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College football

USF may add UCF to swell schedule

TAMPA -- South Florida is in a bind, and Central Florida says it can extricate the Bulls -- and initiate a series between the emerging Division I-A programs separated by a two-hour drive.

USF has nine games scheduled this fall and needs two home games and a road game. UCF has the maximum 12 but wants to rearrange things to play at Raymond James Stadium.

According to UCF assistant athletic director John Marini, UCF would allow USF to replace the Golden Knights in a Sept. 20 game at Syracuse. That would leave UCF one short, allowing the Knights and Bulls to play on a mutual open date, Sept. 6, at USF.

Marini said UCF athletic director Steve Orsini called USF counterpart Lee Roy Selmon last week and made the proposal on Selmon's voice mail. Marini said UCF has not heard from Selmon.

Among the potential roadblocks is Syracuse, which would have to agree to the USF-for-UCF swap.

"I have no knowledge of this," said Syracuse AD Jake Crouthamel, who knew USF was joining Conference USA but little else about the team. "Would I listen (if UCF called with the proposal)? Sure."

UCF and USF would have to negotiate financial terms and future games.

"We're looking for a long-term series with South Florida, and we're willing to go on the road for the first game," Marini said. "Essentially, the ball is in South Florida's court."

The Bulls had 11 games scheduled until recently. Baylor dropped a Sept. 20 game at USF last week, and Eastern Michigan dropped a Sept. 13 home game Wednesday.

"We're comfortable that we'll have several alternatives, and we'll weigh all of them," USF sports information director John Gerdes said. "We'll do what's best for USF, whether that includes a UCF alternative or not."

UCF coach Mike Kruczek, whose team joined the Mid-American Conference last season, has campaigned vociferously for a series against the Bulls. USF has said it will play the Knights eventually.

"I've always thought we're going to play them," USF coach Jim Leavitt said last summer. "It's like anything else. It builds and builds and builds, and at the right time it will happen. Those things just take care of themselves."

TANK BLACK FALLOUT: Two South Carolina men were charged in a multimillion-dollar scheme that swindled athletes out of money intended for investments were sentenced.

Robert C. Ellenburg, 65, a former high school teacher and coach, was sentenced to four years in prison by U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle. Ellenburg's business partner, Jimmy B. Roof, 65, was given four years' probation. Each must pay $5.8-million in restitution.

They were linked in court to former agent William "Tank" Black, who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2002 for bilking athletes, including former Gators Ike Hilliard, Fred Taylor and Jacquez Green. Ellenburg and Roof were accused of investing players' money in a fraudulent investment scheme and offshore accounts.

AUBURN: Coach Tommy Tuberville signed a five-year contract worth $1.5-million annually, with a hefty buyout clause and incentives that could push it to more than $2-million. The contract ties him with Alabama's Mike Price as the SEC's third-highest-paid coach, behind LSU's Nick Saban and Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer.

WISCONSIN: Coach Barry Alvarez also will be athletic director starting April 2004. Pat Richter, AD since 1989, will retire. He is the Big Ten's longest-tenured athletic director. The 56-year-old Alvarez has led the Badgers to eight bowl games and an overall record of 92-61-4.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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