Some of the richest traditions in intercollegiate athletics exist on the campuses of our historically black colleges and universities.

Only five months into his job as athletics director at Delaware State, Rick Costello has quickly developed a keen appreciation for the spirit associated with his program. On today???s edition of Campus Connection, Rick discusses the traditions ingrained on the Dover campus, the historic football season that just finished and the university???s nationally-ranked bowling squad.

UNC Greensboro's Kyle Hines recounts the last week.

Thank you everyone that commented and read my last blog entry.

First, let me take a moment to send my condolences to the family of Washington Redskins cornerback Sean Taylor. This tragic event definitely makes me appreciate life a lot more. When you see someone as young and talented as he was tragically lose their life, it can???t help but make you thankful for everything that you have.

This past week was Thanksgiving. Since I wasn???t able to go home, I spent the holiday with my assistant coach Rod Jensen and his wife, Brenda. Later that evening I went to my former teammate Donald Moore???s house and had dinner with his family. Both dinners were absolutely great. All the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and pumpkin bread had me completely full. I would like to again thank the Moore family and the Jensen family for allowing me to share Thanksgiving with them.

On Saturday, we had our home opener. We beat USC Upstate, 93-76. We played really well, but Kendall Toney played exceptionally well. He almost tied a national record for most consecutive three-pointers made in one game without missing. The record was 9-for-9 and he ended up going 8-for-9. He is shooting 61% from the three-point line, which is amazing. He was also named Southern Conference Player of Week because of his performance.

NCAA Intern Michael Fly sets the record straight about drug testing.

After reading a recent editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune about drug testing and the NCAA, I knew I had to do some research and set the record straight.

The author???s insinuates that not hearing about steroid use in a particular sport has more to do with inadequate testing than the honesty of athletes. That is a flawed argument. By making such a claim, the author was calling into question the drug testing policies of not only the NCAA but the NBA, the NBDL, the NHL, MLS, and countless other sports organizations around the country and internationally. Did the author not stop to think that not hearing about steroid use in a particular sport might mean that athletes in that sport were not using steroids? Never mind that many athletes respect the sanctity of the games but do you think that a point guard would want to gain so much muscle mass by using steroids that he was unable to defend his man full court, beat a press off the dribble, or penetrate into the lane and finish?

The editorial blasted the NCAA for having a ???sporadic, inconsistent, ineffective, and random drug testing program that allowed most steroid users to go undetected and their cheating go unpunished.??? The editorial stated that college testing programs varied from school to school, conference to conference, and sport to sport. What the author conveniently left out for sake of the argument was whether he or she was talking about institutional drug testing programs or that of the NCAA. Institutions have the autonomy to partake in their own drug testing program and if they choose to do so, the NCAA will provide guidance, and schools and conferences can seek consulting services from the National Center for Drug Free Sport, the NCAA third party drug-testing administrator. Therefore, drug testing will vary from school to school, sport to sport, and conference to conference.

Whether an institution chooses to individually test or not, all NCAA member institutions must adhere to the two phases of the NCAA Drug Testing Program. The first phase mandates that all Division I and Division II football and baseball programs be tested on campus because research dictates these sports are the most likely candidates for steroid use. The program also calls for year-round testing for all Division I and Division II sports based on data to determine which sports are at the highest risk for steroid use. The long standing belief has been that Division III athletics have had no incentive to test due to the lack of athletic scholarships and the fact that statically DIII is the least likely to use, however a 2-year pilot drug education and testing program is currently in the works.

In addition, the author claimed that the NCAA Drug Testing Program was random, ineffective, and that only 4 percent of college athletes were tested in their careers. The testing protocol is in fact random, but not in the sense that athletes are able to use steroids without being caught. In contrast, the drug testing program protocol includes little or no notice about testing and the random selection of schools ensures no athlete can assume that there is ever a ???safe??? time to use banned substances.

The only figure that the editorial managed to get right was that the NCAA does in fact spend $4 million a year on its drug testing program. However, due to the lack of information provided by the author, that number does not take into account any of the money spent by individual schools that choose to test.

