginia (Devin Ebanks, Da’Sean Butler). 2009-10 John R. Wooden Award Solomon Alabi, 7-1, So., C, Florida State - Neill  Play like a Champs todayOK, I have a few more details about the Big East’s deal with the Champs Sports Bowl. Yes, Notre Dame is in the mix. But the Irish can only go once in the four years. Not too bad for the “regular” Big East folks. Notre Dame has to be at least 7-5 to go to Orlando and within two games of the Big East team it would “replace.” In other words a 9-3 Big East team could be passed over for a 7-5 ND team. Again, that’s only once in four years, though. Big East Commissioner John Marinatto said on an afternoon conference call that the Gator Bowl and Champs Bowl were sort of put on the clock as far as the league’s second pick. “What we told both Gator as well as Champs that the first of the two that came to us and wanted to make a deal would be the first one we committed to,” Marinatto said. “Obviously the Champs Bowl people were aggressive in coming to us.” As he said before, Marinatto didn’t want a hybrid deal with the league only getting a certain number of games over the four years and splitting with another league (like the Big 12 and the most recent Gator/Sun deal). It seems the Gator wanted another hybrid deal. As for the opponent in the Champs Sports Bowl, it could be the ACC. The game has been Big Ten vs. ACC for the last four years. “We’re evaluating the ACC relationship as we speak,” said Steve Hogan, the CEO of Florida Citrus Sports. “I’m hopeful we can close out that side of our game in the next week to 10 days.” The Sun Bowl is still an option for the Big East’s No. 3 team. Marinatto said the two sides are talking and more deals will be announced soon. The Big East could be (more likely will be) the only BCS conference whose second-place team won’t be playing on New Year’s Day. That doesn’t bother Marinatto, he says. “No. Not at all,” Marinatto said. “The idea of playing on New Year’s Day today is so different than playing on New Year’s Day 20 years ago. There are 34 postseason bowls across the country and obviously most of them aren’t played on New Year’s Day. “The idea that we’re not playing on New Year’s Day is not a negative to us,” Marinatto continued. “It wasn’t part of our primary criteria.” As for the bowl deals as a whole, Marinatto says the Big East started with a home run. (He also made the obligatory Disney World reference but I’ll skip it.) “From the outset of our bowl selection process we set out to evaluate the postseason bowl opportunities based on certain criteria. That included destination, geography and the quality of the opponent,” Marinatto said. “With the Champs Sports Bowl, we feel that we’ve hit a home run.” - Neill Big East inks deal with Champs Sports BowlHere’s the release. I’ll fill in with details from conference call. No word on other bowls. PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The BIG EAST Conference has reached a four-year agreement with Florida Citrus Sports and the Champs Sports Bowl to send a team to the Orlando, Fla., game beginning in the 2010 season. The Champs Sports Bowl will have the first selection from the BIG EAST after the league’s BCS representative has been determined. The BIG EAST’s opponent for the game for 2010-13 is to be determined. The payout to the BIG EAST could reach $2.4 million. ”We are thrilled to be a partner with the Champs Sports Bowl, said BIG EAST Commissioner John Marinatto. “I know our schools are very excited about the agreement. Orlando is an outstanding destination for our teams and fans. It’s going to be a great experience for everyone. The Champs Sports Bowl is an outstanding addition to the BIG EAST bowl lineup.” “We are very excited about gaining another top pick through the BIG EAST and Notre Dame,” said Steve Hogan, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports. “If we are successful in signing our other planned selections, it will be tough to argue that Orlando doesn’t deliver the best week of the college football postseason.” The Champs Sports Bowl will have the opportunity to select Notre Dame once during the four-year agreement. The dates for the Champs Sports Bowl will remain Dec. 27, 28 or 29. The game will have an exclusive window on ESPN. BIG EAST teams compiled a 4-2 bowl record in 2008 and a 12-4 mark over the last three years. The league has proved to be extremely balanced in recent years. Four teams have won or shared the conference crown over the last three seasons. Cincinnati won the title outright in 2008. West Virginia and Connecticut shared the crown in 2007. Louisville won in 2006. Rutgers and USF have appeared in bowl games in each of the past four years. This season, the BIG EAST media poll tabbed Pittsburgh to finish first. Since 1994, the BIG EAST has had a relationship with the Gator Bowl that has included the conference’s top selection after the BCS representative has been determined. “We have been fortunate to have had a long and fruitful partnership with the Gator Bowl for 16 years,” said Marinatto. “We enjoyed the relationship, but our athletic directors and head football coaches were unanimous in the decision to forge a deal with the Champs Sports Bowl.” UConn-Michigan series officialThe UConn athletic department announced Tuesday what has been reported extensively (here, among other places) for some time: UConn and Michigan will play a home-and-home football series. UConn will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sept. 4, 2010. The Wolverines (sorry, still love clip) will come to Rentschler Field on Sept. 21, 2013. “We are very excited about having a football series with the University of Michigan,” UConn Director of Athletics Jeffrey Hathaway said in a statement released by the school. “This football series will provide two outstanding games for both programs and their respective fans. We are happy to bring this premier intersectional matchup to our dedicated football fans who fill Rentschler Field.” “It is very exciting for our football program to have a series with Michigan,” UConn head coach Randy Edsall