News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

11.19.06: Cougars to host USM or ECU in C-USA title game ... ECU falls in women's hoops to Vermont ... Pirate swimming teams in seventh place

11.18.06: ECU baseball bringing in 10-man class ... UTEP edges Pirates in C-USA volleyball ... West Virginia steamrolls Pitt

11.17.06: Pirates reschedule hoops contest with NCCU ... ECU volleyball places 3 on all- league team ... Top-ranked SMU goes down in NCAA soccer

11.16.06: Paterno's hall of fame induction postponed ... Tressel downplays his dominance vs. Michigan ... ECU softball announces pair of signees

11.15.06: Pirates control their fate in East Division ... Pinkney in star game, playing for Buddy Ryan ... ECU's Lee named special teams player of week

11.14.06: ECU-NCSU kickoff moved to 7 p.m. for TV ... Butch will succeed Bunting at UNC- Chapel Hill ... Conference USA coaches make debuts ... Pirates seeded sixth in C-USA volleyball ... Lady Pirates drop hoops opener to JMU

11.13.06: Houston clinches
C-USA championship berth ... ECU volleyball slips in regular season finale ... Grad rates: Athletes outperform student body

11.12.06: ECU announces women's hoops signees ... Miners extinguish Blazers' bowl hopes ... Mustang duo in contention for Hermann Trophy

11.11.06: Rutgers kicks Cards out of title picture ... Roach selected for district academic honor ... Krug getting it done on court, in classroom

11.10.06: Pirates prepare for Saturday hoops opener ... Houston's Kolb makes cut on O'Brien award list ... UNC-CH officials mum on Davis' status

11.09.06: Former star QB to represent N.C. in Congress ... Homicide unit probing death of Miami player ... Krog's 73 puts her in top five at Augusta

11.08.06: UK's win over Payne's charges not flawless ... SMU, UAB gain NCAA men's soccer berths ... Three C-USA women's teams get NCAA slots

11.07.06: Two Marshall players get C-USA honors ... UAB women capture C-USA soccer title ... Punter faces attempted murder charge

11.06.06: Pirate volleyball takes down Memphis ... Denny O'Brien's Harris Poll ballot ... ECU swimmers, divers perform well ... Paterno recovering from fractured leg

11.05.06: Promotions aplenty for ECU-Marshall game ...
Ex-Tulsa great Largent gets humanitarian honor

11.04.06: Dougherty a semifinalist for Ray Guy Award ... Butch Davis deal with Tar Heels imminent? ... Cardinals talking national title, again ... Honors abound for ECU women's soccer team

11.03.06: Boise State rolls past Bulldogs ... Reale, Pirates earn seconds at Kitty Hawk ... ECU softball's Kozlowski promoted

11.02.06: Mustangs a win away from bowl eligibility ... Hunt, Icenhower lead East Carolina divers ... ECU's Moore earns academic honor with 4.0

11.01.06: Kragthorpe curtails Tar Heel speculation ... Pirates in C-USA women's soccer tourney ... Backup QB Lee to start for FSU against Cavs

10.31.06: Kickoff return nets
C-USA honor for Johnson ... Pirate volleyball streaks to school record ... Mountaineers on fringe of national title picture

10.30.06: ECU's Williams: 'I just wanted it more' ... Stokes plans to give Wynn time to develop ... Central Florida's 530 yards of offense not enough

10.29.06: ECU women's volleyball extends streak ... Pirate swimmers leave Towson behind ... UTEP takes muddy victory in Grimesland

10.28.06: Cougars quarterback piling up the numbers ... ECU vs. USM part of pay-per-view twinbill ... Hokies tame Tigers in key ACC battle

10.27.06: Rice's Almond named Wooden candidate ... Pirates hosting C-USA cross country ... ECU freshman Bools shares C-USA honor

10.26.06: Tickets for Troops promotion expands ... Another C-USA honor for ECU's Icenhower ... Report: Davis would have interest in Heels

10.25.06: Ex-Pirate Adams attempts PGA qualifying ...
C-USA names football players of week ... Tar Heels will retain many football recruits

10.24.06: New thumbnails: Baker, Byrd and Thompson ... Ore golden in Hokies' win over Southern Miss ... Unbeaten start for ECU swim teams ... Tar Heels picked first in ACC hoops

10.23.06: Jenkins' three lifts Gold in scrimmage ... ECU volleyball takes sixth straight C-USA win ... Bools finishes sixth in Lady Pirate golf

10.22.06: Pirates volleyball on record streak ... Mountaineers handle Huskies, stay unbeaten ... Georgia golfer gets call to play in South Africa

10.21.06: Report: UNC-Chapel Hill's Bunting to resign ... Coaches' challenges yield few reversals ... Southern Miss prepared for Hokies