Full disclosure. Some folks were making a big deal about finding out how much money Joe Paterno is paid by Penn State each year to coach the football team. Previously, the number was kept private, but after a five-year court battle, JoePa???s salary entered the public domain this morning. Ready for the number? The 80-year-old coach was paid $427,220 through the first 10 months of 2007, on track to put his salary around $512K. While Paterno certainly lives comfortably on his salary, it is nowhere close to the dollars earned by many of his peers in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Alabama pays Nick Saban $4 million and Bob Stoops earns more than $3 million annually at Oklahoma. Comparatively speaking, JoePa earns peanuts.

Big weekend. There are a bunch of big football games out there tomorrow. The Football Championship Subdivision, Division II and Division III playoffs are all in full swing, and a number of conference championships will be decided in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Boston College and Virginia Tech play for the ACC title at 1, Tennessee and LSU will fight for the SEC at 4 and Oklahoma and Missouri play for the Big 12 at 8. A win by West Virginia over Pittsburgh at 7:45 will put the Mountaineers in the BCS championship game. In Division II, we have to watch all-time leading rusher Danny Woodhead and Chadron State against Northwest Missouri State ??? Chadron State scored 76 in a classic with Abilene Christian last week. But let???s not forget the rivalry game game of the day ??? the meeting of our academies ??? Army and Navy play at noon on CBS.

Basket o??? errors. Apparently there were 36 scoring errors made in the early-season women???s basketball game between Oklahoma and Mississippi State. While that doesn???t change the outcome, it does impact Courtney Paris, who was credited with two additional rebounds and now has her double-double streak still intact at 66 games. Thirty-six errors is a lot, but as someone who once entered every missed field goal as a missed three-point shot during a conference basketball game, I understand how these things can happen.

Really? I know it???s the NBA, but come on Knicks. 59 points? Really?

Harvard senior Jessica Knox tells us about "Texas Foul Shots."

Let???s talk about Texas Foul Shots, a seemingly harmless practice drill that is fun???until everyone starts missing free throws.

And then you run.

For eternity.

OK, that???s a slight exaggeration, but it makes the story better.

Nice job Huskers. So Texas A&M and Mississippi haven???t done a great job of adhering to diversity standards with regard to hiring head football coaches this off-season. While it???s certainly important to discuss and critique how those programs could have provided more equitable interview opportunities, it???s also necessary to laud those programs that are doing it the right way. For example, Nebraska and interim athletics director Tom Osborne have done an admirable job during their search for a new football coach and have apparently narrowed their candidate pool to two ??? Buffalo head coach Turner Gill and LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini. Gill, a former assistant at Nebraska, was the MAC Coach of the Year this season and happens to be African-American. Osborne and the Huskers aren???t obligated to hire Gill instead of Pelini because he???s black, but they do have the responsibility to interview and consider a diverse slate of candidates. They seem to have done a good job of that.

Check your watches. What a day to be a fan of the Massachusetts Minutemen. Faced with the daunting task of playing top-seeded Boston College in the second round of the Division I Men???s Soccer Championship, UMass rose to the challenge and beat the Eagles in Chestnut Hill, 2-1. Mike DeSantis converted a Douglas Rappaport corner kick in the 85th minute to knock home the game-winner and send the Minutemen into the tournament???s third round. As if that wasn???t enough excitement, just a couple hundred miles away, the university???s basketball team was engaged in a track meet with the Syracuse Orange. Behind 25 points from Ricky Harris and 23 from Gary Forbes, UMass hammered out a 107-100 win. Let the celebrations begin at The Hangar.

Remember. The ACC won eight of 11 games in its showdown with the Big Ten, but the most important news came out of University Park, Pennsylvania. Prior to Penn State???s Blue-White football scrimmage last spring, locally-owned Family Clothesline raised funds for victims of the Virginia Tech massacre. Last night, a special presentation was made to the family of Jeremy Herbstritt before the game between Penn State and Virginia Tech. Herbstritt, a Penn State graduate, was killed in the shootings. A check for $55,000 was presented to the Herbstritt Memorial Fund and another check for $55,000 was presented to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.

