Congress will take another look at the Bowl Championship Series today, a few days after the lastest BCS poll has undefeated TCU out of the top 10.
Eight weeks after the House Judiciary Committee asked BCS leaders and non-BCS leaders about the equity of college football's de facto national championship system, the Senate Judiciary Committee will ask questions.
"BCS or Bust: Competitive and Economic Effects of the Bowl Championship Series On and Off the Field" is the working title of the hearing.
NCAA president Myles Brand, Orange Bowl executive director Keith Tribble, Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman, Tulane president Scott Cowen and former BYU coach LaVell Edwards are scheduled to testify before the committee, chaired by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
Tribble, whose game is part of the six-conference, four-bowl alliance that forms the BCS, is president of the Football Bowl Association. Perlman, Brand and Cowen appeared before the House committee in September, but that committee decided its intervention was not needed.
The BCS consists of four bowls, the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose, and six conferences, the ACC, Big East, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-10.
Today's hearing comes two weeks before BCS and non-BCS officials are scheduled to meet in New Orleans about how to make more conferences happy with the current arrangement that excludes five of the 11 Division I-A conferences.
Cowen has been at the front of a charge to eliminate the BCS in its current format.
The BCS contract ends after the 2005 season, and bowl and conference leaders expect to begin work on the next contract and postseason set-up in January.
West Virginia students to be punished for riot
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia will discipline at least 40 students who took part in the mayhem after the upset of Virginia Tech, school officials said.
After the victory Oct. 22, students poured onto Mountaineer Field and tried to tear down the goal posts but were turned back by police who used pepper spray.
Within minutes, fires were set in the streets. More than 100 were reported, but authorities said most were quickly doused. No major injuries or property destruction occurred.
School officials said the 40 were identified with the help of city, state and university police as well as firefighters and other sources.
Some also face charges filed by the city's police and fire departments. The offenses include disorderly conduct, public intoxication and illegal burning.
ARKANSAS: Linebacker Brandon Holmes is out for the season with a torn ligament in his right knee. Holmes, who also had been working at tailback because of injuries, was hurt while covering a kickoff Saturday.
Also, tailback De'Arrius Howard returned to practice. He missed Saturday's game because of a sore ankle. Coach Houston Nutt said he expects him to play Saturday. But running back Cedric Cobbs is still hampered by a pulled hamstring and missed practice. His status will be determined later this week.
KENTUCKY: Backup strong safety Randy Driver, a redshirt freshman, left the team for personal reasons, coach Rich Brooks said. In seven games, he had four tackles. Also, Brooks suspended backup linebacker Brad Booker for an unspecified violation of team rules. Booker, a freshman, has five tackles in seven games.
LSU: Running back Shyrone Carey, who has missed the past three games with a sprained knee, is expected to play against Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
MISSISSIPPI: Chancellor Robert Khayat said the issue of eliminating its mascot, Colonel Rebel, is closed. The school held a contest recently to name a successor to Colonel Rebel, a plantation-era figure who wears an oversized hat and carries a cane on the sideline. But it was called off, in large part, because fans favored neither of the two proposed mascots in Internet voting.
MISS. ST.: President Charles Lee said he is focused on hiring a coach to replace the retiring Jackie Sherrill, not on the status on athletic director Larry Templeton. Lee said Templeton has done well in the difficult position but would not speak definitively of his future. Templeton, who has been athletic director since 1987, is under contract until 2004.
TENNESSEE: Reserve center Chuck Prugh was released from a rehabilitation center and returned home to continue his recovery from a serious illness. Prugh was hospitalized Sept. 27 and listed in critical condition in intensive care. The school did not disclose the illness. He will continue physical therapy from his home.
TEXAS: University police charged backup quarterback Matt Nordgren with criminal mischief and starting cornerback Cedric Griffin with interference with an emergency call after a student accused them of confronting him outside a dorm last month.
Both offenses are Class A misdemeanors punishable by up to a $4,000 fine and one year in jail. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the alleged victim said he did not know what prompted the altercation.
UCF: Middle linebacker Stanford Rhule did not practice because of an ankle injury. His status for Saturday's game against West Virginia is unknown.
