News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

11.26.06: Pirates add Lugo to 2008 baseball class ... VCU prevails over ECU in women's hoops ... Tulsa gains momentum for postseason trip

11.25.06: ECU-bound Herlocker paces Charlotte Catholic ... Miami enters search mode for football coach ... BC out of ACC title contention

11.24.06: Herd takes ECU hopes to Hattiesburg ... Gonzaga has a Garden party in NIT semis ... Iowa State search eliminates two candidates

11.23.06: Yow taking leave of absence for treatment ... Marshall's Bradshaw nabs
C-USA weekly honor

11.22.06: Pirates face Houston if Marshall wins ... Former teammates push Raye for MSU coach ... SMU's Wideman named academic player of year

11.21.06: Duke, Wake athletes named Rhodes scholars ... UAB captures Conference USA volleyball ... Old Dominion stuns Georgetown on the road

11.20.06: Ohio State-Michigan rematch possible ... Video helps inspire Tar Heels to beat State ... Cords stepping down as AD at Marquette

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

With Southern Miss defeating Marshall on Saturday night, 42-7, the matchup for the second annual Conference USA Football championship game is set.

The East Division champion Golden Eagles will meet West Division champion Houston on Friday at Robertson Stadium in Houston (8 p.m., ESPN2).

The game represents a pairing of two of the six schools that comprised C-USA's football lineup in 1996, the first year the league had football. The Cougars won the league's inaugural championship that season with a November regular season victory over Southern Miss in Robertson Stadium. In that game, future NFL Pro Bowl running back Antowain Smith scored a still-league record six touchdowns to lead Houston to the 56-49 overtime win over USM.

Houston will be aiming for its first conference championship since capturing that 1996 title, while Southern Miss will be seeking its fifth C-USA championship.

"This should be an outstanding matchup," said C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky. "Both teams are playing at a high level and if the game is anything like our regular season has been, it should be exciting and competitive to the very end."

Houston's high-powered offense is led by record-setting senior quarterback Kevin Kolb and lightning-fast junior running back Anthony Alridge.

Kolb owns nearly every Cougar passing mark, breaking those held by 1989 Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware and former NFL first round draft pick David Klingler.

Alridge is one of the fastest players in Conference USA and the converted wide receiver has rushed for more than 100 yards four times in the last five outings.

Southern Miss counters with one of the top freshmen running backs in the nation. True freshman Damion Fletcher has rushed for more yards than any freshman in school history and ranks second among all freshman running backs in Division I-A this season. With Fletcher leading the way, the Golden Eagles have posted their 13th consecutive winning season, a feat that only four I-A schools can claim.

The two teams met last month in Hattiesburg with Southern Miss prevailing, 31-27. USM quarterback Jeremy Young threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, while Kolb passed for 338 yards and two scores for Houston.

Departing North Carolina coach John Bunting was brief in his postgame remarks following a 45-44 win at Duke on Saturday. After speaking with Woody Durham of the Tar Heels' radio network, he made a short statement to other media and left without answering questions.

"I'd like to thank everyone for the opportunity that was given myself and Dawn to be part of this football program over the last six years. I wouldn't trade it for anything. There's been some great wins — Florida State, Miami, BC, Virginia, big wins over our archrivals. It's been a hoot; it really has. I feel bad about the way things ended.

"I'm really, really proud of the way our players and our staff continued to grind and play the game, prepare for the game. I can't thank them enough for everything that they've done. It's really been trying over these last five weeks, and nobody's ever done that before, so my hat is off to all of them and I will do whatever I can to help them in the future.

"As for you folks (media), I've always treated you with the greatest respect. I know that sometimes you can't reciprocate, and I acknowledge that. Goodbye. It's been swell. I'm gone — unless anybody has a big, big money deal for a book."

The East Carolina men and women's swimming and diving teams signed five high school swimmers during the early signing period announced head coach Rick Kobe, who is in his 25th year as head coach.

Lauren DuFault (Fairport, NY), Stephanie Harper (Newark, DE), Mercedes Minney (Lancaster, PA) and Jenna Stewart (Winter Park, FL) signed to swim for the Lady Pirates, while Scott English (Severna Park, MD) will swim with the men's team in 2007-08.

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.