TAMPA - The Outback Bowl is in the mix, it just can't be sure for what. If anything.
The Bowl Championship Series is looking to add a fifth bowl to its lineup of the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose beginning in the 2006 season. The Outback, Gator and Capital One are among the candidates, according to letters those games received this week from BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg.
"It's flattering," Outback president and CEO Jim McVay said. "We're staying in play on this."
But in play on what?
The BCS hasn't determined how it would enact expansion, which would be a means to improve access for middle-tier leagues such as Conference USA, the Mid-America and the Mountain West to the most lucrative, prestigious bowls.
One model calls for adding a fifth bowl, but the current BCS games might dislike that arrangement; each would host the national championship game once every five years instead of once every four. Another idea is for the fifth game to follow the four as a de facto playoff, a favorite of television officials but not likely to gain the support of school presidents who resist a playoff.
Another possibility is that the current four bowls would host an extra game once in the four-year cycle, eliminating the need for another bowl site to join the exclusive fraternity.
"That would be a format we would have extreme interest in," ABC Sports senior vice president for programing Loren Matthews said recently.
"At some point, the BCS is going to come back to us and say, "This is how it's going to work,' " McVay said, adding that's when his bowl and the others would decide if it makes sense to seek a BCS alliance.
Basketball
ARKANSAS: Nolan Richardson testified in his discrimination lawsuit that he once threatened to sue the university because he thought he was being shortchanged in business dealings conducted by athletic director Frank Broyles.
Taking the stand for the first time in his federal court suit against the university and the Razorback Foundation, the fired coach said he learned in 1997 that Broyles was negotiating a school-wide shoe and apparel contract with Reebok that would supersede Richardson's contract with Converse.
The former agent for Richardson testified the coach felt snubbed when he wasn't invited to parties and wasn't listed as an assistant athletic director on a university financial document.
Kevin Scanlon said the ex-coach perceived a number of slights by school officials.
AUBURN: The school will pay $750,000 to the Birmingham law firm that handled its successful defense in the NCAA's two-year investigation into the program.
OBITUARY: Mack Clayton "Babe" Williams, the father of North Carolina coach Roy Williams, died Sunday at 76.
NCAA championships
UCLA led top-ranked Duke by three strokes midway through the final round of the Division I women's golf tourney in Opelika, Ala., when play was suspended because of darkness. UCLA was 6 over in the final round that was delayed by lightning for 31/2 hours, leaving the Bruins at even overall on Grand National's Lake Course.
California's Sarah Huarte was 4 under through 12 holes to top the individual leaderboard at 11 under. Florida State was tied for 13th. The final round restarts at 8 a.m. today.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE: Theresa Sherry had three goals and two-time defending champion Princeton used a big second half to beat Vanderbilt 11-3 in the semifinals of the women's event in Princeton, N.J. The Tigers face the winner of Virginia-Georgetown semifinal on Sunday for the championship.
Elsewhere
FOOTBALL: A grand jury convened to hear evidence in the Colorado recruiting scandal, hearing closed-door testimony from a former escort service employee who says a Colorado recruiting aide handed over $2,000 to her agency. It is the first indication criminal charges might be filed in a case that has led to sweeping changes in the program.
BASEBALL: Brian Barton and Jim Burt hit back-to-back homers to give host Miami the lead in the fifth in a 4-2 win over Ball State. ... South Florida allowed seven runs in the seventh of a 13-4 loss to visiting Louisville. The Bulls (31-23, 12-16 Conference USA) need to beat the Cardinals (25-28, 12-17) at noon today to qualify for the conference tournament next week in Houston.