Big-time performers. The National Football Foundation announced its 2007 Scholar-Athlete winners and Draddy Trophy finalists: Alex Brink (Washington State), John Carlson (Notre Dame), Nick Clark (Texas State), Brandon Cramer (Dayton), Dennis Dixon (Oregon), Michael Eubanks (Delta State), Dallas Griffin (Texas), Mike Klinkenborg (Iowa), J Leman (Illinois), Brandon Renkart (Rutgers), Eric Safran (Mount Union (Ohio)), Paul Smith (Tulsa), Jacob Tamme (Kentucky), Jake Weller (Illinois College), Danny Woodhead (Chadron State). All 15 are team captains, and the group also boasts two perfect 4.0 grade point averages, eight academic all-Americans, five all-American performers, nine all-conference picks and the NCAA???s all-time career rushing leader. The finalists maintain one of the highest average class GPAs in NFF history, with a 3.74.

Excited for college basketball? Ready for this year???s Final Fours in San Antonio and Tampa? Well get even more fired up. The NCAA unveiled the 2009 Men???s Final Four logo in Detroit this morning.

The logo, which reflects Detroit???s relationship with the automotive industry, will be displayed proudly until the 2009 Final Four commences in the Motor City next April. Detroit will be hosting its first Final Four.

Drexel administrator Sean Joyce shares a special story about Dragons' fans.

Yes, we threw snowballs at Santa Claus.
Yes, we threw batteries at J. D. Drew.
Yes, we have booed Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.

The face of Philadelphia sports fans looked like Rocky Balboa after going 15 rounds with Apollo Creed in Rocky I.

But on one Sunday afternoon in a small cramped gym on the campus of Drexel University, the student section, affectionately known as the DAC Pack, for a moment healed all of those wounds Philadelphia sports fans have received from the national media over the years, from one simple sign.

The Dragons opened up their home slate on November 11 versus the Midshipmen of Navy, a university only a couple of weeks removed from harsh treatment by another school???s fans during a football game only an hour-and-a-half drive from Philly. Due to that very incident (and history of Philly fans), I am sure there were some worries in the minds of Drexel administration. Would the same thing happen at the John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center that happened only a short trip up the Jersey Turnpike?

Game day, the student section has arrived early in anticipation of the first home game of the new season after an off-season of wondering why the NCAA Selection Committee left Coach ???Bruiser??? Flint???s Dragons out of the tournament. The pregame clock is winding down and it???s just moments before Navy introductions. The front row of the DAC Pack, located directly across from the visiting team???s bench, starts reaching for a rollout sign for all to see ??? administration, alumni, and most importantly, Navy. These rollouts have become popular at games between the seven local Division I college teams as students take shots at one another. But we were not playing Penn, St. Joe???s, Temple, LaSalle, Villanova or Temple. We were playing Navy. Oh, did I mention it was also Veterans Day?

The students started to open the sign and roll it out amongst the first two rows of the DAC Pack section. Game management staff ready to retrieve the sign if need be and me, the advisor to this student group, wondering why I did not put a policy in place to have all rollouts approved.

As an alumni of Drexel and advisor to the DAC Pack, I could not have been more proud of the students outfitted in gold t-shirts. For a city that has received such a bad wrap for its fans, some deservedly so, this was a shining moment and it was all sparked from six words.

The Dragons won the game on the court, both teams had fought hard, but on this Veterans Day there were no losers. All because of a rollout from a group of students sitting across from the Navy bench. The sign was like a raw steak to the eye of Philadelphia sport fans. It read ???Navy, 40 Minute Foes, Lifetime Heroes.???

Truly a class act. The 700 Level thanks you.

Huddle up! We have to give credit to the administration at Augusta State for being progressive. Donna Hobbs, associate professor of chemistry and faculty athletic representative (FAR) at the university, recently launched a new program called Faculty Huddle Up. As part of the program, faculty members adopt one of the school???s 10 teams, and the relationship grows from there. Faculty members are encouraged to attend practice, games and even host team dinners. Is there a better idea than getting faculty members actively involved with student-athletes and coaches? It seems to be the perfect way to appropriately mesh the academic and athletic experiences on campus.

