Week of 10/12/03

• Oklahoma No. 1, Miami No. 2 in Initial BCS Standings---------------Oklahoma is in a familiar place -- first in the initial Bowl Championship Series standings. The Sooners' task this year is to stay there. Oklahoma was No. 1 in the first BCS standings for the third straight year, matching the spot it has held in the two major polls all season. It's a positive indicator that we've played awfully well for seven games, Sooners coach Bob Stoops said Monday. We've earned that position and have played well through this part of the season. Now, it's our job to continue it, finish it and keep it. Miami and Virginia Tech,the other two undefeated teams from major conferences, are second and third. The BCS standings are used to determine which teams play in a national title game. The teams that finish 1-2 in the final BCS standings on Dec. 7 will play for the title at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 4. The formula uses the AP media and coaches polls, seven computer rankings, strength of schedule, losses and a bonus-point system for quality wins. The Sooners (7-0) have a 1.0 for poll average, 1.33 for computer-rank average, 0.44 for strength of schedule and zero for losses for a 2.77 total. Oklahoma is ranked first in four of computers with Miami the top team in the other three. The Hurricanes (7-0) have 4.10 points and Virginia Tech (6-0) has 10.23. We can't get caught up in anything other than winning our games, Miami coach Larry Coker said. If we do that, everything will work out as it should. Georgia (12.99), Florida State (13.14), Ohio State (13.20), Southern California (13.83) and Purdue (21.50) round out the top eight. The top four teams in the BCS are the same as in the AP poll. The two other undefeated teams in Division I-A are not at the top of the standings. Northern Illinois (7-0) of the Mid-American conference is 10th, while TCU (7-0) of Conference USA is 14th. Both teams have poor strength of schedule rankings, with the Huskies 100th and the Horned Frogs 96th out of 117 Division I-A teams. In the first five years of the BCS, the teams that were in the top two spots in the first standings never stayed there for the final standings. However, the 10 teams that have played in the championship game were all in the top six in the first BCS standings. After fast starts the past two seasons, Oklahoma lost twice in the second half to fall short of the national title game. Three years ago, Oklahoma was second in the first standings and went on to win the national championship in the Orange Bowl against Florida State. There seems to be a special quality about these guys, a genuine humility to them and a hunger to them in wanting to play well, Stoops said. I just felt in the last few years we were a little bit short in some areas. The BCS was started five years ago to create a national title game without playoffs. Champions of six conferences -- the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC -- qualify for a BCS game, and two at-large teams are selected to fill out the field. Teams outside those conferences automatically qualify for a BCS game with nine wins and a top six finish in the final standings. Northern Illinois and TCU will need to be in the top 12 to be eligible for one of the lucrative bowl games. There has been pressure from schools outside the big six conferences to improve access to the BCS bowls -- Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose. We've got so much football to play that we don't even really waste time thinking of that right now, Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak said. Tulane president Scott Cowen, whose school was left out in 1998 despite going undefeated, has started a coalition to lobby the major conferences and has even threatened an antitrust suit. The BCS system is a restrictive and exclusive system, Cowen said. The combination of automatic qualifiers and the ranking system make it virtually impossible for non-BCS schools to get ranked. Northern Illinois is a living example right in front of us. It's a vivid reminder for us -- there's a real school here disadvantaged because of the system. The BCS standings will be released each week for the remainder of the season. The seven computer rankings are operated by Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, The New York Times, Jeff Sagarin's USA Today, and Peter Wolfe.
• Judge Postpones Clarett's Preliminary Hearing-----------------Maurice Clarett's preliminary hearing on allegations he lied on a theft report was postponed Monday so a judge could decide whether to bar information from a separate NCAA probe of the suspended Ohio State running back. The misdemeanor falsification charge probably will be dropped if the judge doesn't allow the evidence from the NCAA investigation, prosecutors said. If the evidence is suppressed, it would be difficult for us to proceed, prosecutor Stephen McIntosh said. He added that there were other legal options but wouldn't elaborate. Clarett is accused of filing a campus police report that exaggerated the value of items stolen from a car he borrowed in April. Judge Steven Hayes will decide by a hearing scheduled for Dec. 17 whether to grant the defense request. Neither Clarett nor his attorney, Percy Squire, spoke in court Monday and they would not answer reporters' questions afterward. According to the defense' request to suppress the NCAA information, Clarett was asked about the theft during an interview with the university and NCAA investigators. University officials gave that information to campus police who passed it on to prosecutors. Ohio State lawyers have said the information was not a student disciplinary record so Clarett's privacy rights were not violated, according to court documents. Clarett was suspended for his sophomore season for NCAA violations of accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to investigators.
