North Texas will leave the Sun Belt to join Conference USA, a source close to the program said Thursday. The source also said Louisiana Tech and Florida International will be joining the Mean Green in Conference USA, along with Texas-San Antonio, whose move was approved by the University of Texas System regents Thursday morning. Charlotte also appears set to join the C-USA, scheduling a news... [Read More]
The Mountain West and Conference USA will announce a newly named conference in what is being termed a new association, not a merger of the remaining existing members.The conference may start as early as 2013-14.The MWC/C-USA will have a regional/divisional makeup of the current membership of the two leagues and will likely include 18 to 24 universities.The two sides held a Sunday... [Read More]
Conference USA's board of directors will meet later this week to discuss the possibility of a full-scale merger with the Mountain West Conference, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.The prospect of a merger was already on the meeting agenda, even before C-USA member Memphis was on the verge of joining the Big East, the source said.Memphis was officially invited into the Big... [Read More]
Tulsa has hired Ross Parmley as athletic director after serving in the role on an interim basis for the past three months.University president Steadman Upham announced Thursday that Parmley would take over the role vacated when Bubba Cunningham left to become the AD at North Carolina.Upham says Parmley has demonstrated his ability as a leader and administrator in several different roles at... [Read More]
Former Missouri quarterback Tyler Gabbert is headed to UCF, according to an Orlando Sentinel report.Gabbert redshirted at Missouri in 2010, and transferred after losing a quarterback battle to James Franklin the following spring. He originally chose Louisville, but left the team and didn't play in 2011. Instead, he worked on an associates degree in his hometown of St. Louis, according to the... [Read More]
Memphis junior defensive tackle Dontari Poe will enter the NFL draft, he told ESPN college football reporter Joe Schad."It's time," said Poe, a Memphis native who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 350 pounds. He's rated No. 4 among junior defensive tackles by ESPN Insider and draft expert Mel Kiper Jr.Poe had 33 tackles in 2011, including 18 solo tackles and one sack, according to Memphis' team... [Read More]
Ellis Johnson, South Carolina's assistant head coach for the defense, has been hired as the next head coach at Southern Miss.The 59-year-old Johnson was introduced during a Tuesday press conference on campus. He has overseen the Gamecocks' defense for the past four seasons. South Carolina is ranked fourth nationally in total defense heading into the Capital One Bowl.It was not known if Johnson... [Read More]
A foundation that endows athletic scholarships at the University of Houston may have lost more than 40 percent of its listed assets because of investments in an alleged Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a financial adviser for college basketball coaches who committed suicide last summer.The losses incurred by the Houston Athletics Foundation could have financial implications for the university, which... [Read More]
Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof was named UCF's defensive coordinator on Thursday, reuniting with Knights coach George O'Leary. The announcement came a day after UCF officially accepted an invitation to join the Big East Conference. Roof was a member of O'Leary's staff at Georgia Tech from 1995 to 2001, spending his final three years there as defensive coordinator. O'Leary fired former... [Read More]
TCU co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente, whose name hadn't surfaced from the time the University of Memphis began its search for a new football coach more than a week ago, will be introduced as the program's 23rd football coach Thursday at a noon press conference at the U of M, according to sources familiar with the process. Fuente, 35, a 1999 Murray State graduate, will replace Larry Porter,... [Read More]
Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee has verbally accepted an offer to become UAB's coach, a source told ESPN Saturday. McGee is a former Oklahoma quarterback and Jacksonville Jaguars assistant. Arkansas' offense has blossomed the past two seasons under the guidance of McGee, and the Razorbacks made their first BCS bowl appearance last season. McGee has tutored players such as Ryan... [Read More]
Memphis has fired head coach Larry Porter after going 3-21 in two seasons leading his alma mater.The university announced Porter's dismissal Sunday morning in a release. Porter's firing came after Saturday's 44-7 loss at Southern Mississippi, leaving the Tigers 2-10 this season. Fan interest in the program has been diminishing, including an estimated 2,500 for the Tigers' home finale against... [Read More]
For 31 years, Tulane University has been without a football stadium. Home games are played in the Superdome, but that may soon be changing. FOX 8 has learned that a deal for a new on-campus stadium is much closer to becoming a reality.Students say it wouldn’t only be easier to attend games, it would also boost their school spirit giving the football team much needed support. FOX 8 has also... [Read More]
UCF President John Hitt announced the university's Athletic Keith Tribble and wide receivers coach David Kelly resigned following an investigation into the school's football and men's basketball recruiting practices. Hitt also announced men's basketball coach Donnie Jones will be suspended for the first three Conference USA games of the season. Hitt said the NCAA's review found Tribble and Kelly... [Read More]
Houston's Case Keenum had just thrown his fifth touchdown pass against Rice to set the Football Bowl Subdivision record for career TD tosses and coach Kevin Sumlin was screaming at the officials to give him the ball. They didn't hear him and the record-setting ball sailed into the stands as Houston kicked the extra point. Sumlin was relieved as he watched the fan who caught it throw it back onto... [Read More]
Jayson Carter joined the Rice football team as a walk-on last week, and already he's the biggest thing on the field — mostly because he's the smallest thing.... [Read More]
East Carolina quarterback Dominique Davis has set two NCAA records for successive pass completions. Davis completed his first 26 passes against Navy on Saturday, breaking the single-game record of 23 set by Tee Martin of Tennessee in 1998 and tied by Aaron Rodgers of California in 2004. East Carolina squeezed past Navy 38-35. After going 26 for 26 for 251 yards before halftime, Davis' streak... [Read More]
In an effort to improve the play of the Tiger defensive unit, University of Memphis head football coach Larry Porter has made the decision to remove defensive coordinator Jay Hopson from his current duties and has named Mike DuBose and Galen Scott as co-coordinators, effective immediately. Hopson was offered a change in responsibility but chose not to remain on staff. According to Porter, DuBose... [Read More]
A member of Marshall's football team was arrested Tuesday in connection with a string of armed robberies that took place over the weekend. Troy Evans, 21, was arrested on Marshall University's campus without incident, according to a release from Huntington Police Department. He is charged with four counts of armed robbery, and one count of wanton endangerment. Evans was booked in the Western... [Read More]
