Penn State Offers To Rename Beaver Stadium After Joe Paterno, Family Says No

Beaver Stadium, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ESPN.com News Services

Penn State officials, in an attempt to get the family of Joe Paterno to sign away its right to sue the school, offered to rename Beaver Stadium after the late coach, The Patriot-News has reported, citing a source close to the family.

But the family said no.

Paterno had never been keen on the stadium bearing his name, an idea that "has always been a fan-driven matter. It was never important to Joe," the source told the Harrisburg, Pa., newspaper.

But it would still be "a tremendous and humbling honor," the source said. MORE....

Baylor Completes Historic Title Run

The Baylor Lady Bears are the first team in NCAA history to finish a season 40-0. Led by forward Brittney Griner, the Lady Bears handle Notre Dame in the title game.

Perfect! Baylor Lady Bears Beats Notre Dame 80-61 For Title

DENVER, CO - APRIL 03: (L-R) Brooklyn Pope #32 and Brittney Griner #42 of the Baylor Bears react on court in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the National Final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at Pepsi Center on April 3, 2012 in Denver, Colorado. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer

DENVER (AP) -- Brittney Griner's place in women's basketball history is secure.

Blocking layups, snagging rebounds, hitting shots over two and three helpless defenders, she towered over the competition all season long to earn player of the year and outstanding player of the NCAA tournament honors.

She was simply dominant in adding national champion to her resume on Tuesday night.

Griner had 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to lead Baylor to an 80-61 victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA women's basketball championship, capping an unparalleled 40-0 season for the Lady Bears. STORY....

Kentucky Cruises Early, Holds on to Win Title / Kentucky Fans Celebrate Championship

Kentucky dominated early and held on to beat the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 to the school's eighth NCAA basketball title and the first for coach John Calipari. As AP's Haven Daley reports, the 'Cats are savoring the moment.



Kentucky basketball fans flooded the streets of Lexington following the men's team winning the national championship over Kansas. Dozens were arrested and one person was shot in the celebrations.

Kentucky Beats Kansas For NCAA Title

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Before his confetti-flecked suit gets back from the cleaners, John Calipari will be on the road.

Such is life for a coach who recruits all that NBA-ready talent - especially when those players get in the habit of bringing championships back to their ol' Kentucky home.

Cal's latest group of one-and-doners doesn't have much left to prove at this level. Despite a rough shooting night by the best of Kentucky's talented freshmen, Anthony Davis, the Wildcats defeated Kansas 67-59 on Monday night to win their eighth national title, and first since 1998. CONTINUE....

Basketball Battle In The Bayou: UK-KU Preview

John Calipari and his Kentucky juggernaut will face Kansas for the national championship Monday night. Bill Self's Jayhawks are the same school that beat Memphis in overtime for the 2008 NCAA title, back when Calipari was coaching the Memphis Tigers.

Kentucky Fans Burn Car

Thousands of University of Kentucky fans swarmed the streets of Lexington last night after the men's basketball team beat cross-state rival Louisville. At least one car was set on fire.

Kentucky's Anthony Davis Honored As Top Player

Atlanta Tipoff Club

Throughout its storied history on the hardwood, Kentucky had yet to win the sport’s most prestigious award. That streak ended Sunday when freshman forward/center Anthony Davis was named winner of the 2012 Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T as the Men’s College Player of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced. He joins Texas’ Kevin Durant (2007) as the only freshmen to win the award. Davis was honored at the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Guardians of the Game Awards Program at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La.

Other finalists for the award included Draymond Green (Michigan State), Doug McDermott (Creighton) and Thomas Robinson (Kansas).

Davis, who racked up conference awards for his regular‐season performance, including SEC Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a first‐team All-SEC selection, averaged 14.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this season, leading the Wildcats to an SEC regular-season championship. Entering the 2012 NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, Kentucky has relied on the solid play of Davis, who has averaged 15.2 points and 11.2 rebounds in the tournament, and matched his regular‐season average of 4.6 blocks per game. Kentucky defeated Louisville Saturday 69‐61 to make its first NCAA championship game berth since 1998. MORE....

Kansas' Bill Self Wins Naismith Coach Of The Year

Atlanta Tipoff Club

NEW ORLEANS — Kansas head coach Bill Self was named the 2012 Naismith Men’s College Basketball Coach of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Sunday. This accolade makes Kansas the only university to have three different Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year winners, as Self joins 1988 winner Larry Brown and 1997 winner Roy Williams. Self edged out finalists Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), John Calipari (Kentucky) and Frank Haith (Missouri) to win the most prestigious national award presented annually to the top men’s college basketball coach.

Self was selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s National Voting Academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The academy based its criteria on coaching performances this season. The vote was tabulated and certified by the accounting firm of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP. HA&W is the largest independent accounting firm in Georgia and one of the top 50 firms in the United States.

“Bill has done a remarkable coaching job this season and deserves all the accolades that come his way,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “There’s always something special about adding another chapter of Kansas basketball to the Naismith Awards family.” CONTINUE....

Kentucky Will Face Kansas In The NCAA Title Game

Kansas and Kentucky survived the Final Four semifinals Saturday night to advance to Monday's NCAA championship game. Kansas edged Ohio State, while Kentucky eliminated Louisville.

Final Four Set To Go In New Orleans

The national semifinal games in the men's NCAA basketball tournament take place Saturday in New Orleans. The first of the Final Four games has Kentucky playing Louisville with Ohio State facing Kansas in the second contest.

Kentucky's Anthony Davis Is Associated Press' Player Of The Year

Anthony Davis is The Associated Press' college basketball Player of the Year, the first Kentucky player and second freshman to win the award. Frank Haith capped his first season at Missouri by being selected AP's Coach of the Year.

