NEWS AND NOTES FROM AROUND COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR MAY 1, 2006
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.
MONDAY’S CHALKTALK
www.footballfoundation.com
2006 BCS Teams, NFF and Play It Smart Scholar-Athletes Predominate NFL Draft
14 players on the rosters of 2006 BCS bowl game participants were selected in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, breaking the BCS-team/first-round pick mark of 13 set in 2004. Ohio State and Florida State led the way with five and four each, respectively. Reggie Bush of USC became the highest BCS title game participant selected in the NFL Draft the same year as he went #2 overall to the Houston Texans. Texas (6) and USC
(11) also combined for 17 draft choices this year, the highest total of any BCS Title Game opponents drafted in the same calendar year.
Also among the 255 players taken this year were five finalists for the NFF’s
2005 Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth. Alabama’s DeMeco Ryans was the first player chosen in the second round, Brad Smith (Missouri) and Garrett Mills (Tulsa) both received the call in round four, while Reed Doughty (Northern Colorado) and Greg Eslinger (Minnesota) were selected in the sixth round. Two former graduates of the NFF’s Play It Smart program also were drafted. Donte Whitner, a 2003 graduate of Glenville High School in Cleveland and Ohio State standout strong safety, went eighth overall to the Buffalo Bills, while the Cleveland Browns selected former Miami linebacker and Canarsie High School (N.Y.) product Leon Williams in the fourth round.
Changes Made to 2006 Bowl Schedule
Four new bowl games and a modification to BCS qualifications were among the changes made to the 2006 postseason schedule this week. The NCAA renewed 27 bowl games and approved four new ones, including the BCS championship game to be played in Glendale, Ariz., on January 8. The other new games are the International Bowl, which will match Big East and Mid-American Conference teams in Toronto on January 6, 2007, the Birmingham Bowl on December 23 for Big East and Conference USA teams, and the New Mexico Bowl pitting Mountain West and Western Athletic Conference teams in Albuquerque before Christmas.
Teams can also be eligible for a BCS at-large spot if they finish in the top
14 of the BCS Standings, up from the top 12 last year, while schools that finish 6-6 are now eligible for bowl games if postseason spots remain vacant or if their conference has a contract with a bowl game.
Big 12 Names Walt Anderson New Coordinator of Football Officials
Former Super Bowl official Walt Anderson earned the nod as the new coordinator of football officials for the Big 12 Conference on Wednesday.
Anderson replaces Tim Millis, the recently appointed executive director of the NFL Referee’s Association. Anderson brings with him 32 years of officiating experience, including 11 seasons working games for the Lone Star, Southland and Southwest Conferences and ten seasons in the NFL, where he worked Super Bowl XXXV and three Conference Championship Games. The Sam Houston State graduate currently resides in Sugar Land, Texas.
Keith Jackson Retires from Broadcast Booth
Longtime college football announcer Keith Jackson said goodbye to the broadcast booth this week, stepping down after 39 consecutive years behind the microphone as ABC Sports’ play-by-play college football announcer.
Jackson began his broadcast career in 1952 calling a Stanford-Washington State game on radio and concluded it with the 2006 Rose Bowl thriller between Texas and USC. He briefly retired in 1998 but returned working a schedule consisting of mostly games out on the West Coast. Jackson received the National Football Foundation’s Gold Medal award, the highest individual award bestowed by the NFF, in 1999.
Two-Minute Drill
The BCS established the Tom Mickle internship program, in honor of the former CEO of Florida Citrus Sports who died last week, which will place an intern in the office of the BCS National Championship Game host... 2005 Draddy Finalist Nick Hartigan (Brown) joined Draddy semifinalist Adam Degraffenreid (Charleston Southern) as recipients of the annual Division I-AA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award...
Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny, who is recovering from a knee injury sustained in last year’s Orange Bowl, was elected as the Nittany Lions’
first two-time captain since 1968-1969, when both Mike Reid and Steve Smear accomplished the feat...
Turner Gill’s Buffalo Bulls concluded spring practice with Chad Upshaw, cousin of NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw, and Brian Kelly, nephew of former Buffalo Bill’s quarterback Jim Kelly, among its rostered players...
More than 250 former players returned to Oklahoma State at the request of coach Mike Gundy for the Cowboys’ annual spring game this year... Purdue is offering a throwback prices promotion for 3,000 seats for their home opener on September 2 against Indiana State. Tickets will go for $5, the same price they sold for during the school’s 1966 Rose Bowl season... Middle Tennessee State is allowing fans to vote online for the designs of the two end zones as the school installs new turf at Floyd Stadium this year...