Lot of scoring. In case you missed it, a Division II playoff-record 149 points were scored in a game between Chadron State and Abilene Christian this weekend. Despite trailing Abilene Christian 49-20 entering the fourth quarter, undefeated Chadron State outscored its opponent 36-7 in the final frame to force overtime. After trading touchdowns in the first two overtime periods, Chadron State won on a 12-yard run from quarterback Joe McLain in the third extra period. NCAA all-time leading rusher Danny Woodhead gained 192 yards on the ground and scored four touchdowns for Chadron State while Abilene Christian???s Bernard Scott ran for 308 yards and five touchdowns in a losing effort. In Saturday???s quarterfinals, Chadron State will take on Northwest Missouri State, the last team to beat the Eagles.

Sister, sister. Twin sisters Kari Klynstra (Wheaton (Ill.)) and Kacie Klynstra (Messiah) went head-to-head in the Division III Women???s Soccer Championship game on Saturday, with Kari getting the best of her sibling with a 1-0 win. Both sisters earned all-tournament honors. After the game, Kari said: "Once you step on the field it's just like any other game. You're just playing against another opponent, you're with your team, but as soon as the game???s over, she's still my sister first. We knew going into college that when we both picked schools with good soccer traditions that there was a chance we'd play each other and were both prepared for it." Messiah suffered its only loss of 2007 in the championship game, which marked its fourth consecutive trip to the national semifinals. The Falcons won the 2005 national title.

Bowl me over. Interesting note from the HBCU Sports Blog, as a number of historically black colleges and universities find themselves among the top-ranked bowling teams in the country. Delaware State, Jackson State and Alabama A&M are all ranked in the top 10.

Harvard???s Laura Brady talks about being part of a team - and some of the tradition that goes along with it.

I still remember like it was yesterday??? the sound of my alarm clock going off at 8:45 a.m.??? five-mile run at 10 a.m.

We left the athletic area at what seemed to be an unbearable pace with the upperclassman yelling at us to run faster and I thought to myself that there was no way I would be able to keep up for five miles. We crossed the bridge and took a right along the river. Then suddenly, not three minutes into the run, we turned into Leverett House and continued to sprint up the stairs to the senior???s room where food and snacks were waiting for all of us. There was no five-mile run, what a great surprise. I thought to myself, ???This is Harvard hockey.???

North Carolina's Danielle Forword checks in after helping lead the Tar Heels to the NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship. North Carolina finished the season a perfect 24-0 and won its fifth NCAA title. Dani scored a goal in the second half of the title game to ice a 3-0 win over Penn State.

I am writing this first section to help you comprehend the intensity of my, and the Heels???, nerves. I have bitten all my Carolina blue nail polish off, I have taken full advantage of the Starbucks located on the first floor of the Marriott, and I have allowed every possible situation/play to run through my mind. So much is at stake, so much to lose yet so much more to win. It???s just another game yet it???s not ??? it???s the only game. Tomorrow invites the challenge we have waited for all season where a goal will be met or hearts will be broken. The hours tick by at a slow pace. Can we just play already?! Phew.

OK, now I can let out a huge sigh and scream HEEEEEEEEEEEEEL YEAH! We did it, we won. FYI???I am screaming this at the top of my lungs. We were escorted to the field by the local police. I was thinking they got us confused with the football team but nope, we were queens for the day and apparently national champions only arrive in style.

College Park should???ve been renamed Tar Heel Town, as the blue shakers, Fever, the band and Carolina fans filled the stadium. Tension was relieved when our customary dance off competition in the locker room commenced, being careful not to pull a muscle but desperately trying to make the time pass quicker. The Carolina girls waited on the line for the whistle at 38 minutes to blow???warm-up began and the adrenaline pumped through our blue blood. The crowd was amazing and never stopped screaming, the intensity of the game was high and celebrations were even greater. The Tar Heels defeated the Nittany Lions 3-0.

Tragedy in Miami. Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor was fatally shot in his Miami home early Monday morning. The former Miami standout never regained consciousness and passed early today. It seems we???ve lost a number of college and professional athletes to violent crime during the last year or so. Any ideas why?