10.20.06: ECU's Roach nominated for Draddy Award ... Memphis picked first in C-USA basketball ... 4th-ranked UTEP runners coming to Greenville

10.19.06: Koren Robinson suspended by NFL ... Miami broadcaster axed over brawl comments ... Dartmouth, Holy Cross row gets investigation

10.18.06: League teams busy; ECU ends homestand ... C-USA names football players of week ... ECU's Krug captures C-USA weekly honor

10.17.06: ACC, Miami announce additional suspensions ... More suspensions also on Sun Belt's agenda ... Duke lacrosse under "60 Minutes" scrutiny

10.16.06: Coker suspends eight Miami players after brawl ... Pirate volleyball continues roll at UCF ... Szilard leads ECU women's soccer win ... Harris Poll's top 5 varies from BCS Standings

For weeks, many have debated whether or not there could be a rematch of the biggest Big Ten rivalry in the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 8, 2007.

Ohio State guaranteed itself a spot in the national championship game by defeating Michigan 42-39 in Columbus on Saturday in the biggest game of the regular season, but the one-loss Wolverines remain just a step behind the No. 1 Buckeyes in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

The top five in this week's BCS standings remain unchanged from last week's. Ohio State leads the field and Michigan is No. 2. Southern Cal, Florida and Notre Dame round out the top five, with Arkansas jumping a spot to No. 6 after Rutgers' stunning loss in Cincinnati. West Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisville and Louisiana State round out the top 10.

Michigan's regular season came to an end with the loss in Columbus, while Southern Cal still has two more games remaining. The suspense about which team will face the Buckeyes for the national title may continue until the Trojans finish their regular season.

A lot will be riding on Saturday's showdown at the L.A. Coliseum, where USC will host Notre Dame. The Trojans can improve their computer ranking and make an impression on the human polls with a big win over the Fighting Irish, according to a FoxSports.com report, which notes that a Notre Dame win only makes an Ohio State-Michigan rematch more likely.

USC's season ends with a game against in-city rival UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Dec. 2.

In the midst of a dismal 1-9 season that will ultimately cost him his job, John Bunting wanted his North Carolina Tar Heels to remember how good victory felt Saturday, according to a Fayetteville Observer report by Sammy Batten.

Specifically, he wanted the Tar Heels to remember how good beating archrival N.C. State felt. So, Bunting showed them, wrote Batten, who also authors a football recruiting column for Bonesville.net.

A video of North Carolina's celebrations the previous two years against N.C. State put together by the school’s director of video services Chris Allen helped inspire the Tar Heels to a 23-9 triumph over the Wolfpack at Kenan Stadium.

“I showed them (Saturday morning), before we came over (to Kenan Stadium) on the buses, how it’s been the last couple of years,’’ Bunting said. “I wanted our kids to have that taste of success again. They earned it.’’

The victory was the first for UNC against an NCAA Division I-A opponent this season and the fourth in six tries for Bunting over the Wolfpack. Bunting, a former Tar Heel linebacker, won’t be retained by the school after the 2006 season.

Still, Bunting said beating N.C. State for a final time was a thrill he won’t soon forget.

“It means a lot to beat State, to win the last home game, to beat State three years in a row,’’ he said. “Despite the fact the season may be going bad, it’s great to beat our big rival.’’

To keep the focus off himself and keep it on the Tar Heels, Bunting chose not to participate in the “Old Well Walk’’ before the game. In a pre-game ritual Bunting began, the UNC players walk through campus to the stadium through a throng of fans.

During that walk before the Wake Forest game, fans had cheered loudly for Bunting.

“I wanted the focus to be on the players today and the seniors in particular,’’ Bunting said.

Bunting also received a good-luck handshake at game’s end from N.C. State coach Chuck Amato.

The relationship between the coaches hasn’t always been friendly during Bunting’s six seasons on the job. But the two met at midfield Saturday and had a cordial exchange.

“I wished him luck and he wished me luck,’’ Bunting said. “And he said he really meant it. I said that I appreciated that.

“Chuck was one of the guys who gave me a call after the announcement (of Bunting’s dismissal). Of course, I wrote him back a note thanking him for that.’’

Marquette athletics director Bill Cords will retire December 31, according to an announcement at ncaa.org.

He has run the athletics department since July 1987. Cords oversaw vast expansion of the Marquette athletics program during his nearly 20-year tenure with the school and in 1999 was honored with the central region I-AA/I-AAA athletics director of the year award from NACDA.

Prior to his time at Marquette, Cords was athletics director at Texas-El Paso. He also spent time in the football program and with the administration at Washington State.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from electronic services and other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.