Kentucky, Kansas Head To Final Four

Kentucky and Kansas round out the Final Four field in New Orleans. Kentucky won the South Regional 82-70 over Baylor and Kansas pulled away from North Carolina 80-67.

Unbeaten Baylor Gets Top Seed

The Associated Press

Brittney Griner and the Baylor Bears have one goal this season — a national championship.

Anything less would be a disappointment for the undefeated top-seeded Lady Bears, who are looking to become the seventh school to run through a season unbeaten.

Standing in the way could be the other No. 1 seeds — Stanford, Connecticut and Notre Dame, dominant all season long. The Huskies and Irish both lost competitive games at Baylor this season.

Griner and Baylor, who lost in the regional final last season, could be the first team to win 40 games in a year, but coach Kim Mulkey only cares about one thing — a second national title for the school. MORE....

NCAA Men's Basketball Field Is Set

Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina and Michigan State lead the way as the top seeds in the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.

Related articles

• NCAA Bracket 2012: No. 1 Seeds Are Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina, Michigan State (sbnation.com)
• Selection Sunday: Let the Madness Begin (blogher.com)

Kentucky Snares No. 1 Overall Seed

The Associated Press

This time around, the madness began before the brackets even came out.

Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina all earned top seeding for the NCAA tournament Sunday despite weekend losses that brought even more intrigue to the three-week, 67-game tournament better known as March Madness.

Michigan State earned the other No. 1 seed and was the only one of the four top-billed teams to win its conference tournament. The Spartans defeated Ohio State 68-64 in the Big Ten title game — a contest widely viewed as the game for the last No. 1 seed, even if selection committee chairman Jeff Hathaway wouldn’t quite go there.

“As it turned out, this game put the No. 1 seed into the field,” he said.

While No. 2 seeds Kansas, Duke, Missouri and Ohio State wonder whether they could’ve been rated higher, teams such as Drexel, Seton Hall, Mississippi State and Pac-12 regular-season champion Washington think about what might have been. Those bubble teams were left out, and all will be wondering how Iona, California and South Florida made it.

In the moments immediately after the brackets came out, the Iona-Drexel debate was getting the most traction. MORE....

Sources: Auburn’s Varez Ward At Center Of Federal Point-Shaving Probe

By Charles Robinson - Yahoo! Sports

Suspended Auburn University point guard Varez Ward is under investigation by federal authorities in an ongoing point-shaving probe, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

Three sources with knowledge of the case said the FBI has been investigating Ward since late February after he and guard Chris Denson were suspended by the Tigers prior to a Feb. 25 home game against Arkansas. Two sources said Denson was also questioned as part of the point-shaving investigation, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing and returned to the team after sitting out the loss to the Razorbacks. The sources said additional players have been questioned in the case about whether Ward – who has not been with the team since being suspended – attempted to enlist them in a possible scheme. The sources said at least two games are under scrutiny: a 68-50 loss to Alabama on Feb. 7 and a 56-53 loss to Arkansas on Jan. 25. CONTINUE....

Related articles

• Report: Auburn Guard Varez Ward Investigated By FBI For Point-Shaving (tracking.si.com)
• Report: FBI probing AU's Varez Ward for point shaving (thegrio.com)
• Report: FBI Investigating Auburn Point Guard For Alleged Point-Shaving [College Basketball] (deadspin.com)

Source: Temple To Play Football In The Big East

Image via Wikipedia

ESPN.com news services

Temple football will begin play in the Big East this upcoming season, a source confirmed Wednesday to ESPN's Joe Schad.

The Owls will join the conference in all other sports in 2013, another source said.

The Big East will hold a 5:30 p.m. ET news conference at the men's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden, but did not specify what the topic would be.

The football program played in the Mid-American Conference from 2007 through last season, while all other Temple programs, including men's basketball, are in the Atlantic 10.

The MAC announced Wednesday afternoon its divorce with Temple. STORY....

NCAA Tournament Selection Chairman: Kentucky, Syracuse Have NCAA Edge

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

CBSSports.com wire reports

Even the chairman of the tight-lipped NCAA selection committee can't deny this simple fact: Heading into this week's conference tournaments, there's Kentucky and Syracuse, and then everybody else.

In a teleconference to preview Sunday's release of the NCAA tournament pairings, committee chairman Jeff Hathaway all but handed two of the four top seeds to the Wildcats and Orange, each of whom entered their conference tournaments with a record of 30-1.

"I think we all agree that if the season ended today, we know who the two best teams are," he said Wednesday. "If you're looking at 3 and 4 on the first line and the entire second line, we have the same handful of teams in mind but where they would be laced will be a tremendous debate."

Though Hathaway, the former athletic director at defending national champion Connecticut, did not get specific, among those lumped into consideration for the other top seeds are Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio State and Michigan State.

The brackets come out Sunday evening, with the tournament starting Tuesday. MORE....

Patrick Ewing Among 10 Chosen For College Basketball Hall Of Fame

Image via Wikipedia

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Joe B. Hall played under Adolph Rupp at Kentucky in the late-1940s. He spent seven years as an assistant to the Baron of the Bluegrass, too.

So when Rupp stepped down after winning nearly 900 games and four national championships, and Hall was appointed his successor, the size of the challenge never really occurred to him. FULL STORY....

Related articles

• Ewing, Reed, Monroe named to College Hall of Fame (nypost.com)
• Ewing leads class of 10 into college Hall of Fame (usnews.com)
• Ewing, Lovellette, Ford, Reed will enter Hall of Fame (aol.sportingnews.com)