Kansas State drew a school-record 31,875 fans to its spring game this year, placing it sixth among all schools. Ohio State finished #1 with an official attendance of 63,649... The Fresno State football team will join a school-wide initiative to participate in the university’s ReadFresno program throughout the coming months…
New Mexico’s Athletics Director Rudy Davalos was named the 2006 Dr. Albert Yates Distinguished Service Award recipient for his support and promotion of the Mountain West Conference... Central Florida named Orange Bowl CEO Keith Tribble the school’s new director of athletics... Stanford announced the hiring of Bob Bowlsby, formerly athletics director at Iowa, as its new AD...
Maryland Athletics Director Deborah Yow will be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame next month... Northwestern extended the contract of Head Football Coach Randy Walker through the 2011 season…
The 2006 ACC Football Championship game will kickoff at 1:00 p.m. this year on December 2 rather than at 8:00... The Emerald Bowl, which pits teams from the Pac-10 and the ACC, will be played at night this year... Mike Alstott, Leo Sugar, and Keena Turner lead the list of inductees into the 2006 Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame... Mike Levenseller, the offensive coordinator at Washington State, earned induction into the Pacific Northwest Football Hall of Fame on Friday.
Schedule Spotlight: The ACC
Team – Date – First Opponent (Home/Away)
Boston College – August 31 – Central Michigan (A) Clemson – September 2 – Florida Atlantic (H) Duke – September 2 – Richmond (H) Florida State – September 4 – Miami (Fla.) (A) Georgia Tech – September 2 – Notre Dame (H) Maryland – September 2 – William & Mary (H) Miami (Fla.) – September 4 – Florida State (H) North Carolina – September 2 – Rutgers (H) North Carolina State – September 2 – Appalachian State (H) Virginia – September 2 – Pittsburgh (A) Virginia Tech – September 2 – Northeastern (H) Wake Forest – September 2 – Syracuse (H)
NFF Contacts
Phil Marwill.......Director of Communications Chris Caputo.......Communications Assistant
22 Maple Ave.
Morristown, NJ 07960
973.829.1933
www.footballfoundation.com
MONDAY’S CHALKTALK
www.footballfoundation.com
2006 BCS Teams, NFF and Play It Smart Scholar-Athletes Predominate NFL Draft
14 players on the rosters of 2006 BCS bowl game participants were selected in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft, breaking the BCS-team/first-round pick mark of 13 set in 2004. Ohio State and Florida State led the way with five and four each, respectively. Reggie Bush of USC became the highest BCS title game participant selected in the NFL Draft the same year as he went #2 overall to the Houston Texans. Texas (6) and USC
(11) also combined for 17 draft choices this year, the highest total of any BCS Title Game opponents drafted in the same calendar year.
Also among the 255 players taken this year were five finalists for the NFF’s
2005 Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth. Alabama’s DeMeco Ryans was the first player chosen in the second round, Brad Smith (Missouri) and Garrett Mills (Tulsa) both received the call in round four, while Reed Doughty (Northern Colorado) and Greg Eslinger (Minnesota) were selected in the sixth round. Two former graduates of the NFF’s Play It Smart program also were drafted. Donte Whitner, a 2003 graduate of Glenville High School in Cleveland and Ohio State standout strong safety, went eighth overall to the Buffalo Bills, while the Cleveland Browns selected former Miami linebacker and Canarsie High School (N.Y.) product Leon Williams in the fourth round.
Changes Made to 2006 Bowl Schedule
Four new bowl games and a modification to BCS qualifications were among the changes made to the 2006 postseason schedule this week. The NCAA renewed 27 bowl games and approved four new ones, including the BCS championship game to be played in Glendale, Ariz., on January 8. The other new games are the International Bowl, which will match Big East and Mid-American Conference teams in Toronto on January 6, 2007, the Birmingham Bowl on December 23 for Big East and Conference USA teams, and the New Mexico Bowl pitting Mountain West and Western Athletic Conference teams in Albuquerque before Christmas.
Teams can also be eligible for a BCS at-large spot if they finish in the top
14 of the BCS Standings, up from the top 12 last year, while schools that finish 6-6 are now eligible for bowl games if postseason spots remain vacant or if their conference has a contract with a bowl game.