said. “We want to challenge our team by playing a strong non-conference schedule in addition to the Big East slate we face every year. Michigan is a nationally-prominent program and we are happy to have them on our future schedule.” The contest at Michigan next season will serve as the rededication game of Michigan Stadium after a large-scale renovation. Connecticut’s home game with Northeastern in 2010, originally scheduled for Sept. 2, will now be played on Oct. 9. UConn will also play a home-and-home series with Tennessee beginning in 2015 with the Volunteers coming to Rentschler Field on Sept. 26 with a return trip to Knoxville on Sept. 3, 2016. Other upcoming non-conference opponents coming to Rentschler Field include Vanderbilt (2010), Iowa State (2011), North Carolina State (2012) and Maryland (2013). By the conclusion of the 2010 season, UConn will have played host to non-conference opponents from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10, Big XII and Southeastern conference at Rentschler Field. - Neill ‘You were the fastest kid in school!’While doing a little research on a Trevardo Williams story (I know, all Trevardo, all the time lately), I came across an interesting result. I knew Williams was an accomplished high school sprinter (I spend two weeks every spring covering track & field and saw him speed by me many times) and had finished second in New England’s as a junior. What I forgot or didn’t realize was the field the Bridgeport Central star ran against that June day in 2007 at Fitchburg (Mass.) State. Williams finished second in the 100 meters that day, running a 10.94. The winner, Kevin Morgan of Hope, R.I., ran a 10.90. But glancing down at the rest of the field I saw that a kid named Jordan Todman, a junior from Dartmouth (Mass.) High, finished seventh in the race. That’s the same Jordan Todman who now is the UConn football team’s starting tailback and, seemingly, one of the fastest players on the team. It seems there was (perhaps still is) a defensive end who could run faster than Todman. “Trevardo was a fast boy,” Todman said Monday. “But it won’t happen again. It won’t happen now, I’ll tell you that much.” Williams, who has added at least 20 pounds of muscle to his frame since that day two-plus years ago, isn’t so sure. He thinks he can still give Todman a run for his money. “I’ve still got the speed,” Williams said. Of course, there’s a difference between football speed and track speed. Maybe the pads a defensive end has to wear add a little more weight and cause you to lose some mobility, giving Todman an edge on the field. Maybe Todman’s just faster than he was as a junior in high school. “I’m definitely faster than him now,” Todman said. “But the boy was moving in high school and he’s still moving now.” Williams was sort of celebrating a track & field moment on Monday. His fellow Jamaican (both are from Trelawny, too), Usain Bolt, just smashed his own world record in the 100 meters. So if Williams had devoted himself to track full time instead of football he’d be running with Bolt, right? “No. No. Usain is far above me,” Williams said. “I’d need more training…and to lose some weight.” Incidentally, the sixth-place finisher in that 2007 New England championship race? That would be former Notre Dame-West Haven standout Josh Massey. Massey was briefly a UConn football player himself. - Neill Big East bowl newsThe Big East has set its new bowl lineup. There’s a conference call scheduled for 2 p.m. that should have more information. It looks like, however, that the Champs Sports Bowl will be the league’s new No. 2 slot (behind the BCS) and the Sun Bowl will be the No. 3. The Meineke Car Care would get the fourth choice. Notre Dame is still in the picture with the Big East but, as it promised, the league has eliminated any hybrid and/or deals like the one it had (has) with the Gator. We’ll confirm this later after the call. - Neill More from the ShenkAs promised, a few more tidbits from the UConn football team’s Media Day: – WR Dwane Difton “could” be a starting wide receiver for the Huskies Sept. 5 against Ohio according to head coach Randy Edsall. In Edsall-speak, that usually means the player “will” start. It shouldn’t be a surprise. Difton has all the skills and appears to be ready to go. “I’ve seen the depth chart but at the same time I still have to work hard and continue doing what I’ve done since coming on campus,” Difton said. “I have to study my playbook and do whatever I have to do.” – We all know Zach Frazer is in line to be the Huskies’ starting quarterback. And Cody Endres, unless he makes a huge effort and somehow overtakes Frazer, is going to be No. 2. It’s the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 spots that are a bit surprising. True freshman Michael Box is currently third on the depth chart. “Mike can throw the ball. Mike’s got good athletic ability,” Edsall said. “He’s got a good arm and good feet.” In fourth right now is redshirt freshman Johnny McEntee, a walk-on. Down in fifth is redshirt freshman Casey Turner. – At tight end, Ryan Griffin and John Delahunt “have separated themselves” from Yianni Apostolakos and Corey Manning, Edsall says. – Cornerback Jasper Howard has the inside track to return punts again this year. “He wants to do it,” Edsall said. “He’s just got to make some better decisions this year.” Well said, coach. Nick Williams and Tevrin Brandon are getting looks, but it’s likely Jasper’s job. – At kick returner, it’s Jordan Todman and Robbie Frey. Just like the end of last season. – Derek Chard is the long-snapper for now. Alex Polito and Apostolakos are the backups. – G Erik Kuraczea (head) should be back to practice on Wednesday. CB Robert McClain (fever) should be back on Tuesday. – Edsall on Frazer’s throwing motion: “He isn’t your perfect, classic picture guy that you’re going to study when it comes to how to throw a football.” The coach isn’t about to revamp his starter’s style, however. “I don’t think you can start over, no,” Edsall said. - Neill |
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