TAMPA - Five games against teams that participated in the 2003 postseason highlight South Florida's men's basketball non-conference schedule, announced Tuesday.
Michigan State and Colorado State played in the NCAA Tournament and Providence, Richmond and Valparaiso were in the NIT. Two of the five games - against Richmond Dec.13 and Colorado State Dec.22 - are at the USF Sun Dome.
"I think it is a very challenging schedule and we intend to play a challenging schedule each year," new Bulls coach Robert McCullum said. (Full non-Conference USA schedule, 7C)
MORE BASKETBALL: Florida State extended the contract of women's coach Sue Semrau by two years. The new deal runs through 2005-06. Semrau is 77-95 through six seasons. ... Former Cincinnati player Donald Little was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation for punching his roommate last year.
BASEBALL: Florida assistant John Cohen was named coach at Kentucky after two seasons under UF coach Pat McMahon.
NFL: Cardinal FB arrested
Arizona fullback Dennis McKinley and three other men were arrested as suspects in an investigation into an international drug ring. Police say McKinley, whose contract was terminated hours after his arrest, rented a warehouse where marijuana shipments from Mexico were stored. The men were accused of buying marijuana that had been smuggled in from Mexico. ... Linebacker Gerald Hayes, the team's third-round pick, signed a three-year deal.
GOLF: Maddox top amateur
Richard Maddox of Panama City two-putted for par on the 18th hole at the State Amateur Championship to finish at par 72, 286 total, and defeat Andy Purnell by a stroke at The Bay Hill Club in Orlando.
CANADIAN SKINS GAME: Vijay Singh made a 3-foot birdie worth $50,000 on the fourth playoff hole to win the event in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario. He won six skins for $140,000. Ian Leggatt earned $95,000, Sergio Garcia $85,000 and John Daly $40,000.
CVS CHARITY CLASSIC: Rocco Mediate and Jeff Sluman combined for 14-under 57 in Barrington, R.I., to beat Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon by a shot.
IRWIN WITHDRAWS: Two-time champion Hale Irwin pulled out of this week's U.S. Senior Open with a back injury.
AUTOS: Sapp, Everhart marshals
Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp and model/actor Angie Everhart will be the grand marshals for the July 5 Pepsi 400 Winston Cup race at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR RATINGS: The average rating on Fox remained the same as the past two years, despite the impact that the war with Iraq had on three races. The network's 13 regular-season races drew an average national rating of 5.8 with a 14 share. The rating is the percentage of homes with TVs; share is the percentage of TVs tuned to a program. NASCAR was the only major North American sport whose viewership hasn't declined this year.
ET CETERA
CYCLING: Alexander Vinokourov took the lead in the Tour de Suisse by 15 seconds heading into today's final stage.
OLYMPICS: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is pushing to have legislation reforming the U.S. Olympic Committee signed into law by Congress' August recess. ... Swimmer Kicker Vencill was suspended for four years for testing positive for an anabolic steroid.
HORSE RACING: An attorney for the New York Racing Association, the nonprofit company that operates three tracks, issued a blistering response to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's claims that "crime was part of the culture at NYRA." Denis McInerney called Spitzer's report "inaccurate, misleading, out-of-date, or the product of a fundamental misunderstanding about NYRA's operations."