Hasty hire? Kudos to Dan Shanoff for raising a couple of important points with regard to Mike Sherman???s hiring as head football coach at Texas A&M. Shanoff suggests that Sherman may be unprepared for the ???rigors of college football,??? given that he has never led a program at that level. Sure, Sherman was head coach of the Green Bay Packers and has been an assistant coach in college, but recruiting players in the 21st century is a lot different than giving Brett Favre the ball every down. That???s not to say he won???t succeed with the Aggies, but it certainly is an interesting point. Secondly, Shanoff says it ???wouldn???t have been too much to ask??? for Texas A&M to adhere to diverse hiring practices and interview minority candidates for its head coaching vacancy. Even if the department knew it would select Sherman in the end, providing the opportunity for other candidates to go through the process is something that needs to happen for each open position. Texas A&M should have known better.

The latest from Abby Waner. Duke standout guard Abby Waner does a great job in her recent blog from the road, posted on Duke???s Web site.

Great cause. Last weekend, the Mercyhurst men???s ice hockey team billed its two games against Sacred Heart as ???Great Hockey for a Great Cause.??? Fans that brought used coats or canned food items to either or both games received free admission, as the program did its part to help less fortunate families during the holiday season. Nearly four canisters of used coats, and two of canned food items, were collected.

Spam-a-lot. Due to excessive spam comments, the Double-A Zone has had to add a filter for those who wish to leave comments. Just a heads up so nobody is surprised by the numeric code they have to enter.

NCAA President Myles Brand spent the Thanksgiving holiday with his family in Indiana, and on today???s podcast lets us know what he's most thankful for this year.

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Historic ice. Less than 24 hours after the NIT cleared out of town, Madison Square Garden had lowered the temperature and welcomed a pair of college hockey teams to the house for the first time in a few years. The men???s ice hockey squads from Boston U. and Cornell played in the Garden on Saturday night, with the Terriers grabbing a big win, 6-3. We discussed how dreams came true for the basketball players scoring their first buckets on the hardwood at the Garden, but the same is true for the hockey players who skated their first minutes in the building. The Garden is special, and a sold-out crowd suggests MSG might think about offering college hockey games on a more regular basis, as the last one was played in 2003.

GOAL!!! I was sitting in my parents??? living room on Saturday night and decided to check out what was happening in the world of Division III soccer. The men and women both had title matches scheduled that day, so I was curious to see how things had unfolded. It turns out that I picked the perfect time to search, as I noticed that CSTV was streaming the game live on its Web site. I picked up the scoreless men???s final between Trinity (Texas) and Middlebury in the first overtime and watched the teams play a second scoreless extra frame before heading into the most dramatic of finishes ??? penalty kicks. I tore my laptop from its plug and plopped it right down on my father???s lap, as we watched Middlebury win its first men???s soccer championship on kicks, 4-3. It was an amazing spectacle to watch, and I began thinking about all the sports fans that missed the incredible game because they were watching football. There are a lot of amazing sporting events to watch out there, and seeing a national championship decided in this fashion was tremendous.

The road back. Exciting news from the Big Easy ??? the University of New Orleans is bringing back three varsity sports. Men???s and women???s tennis, as well as men???s swimming and diving, will begin competition next fall, after a hiatus caused by Hurricane Katrina. After the hurricane, the university reopened and sponsored just six sports, instead of the minimum 14. The NCAA granted an exemption that would allow New Orleans to ease back into full sponsorship. This first step back is reason to celebrate.

UNC Greensboro's Kyle Hines shares his Thanksgiving wishes.

I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read and comment on last week???s entry. I have been amazed at all the comments that have been left and all the positive feedback that I have been hearing from everyone. (There have been former UNCG players, fans, friends and even some of my former coaches). I???m surprised that so many people have taken an interest in reading the blog. I would have never imaged that MY blog has become a weekly topic in some of my classes and even a bedtime story for a few little kids.

