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College football
ACC expansion talk: Is there room for 16 teams?
CBS Sports
A prominent official from an ACC school told me Louisville and UConn both have something to offer but stressed academics will matter to presidents. This favors UConn, widely considered a top-75 national university. The Hartford area also is larger than Louisville's, but the Cardinals have a strong football/basketball product and aggressive AD Tom Jurich.
Congrats
Brian Kelly (UC/ND) and Kerry Coombs (UC/OSU) have both been a part of two unbeaten regular seasons in the last four years. Would there be any other coaches/assistants that make that list?
OSU: The great What If?
SI
The other question that will certainly be debated for decades is whether Smith's decision to accept a meaningless bid to the Gator Bowl last year instead of self-imposing a ban cost Ohio State a chance at the national title. But, like everything else, that issue is more complicated than it seems.
"Who knows if they would have given us another bowl ban?" Smith said in his office a few weeks ago. "I just don't know."
(AP)
Meyer's perfect first season should worry rest of Big 10
Yahoo Sports
This is all set up for Meyer. If the speculation and sources on Big Ten expansion are correct, Ohio State's future division will feature Indiana, Maryland, Purdue, Rutgers and a sanction-devastated Penn State program. That leaves Wisconsin as the only team with the capability to realistically challenge Meyer's Bucks.
Anyone want to bet he doesn't coach in four of the next five Big Ten title games? Or will it be five?
Tressel lionized, Gee clueless, perspective please
Gregg Doyel, CBS Sports
Ohio State had its brain-locked decision in the first half to honor the 2002 national championship team, coached by Tressel, who showed up to absorb the love -- the cheering hit a crescendo when the scoreboard video screen showed Tressel -- while being carried on his players' shoulders. It was a senseless scene. The guy who lied about NCAA violations in 2010, then built a Big Ten-winning team around players who should have been ineligible, being feted on the same field where Ohio State was about to end its season two games too early.
Ubeaten, untied and unfulfilled
Pete Jones, NY Times
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Victories rarely leave as much of a frustrating aftertaste as the one Ohio State endured Saturday on an otherwise glorious gray November day in a city that revels in its rivals’ misery.
Full steam ahead for Meyer, Buckeyes
Fox Sports
It's not a formula with which Meyer was familiar or especially comfortable; it's what worked. The looming postseason ban was a strange situation that never became much of a distraction because the Buckeyes kept winning and kept evolving, a bit at a time. The senior class takes its place in history — Meyer said he'll make sure this group is never forgotten — and the head honcho will soon be on to new goals and a new plan to make up for the bowl practices Ohio State isn't allowed to have next month.
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College basketball
Xavier tops Drake, moves to 5-1
Statement from Kentucky guard Ryan Harrow
I would like to thank my teammates, the UK coaching staff and administration along with the Big Blue Nation for their support over the last couple of weeks while I was out. I'm feeling much better and it felt really good to get back on the practice court with the guys today. Unfortunately, when I started feeling better, I had an issue to tend to with my family over the holiday break. Everything is good with that now and I'm excited about playing with my brothers again.
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Reds
Angels like Ryan Madson
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College football
Notes
From 0SU
No. 4 Ohio State (12-0, 8-0 Big Ten) 26, No. 19 Michigan (8-4, 6-2 Big Ten) 21
Ohio Stadium – Columbus, Ohio
Nov. 24, 2012
Attendance: 105,899
· With the win, the 2012 Buckeyes became the sixth Ohio State team to finish a season unbeaten and untied.
· Ohio State is 65-7 at Ohio Stadium since the start of the 2002 season.
· At 12-0, Ohio State has its longest win streak since the Scarlet and Gray went 10-0 during the 2007 campaign. The Buckeyes were one of only two unbeaten teams left in Football Bowl Subdivision entering week 12 of the season.
· The crowd of 105,899 was the most for an Ohio State/Michigan game in Ohio Stadium history.
· Ohio State is 44-45-4 all-time vs. Michigan and 24-27-2 vs. the Wolverines in Columbus. Since 1951 (the arrival of Woody Hayes), Ohio State leads the series, 32-27-2.
· The Buckeyes have wins in nine of the last 11 games in the series.
· Braxton Miller finished the first half 11-of-13 passing for 156 yards and a touchdown. For the game he was 14-for-18 for 189 yards, with one touchdown pass to Corey Brown in the second quarter.
· The game marked the fourth time Carlos Hyde rushed for over 100 yards this season and his sixth career game with 100-plus yards.
· Miller’s 42-yard run in the third quarter was his fifth of 40 or more yards this season.
· Zach Boren led the team with nine tackles, including three solos. He collected his first career sack in the second quarter following a big hit on Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner and notched his first career fumble recovery.
· Since moving from fullback to linebacker during Week 7 of the season, Boren posted 49 tackles, including a combined 21 stops in the last two weeks.
· Adolphus Washington (Taft HS) claimed his first career forced fumble on a sack in the first quarter to give the Buckeyes the first turnover of the afternoon. He finished 2012 season with three sacks.