• Miami Files Lawsuit Against Big East, Four Schools---------------The University of Miami filed suit against the Big East Conference and four of its member schools Monday, claiming it suffered substantial monetary damages by remaining in the league. The school also filed a separate lawsuit against the University of Connecticut for defamation. Both were filed in state circuit court in Miami. Miami will seek an undetermined amount in damages, said Eric Isicoff, the school's attorney. There's a lot of issues here about the harm that's been caused, Isicoff said. It's going to be a huge sum of money. Big East spokesman John Paquette acknowledged that the conference had seen the lawsuit, but had no comment regarding it. The four other league members named in the suit are Connecticut, West Virginia, Rutgers and Pittsburgh -- schools which are currently suing Miami, alleging it was involved in a conspiracy with the Atlantic Coast Conference to weaken the Big East. Those schools claimed to have spent millions on their football programs based on presumed loyalty from schools, including Miami, which it had been aligned with. Miami and Virginia Tech -- the league's premier football schools -- are leaving the Big East to join the ACC after the current academic year ends. Boston College is also leaving the Big East for the ACC, but perhaps not until 2006. We took this action very reluctantly, because we think litigation in this matter is neither productive nor desirable, Miami athletic director Paul Dee said in a release. However, the barrage of lawsuits emanating out of Big East member schools have forced us to take steps to protect our rights and reputation. The suit was filed in part because Miami grew tired of just a continuous sea of defamatory comments, Isicoff said. Specifically named as making some of those comments was Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who, according to the suit, stated that Miami damaged Connecticut through an illegal conspiracy, plus secretly negotiate(ed) with the ACC" and made false promises to Big East members. All of those comments were false, according to Miami's lawsuit, which further claims the comments were made on UConn's behalf and defamed Miami in a way that injured... its good name and reputation among the public. Blumenthal said the lawsuits are unfounded and show that Miami is acting out of fear and anger. Any harm claimed by the University of Miami plainly is self-inflicted or non-existent, and pales in comparison to the damage it has done to its Big East partners, Blumenthal said Monday evening. Isicoff also said the school was a fraud victim and lost revenue because Big East officials never had any intention of resolving issues Miami had raised regarding the way the conference was being administered. The concerns included the ability of members to leave the conference, scheduling, marketing and television rights. They were raised by Miami in November 1999; by early 2001, the lawsuit claims, only two of the 16 concerns had been addressed. We remained on board and the result was we suffered lost revenues and have suffered additional harm since, Isicoff said. Miami announced its decision to leave the Big East on June 30 and paid the league-mandated $1 million exit fee that same day, Isicoff said. Their reward for playing by the rules was getting sued, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said. Today's action is totally understandable.
• Wisconsin QB Sorgi Won't Play vs. Northwestern------------------Wisconsin quarterback Jim Sorgi had knee surgery and will miss Saturday's game against Northwestern, forcing backup Matt Schabert into the starting roll. Coach Barry Alvarez declined to give specifics on Sorgi's injury Monday, citing new federal privacy laws. But Sorgi is expected to return by the Nov. 8 game at Minnesota. The Badgers have a week off after playing Northwestern. The knee injury capped off a rough week for Sorgi. He was choked in a win over Ohio State on Oct. 11 and forced out of the game because he had trouble barking out the signals. He was hurt Saturday as he tried to scramble and was brought down awkwardly, with his legs getting caught up underneath him. Alvarez said Sorgi's knee had been bothering him and he was already scheduled to have surgery after the Northwestern game. He described the surgery as minor. Schabert, who threw the winning touchdown pass against Ohio State, will start his first collegiate game after limited action in his time at Wisconsin.
• Duke Pulls Plug on Coach, Ex-Blue Devils Player Franks-----------------Duke fired head football coach Carl Franks on Sunday and named defensive coordinator Ted Roof to replace him for the rest of the season. The firing comes a day after the Blue Devils (2-5) fell behind Wake Forest 42-0 at halftime, and lost 42-13 for their 29th-straight Atlantic Coast Conference loss. Halftime of the game yesterday was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, athletic director Joe Alleva said. Franks is the third Division I-A head coach to be fired this season, joining John Mackovic at Arizona and Todd Berry at Army. Mississippi State's Jackie Sherrill announced last week that he would retire at the end of the season. Franks, a former Duke tight end, was 7-45 in 4 1/2 seasons. He had signed a contract extension through 2006 after going 2-10 last year, but it's unclear how much of his salary was guaranteed. Alleva declined to discuss any details of the contract at a news conference Sunday. Franks did not immediately return a call to his home seeking comment. He issued a statement through the school which read: I am disappointed that we didn't have more success. I certainly wish I could have finished out the season, but Joe Alleva decided that a change needed to be made. Early this season, Alleva said Franks would have to win at least one ACC game and the team would have to show significant progress to keep his job. However, Alleva pulled the plug on Franks after just four conference games. The Blue Devils have four ACC games remaining and a nonconference meeting at No. 22 Tennessee on Nov. 1. Alleva said he kept Franks around for this year because the Blue Devils last year were showing improvement. Duke returned a league-high 20 starters from last year's team, but was averaging an ACC-worst 15 points a game. Alleva indirectly pointed to the problem when asked what Roof could do to right the ship in Durham. I think Ted's very passionate and very enthusiastic, some of the things that I think our team hasn't shown this year, Alleva said. Alleva said a search for a replacement will begin immediately, and that Roof would be considered. I'm looking for a coach that can recruit, that can motivate the team and that can lead this organization -- be a leader, Alleva said. I think it's a great coaching job. We have nowhere to go but up. Franks returned to his alma mater in 1999 after nine seasons at Florida as an assistant to Steve Spurrier, himself a former Duke coach. Following a 3-8 record in Franks' initial season at Duke, the team had back-to-back 0-11 campaigns in 2000 and 2001. The Blue Devils snapped a 23-game losing streak with a 23-16 victory over East Carolina to open the 2002 season. Duke opened this season 2-1 by beating Rice and Division I-AA Western Carolina. They've since dropped four straight games to Northwestern, Florida State, Maryland and the Demon Deacons. Roof began his second stint as an assistant coach at Duke in 2002. The former All-ACC linebacker at Georgia Tech guided the Blue Devil defense that year to lead the conference in rushing defense. Duke also moved from 113th nationally in total defense in 2001 to 65th in 2002. Roof also coached at Alabama, West Georgia, Massachusetts, Western Carolina and Georgia Tech.