Big 12 Names Walt Anderson New Coordinator of Football Officials
Former Super Bowl official Walt Anderson earned the nod as the new coordinator of football officials for the Big 12 Conference on Wednesday.
Anderson replaces Tim Millis, the recently appointed executive director of the NFL Referee’s Association. Anderson brings with him 32 years of officiating experience, including 11 seasons working games for the Lone Star, Southland and Southwest Conferences and ten seasons in the NFL, where he worked Super Bowl XXXV and three Conference Championship Games. The Sam Houston State graduate currently resides in Sugar Land, Texas.
Keith Jackson Retires from Broadcast Booth
Longtime college football announcer Keith Jackson said goodbye to the broadcast booth this week, stepping down after 39 consecutive years behind the microphone as ABC Sports’ play-by-play college football announcer.
Jackson began his broadcast career in 1952 calling a Stanford-Washington State game on radio and concluded it with the 2006 Rose Bowl thriller between Texas and USC. He briefly retired in 1998 but returned working a schedule consisting of mostly games out on the West Coast. Jackson received the National Football Foundation’s Gold Medal award, the highest individual award bestowed by the NFF, in 1999.
Two-Minute Drill
The BCS established the Tom Mickle internship program, in honor of the former CEO of Florida Citrus Sports who died last week, which will place an intern in the office of the BCS National Championship Game host... 2005 Draddy Finalist Nick Hartigan (Brown) joined Draddy semifinalist Adam Degraffenreid (Charleston Southern) as recipients of the annual Division I-AA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award...
Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny, who is recovering from a knee injury sustained in last year’s Orange Bowl, was elected as the Nittany Lions’
first two-time captain since 1968-1969, when both Mike Reid and Steve Smear accomplished the feat...
Turner Gill’s Buffalo Bulls concluded spring practice with Chad Upshaw, cousin of NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw, and Brian Kelly, nephew of former Buffalo Bill’s quarterback Jim Kelly, among its rostered players...
More than 250 former players returned to Oklahoma State at the request of coach Mike Gundy for the Cowboys’ annual spring game this year... Purdue is offering a throwback prices promotion for 3,000 seats for their home opener on September 2 against Indiana State. Tickets will go for $5, the same price they sold for during the school’s 1966 Rose Bowl season... Middle Tennessee State is allowing fans to vote online for the designs of the two end zones as the school installs new turf at Floyd Stadium this year...
Kansas State drew a school-record 31,875 fans to its spring game this year, placing it sixth among all schools. Ohio State finished #1 with an official attendance of 63,649... The Fresno State football team will join a school-wide initiative to participate in the university’s ReadFresno program throughout the coming months…
New Mexico’s Athletics Director Rudy Davalos was named the 2006 Dr. Albert Yates Distinguished Service Award recipient for his support and promotion of the Mountain West Conference... Central Florida named Orange Bowl CEO Keith Tribble the school’s new director of athletics... Stanford announced the hiring of Bob Bowlsby, formerly athletics director at Iowa, as its new AD...
Maryland Athletics Director Deborah Yow will be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame next month... Northwestern extended the contract of Head Football Coach Randy Walker through the 2011 season…
The 2006 ACC Football Championship game will kickoff at 1:00 p.m. this year on December 2 rather than at 8:00... The Emerald Bowl, which pits teams from the Pac-10 and the ACC, will be played at night this year... Mike Alstott, Leo Sugar, and Keena Turner lead the list of inductees into the 2006 Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame... Mike Levenseller, the offensive coordinator at Washington State, earned induction into the Pacific Northwest Football Hall of Fame on Friday.
Schedule Spotlight: The ACC
Team – Date – First Opponent (Home/Away)
Boston College – August 31 – Central Michigan (A) Clemson – September 2 – Florida Atlantic (H) Duke – September 2 – Richmond (H) Florida State – September 4 – Miami (Fla.) (A) Georgia Tech – September 2 – Notre Dame (H) Maryland – September 2 – William & Mary (H) Miami (Fla.) – September 4 – Florida State (H) North Carolina – September 2 – Rutgers (H) North Carolina State – September 2 – Appalachian State (H) Virginia – September 2 – Pittsburgh (A) Virginia Tech – September 2 – Northeastern (H) Wake Forest – September 2 – Syracuse (H)
NFF Contacts
Phil Marwill.......Director of Communications Chris Caputo.......Communications Assistant
22 Maple Ave.
Morristown, NJ 07960
973.829.1933
www.footballfoundation.com
posted by Don @ 5/03/2006 02:03:00 PM
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