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Sports Outside the Beltway

Oklahoma State Women’s Basketball Coach Kurt Budke dead at 50

He and an assistant basketball coach died when the plane they were flying on crashed in Arkansas. Very tragic and RIP.

Oklahoma State University women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed when the single-engine plane they were riding in during a recruiting trip crashed near a wildlife management area in central Arkansas.

The university said the pair died in the crash Thursday night near Perryville, about 45 miles west of Little Rock. The Winona Wildlife Management Area is in steep terrain in the eastern Ouachita Mountains. A cause of the crash was not announced.

 

2010 NCAA Women’s Tournament Bracket

Here it is-

2010 Women's bracket

Like with the Men’s tournament, I’ll take a shot at making some guesses predictions in the women’s also.

 

Tennessee to name Derek Dooley its new head football coach

Dooley has been the head coach at Louisiana Tech since 2007, and before that was an Assistant coach under Nick Saban with the Miami Dolphins and LSU Tigers. From ESPN-

Tennessee’s frantic search to find a new coach is over, and the Volunteers are turning to Louisiana Tech’s Derek Dooley.Derek  Dooley

Louisiana Tech spokesman Malcolm Butler says Dooley has resigned from his positions as coach and athletic director to join the Volunteers. A statement by the university was expected later Friday.

Tennessee plans to introduce Dooley at a press conference on campus Friday night.

The son of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, Derek Dooley went 17-20 in three seasons at Louisiana Tech and was the only coach in Division I to also serve as his school’s athletic director.

Derek Dooley is also the nephew of Bill Dooley, who coached for over a quarter of a century at North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.

Tennessee must be banking on the coaching genes of Dooley’s father and uncle finally coming to the surface in him. At this point in his career, this second generation hasn’t been too impressive as a head coach. His record at LA Tech was just 17-20. Tennessee has certainly made an interesting selection here.

 

Nevada coach Chris Ault notches his 200th career win

The Wolfpack defeated Louisiana Tech last night. From AP-

Chris Ault never dreamed when he was Nevada’s quarterback four decades ago that he’d end up coaching the Wolf Pack to 200 victories.

He became only the sixth active coach in the NCAA’s Football Subdivision to accomplish the feat Friday night when Colin Kaepernick passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more to lead Nevada past Louisiana Tech, 37-14.

“The special thing to me is that it was done all at one university and it represents every single player who has put on the silver and blue. That’s pretty special,” said the 62-year-old Ault, Nevada’s quarterback from 1965-67 who has a record of 200-94-1 in 25 seasons as the coach.

Kaepernick finished with 166 yards passing and 89 yards rushing — including a 67-yard TD run — and Vai Taua added 107 yards on the ground for Nevada (2-3, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference) in its fifth straight victory over the Bulldogs (2-3, 1-1).

Ault becomes the 54th NCAA football coach to get to 200 career victories. He ranks 6th among active coaches. Honestly, I never knew of Ault before today. Nevada football rarely gets mentioned here in South Florida.

 

Are you ready for some bowling?

No I’m not talking about some middle aged man propelling a ball at some objects at the end of a lane, but the games that climax every college football season. Bowl season officially starts this Saturday, here are the matchups for all the college football fanatics out there.

Dec 20
Eaglebank Bowl- Wake Forest vs Navy
New Mexico Bowl- Colorado State vs Fresno St
MAGICJACK ST. PETERSBURG BOWL- Memphis vs. South Florida
PIONEER LAS VEGAS BOWL- Brigham Young vs Arizona
Dec 21
R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL- Southern Miss vs. Troy
Dec 23
SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL- Boise St vs TCU
Dec 24
SHERATON HAWAII BOWL- Hawaii vs Notre Dame
Dec 26
MOTOR CITY BOWL- Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan
Saturday, December 27
MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL- West Virginia vs. North Carolina
Champs Sports Bowl- Wisconsin vs. Florida State
Emerald Bowl- Miami (FL) vs. California
December 28
Independence Bowl- Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL- North Carolina State vs. Rutgers
Valero Alamo Bowl- Missouri vs. No. 23 Northwestern
Tuesday, December 30
ROADY’S HUMANITARIAN BOWL- Maryland vs. Nevada
PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY BOWL- Oklahoma State vs. No. 17 Oregon
Texas Bowl- Western Michigan vs. Rice
Wednesday, December 31
BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL- Houston vs. Air Force
Sun Bowl- Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh
GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL- Boston College vs. Vanderbilt
Insight Bowl- Kansas vs. Minnesota
CHICK-FIL-A BOWL- LSU vs. Georgia Tech
Thursday, January 1
OUTBACK BOWL- South Carolina vs. Iowa
CAPITAL ONE BOWL- Georgia vs. Michigan State
Gator Bowl- Nebraska vs. Clemson
Rose Bowl- Penn State vs. USC
Fedex Orange Bowl- Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Friday, January 2
Cotton Bowl- Mississippi vs. Texas Tech
AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL- Kentucky vs. East Carolina
ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL- Utah vs. Alabama
January 3
INTERNATIONAL BOWL- Buffalo vs. Connecticut
January 5
TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL- Ohio State vs. Texas
January 6
GMAC Bowl- Ball State vs. Tulsa*
January 8
FEDEX BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME- Florida vs. Oklahoma

That’s 34 games, 68 schools spread over a period of 20 days for those of you keeping score at home. An ample supply of college football for any fanatics out there.

A few notes

*- There are a few bowl games remaining without corporate names in their title. Gator, Sun, Texas, Independence. Were these games unable to find sponsors?
*- Will Oklahoma St. and Oregon combine for 70 pts or more in the Holiday Bowl? This annually has been of the most high scoring affairs.
*- Oh how has the Orange Bowl dropped. A game that featured early triumphs of Joe Paterno led Penn State, Nebraska and Oklahoma in their glory days, the first major bowl appearance of Florida State, and the all time classic 84 battle between Nebraska and Miami, has Cincinnati and Virginia Tech playing this year. I’m sure they are talented football teams, but how many people are drooling to see them play in a prime-time network slot?
*- Arizona and BYU meet in a bowl 30 years after the former left the WAC conference for the higher profile Pac Eight(Now Ten, Arizona State joined also)
*- Vanderbilt makes a rare bowl appearance. Congratulations to Commodore fans, but this is a sign of how bowls are grown way out of proportion. 6-6 college teams get bids. When I was growing up I could remember Florida State going without a bowl in 1978 even though they finished the season 8-3.

It is my humble opinion that bowl season has gotten out of hand. Someone may say what’s the big deal? If someone wants to start a bowl game and there are two schools willing to play in it, does their records matter. A good football isn’t only a contest between stars at big name schools.

All true, but how much public money is spent on these affairs? Many of the teams are state universities who get funded by taxpayers. Then there is the game itself where police have to be taken from other tasks to work the day or night of the game or paid over-time.

With the economic downturn right now, you have to wonder if there will be less bowls in the near future. That would depend on how long a deal a corporate sponsor signed on for. I wonder how many fans of some schools plan to make a bowl trip. Are there 1,000 or more FAU Owls willing to journey from Florida to Michigan in December to watch the team play? Even if I were a Owl fan and had money, I’d stay home.

Enjoy the games.

 
 


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