· Senior defensive end John Simon did not play today because of a right knee injury.
Butch Jones should be getting more attention
NBC Sports
unless Jones is truly unhappy with the administration at UC, it would be surprising to see him make the move to Lexington. Coaches want playmakers and resources to win. Jones isn’t going to be upgrading in those departments going to UK — at least not significantly. That’s not to say the Wildcats aren’t committed to winning or athletic director Mitch Barnhart can’t make a good hire, it just doesn’t feel like Jones is that person.
It’s a bit surprising not to hear Jones being connected to the open job at Tennessee. Jon Gruden is still atop the Vols’ wish list, but if that doesn’t work out (like expected), Jones should be on the university’s short list.
Former UC assistant gets extension at Buffalo
UC Football Sets Kick Time For Regular Season Finale At Connecticut
CINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati football team will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET against Connecticut in the regular-season finale for both teams at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.
The game will be televised nationally by ABC and air locally on 700 WLW AM.
Cincinnati (8-3, 4-2 BIG EAST) is in the running to win a share of its second-straight BIG EAST Conference Championship and fourth in five years. If Louisville beats Rutgers Thursday and Cincinnati beats Connecticut Saturday, there would be a four-way tie for the BIG EAST title between Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers and Syracuse at 5-2. UC cannot win the league’s BCS bid.
Connecticut (5-6, 2-4 BIG EAST) is coming off a 23-20, triple-overtime win at No. 18 Louisville on Saturday, Nov. 24.
Saturday marks the ninth game in the all-time series between the two squads with UC holding a 6-2 advantage. Connecticut leads 2-1 in games played at Rentschler Field. UC won the first four games in the series and has won two of the past three. The Bearcats last win in E. Hartford came in 2006 by a 26-23 margin.
Tickets are available, starting at $55, by visiting www.ticketmaster.com. The Huskies athletics ticket office can be reached by calling 1-877-288-2666.
Big East/BCS
From UC
Heading into the final weekend of the season, the University of Cincinnati football team still has a shot at winning a share of its second-straight BIG EAST Conference Championship and fourth in five years.
If Louisville beats Rutgers Thursday and Cincinnati beats Connecticut Saturday, there would be a four-way tie for the BIG EAST title between Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers and Syracuse at 5-2. There is no scenario where UC could earn the league’s BCS bid. Rutgers has clinched a share of the regular-season title and wins the league outright with a win over Louisville on Thursday.
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College basketball
Bearcats win championship game of Global Sports Classic
Big East could dissolve, basketball schools form own league
Bearcats have a contender, but can fans buy in?
Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News
Cronin’s problem isn’t entirely the town, although the Cincinnati Bengals, in a playoff race, had a game blacked out on local television and the Reds, NL Central champs, ranked 16th among 30 baseball teams in average attendance. Right up the street, Xavier, with a smaller fan base and what is expected to be a lesser team, hasn’t drawn fewer than 9,000 fans in its 10,250-seat arena. The problem for Cincinnati is that in Fifth Third Arena, as Cronin puts it, “You don’t have enough quality seats.” ........Which comes first, though? The home-court success or the home-court advantage? Honestly, not a lot of quality teams ever have to confront that question.
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Reds
Five blockbuster trade suggestions
ESPN
Cincinnati Reds trade CF Billy Hamilton, C Devin Mesoraco, RHP Mike Leake, RHP Sam LeCure and RHP Daniel Corcino to the Minnesota Twins for CF Denard Span, LF Josh Willingham, IF Jamey Carroll and IF Daniel Santana.
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Bengals
Very cool story about a friendship that has developed between Bengals rookie Kevin Zeitler and a 9-year old boy.
Raider game will not be a sellout
Ticket sales for Sunday’s Bengals home game against the Oakland Raiders remain several thousand short of a sellout, and thus the game will not be televised in the Bengals home markets of Cincinnati, Dayton and Lexington, Ky.
Remaining tickets for the Raiders game can be obtained at any time via Bengals.com. Tickets also can be purchased until 5 p.m. today and from 9 a.m.-noon tomorrow by calling the Bengals Ticket Hotline at 513-621-8383 (also toll free at 1-866-621-8383) or by visiting the Paul Brown Stadium main ticket office. On Sunday, the PBS north ticket office will open at 9 a.m.
With six games to play, Cincinnati is one game out in the race for AFC Wild Card playoff spots, and Sunday’s game will be a match against former Bengals QB Carson Palmer, now the starter for Oakland.
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Stuff
How about this ticket deal for Minnesota basketball?
ESPN
The Golden Ticket is preloaded with all nine Big Ten Conference men's basketball games. For $8.33 a game? That's a pretty good deal. Especially considering the retail value of those tickets is $315.
But there's a catch.
The holder of the Golden Ticket can go to as many of those nine games as he or she wants, but if the team loses at the game they go to, the pass becomes deactivated.
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Heisman