This past week has been a very up and down both on and off court. Last weekend we traveled to Springfield, Missouri to participate in the Price Cutter Classic. We were scheduled to play Texas-Pan American on Friday night and Missouri State Saturday night. We left Thursday morning out of Greensboro airport. This is one of two road trips that we will travel on an airplane this year. We flew on one of those small regional jets -- which are not made to accommodate a basketball team! It had to be comical for other passengers to watch us one after another hit our heads on the plane entry way as we boarded the plane. During the plane ride, DeAngelo Jackson (our 6-9 freshman forward) and I were assigned to sit in the same row. Two guys 6-6 and 6-9 together do not add up for a very comfortable plane ride. I think I am just starting to regain the feeling back in my knees from that plane ride.

Wheaton (Massachusetts) basketball player Jennie Pleat shares her excitement about the upcoming season.

The Sox won the World Series for the second time in four years! Growing up just north of Boston, I was raised living and dying with Boston sports teams. Unfortunately, the 1990s were not the best years for the Sox, Celts and Pats. However, the turn of the millennium boosted morale for New England fans. The Patriots are winning their way to the top once again, the Red Sox ended the infamous curse and the Celtics landed two superstars. Nonetheless, my fingers are still crossed!

There???s nothing like watching one of your favorite teams win it all. Wheaton College became a chaotic red blur as soon as Papelbon threw the pitch to clinch the clean sweep. Between horns, screams, chants and the faint sound of ???Sweet Caroline,??? half of my friends jumped into the filthy, scummy pond on campus. Halfway across the country, watching the Red Sox players celebrate the win, smiling, cheering and yelling ???number one!??? gave me the chills. My thoughts drifted to that same feeling I experienced first hand in high school, when my basketball team won the state championship two years in a row. There???s really no feeling like it in the world. The only thing on your mind at that moment is ???we did it!??? Pure happiness, relief, accomplishment and confidence ensue. On October 21st, three coaches, thirteen players and three hours of practice marked the beginning of a Wheaton fight for that exact feeling.

They tell me it???s the biggest party night of the year, so I???ve decided to have a blast inside Madison Square Garden. Unlimited Diet Cokes in the press box = outstanding fun.

The semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off are tonight, and I challenge anyone to find a better time in the Big Apple this evening. We all know football is a big deal tomorrow, but for college basketball junkies, this is the marquee event of the holiday weekend.

The stands aren???t full, which is somewhat baffling in a city of 8.5 million people. Sure, there???s cooking to do, friends to see and Seinfeld reruns to watch, but we???re talking big-time college hoops the day before Thanksgiving, right here in the heart of New York.

The NIT has always been a tough draw, if only because it???s impossible to know which teams will make it to the final rounds in New York each year. For Washington, Ohio State and Texas A&M, this is a haul and it???s hard to spend thousands of dollars for airfare, hotel and expensive food at the last minute. I expect that Syracuse will draw well for the second game given the university???s proximity to New York City.

There are a lot of legends in the stands, but I was thrilled to meet Lucy Carlesimo last night and hope to make it across the court to see her again tonight. Mrs. Carlesimo???s late husband Peter was the man responsible for keeping the NIT running for so many years, and his vibrant wife is still front and center at the preseason and postseason tournaments. Dining with her last night has been the highlight of my time in the city.

It???s halftime of the first game right now ??? Washington leads Texas A&M, 36-32.

Ohio State had a remarkable run to the Men???s Final Four last winter and after losing in the championship game to Florida, promptly lost four starters, including freshmen all-Americans Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr.

The lone returning starter for the Buckeyes is senior Jamar Butler, who will lead his team into Madison Square Garden tonight against 21st-ranked Syracuse. Yesterday, I caught up with Jamar and asked him about the experience of Thanksgiving in New York and the competition he and the Buckeyes will face tonight.

Tavern On The Green. Fifty student-athletes had the meal of their lives last night at Tavern On The Green, as the fortunate few who made it to the New York City championship dined on shrimp, steak and cheesecake. With striking lights and gorgeous chandeliers hanging across the room, the teams ate in the middle of Central Park, something they will remember always, regardless of whether or not they win in Madison Square Garden. The games begin tonight at 7 ??? locker room podcasts will be posted in the next day or two.

The coaching carousel. It???s the time of year where the coaching carousel begins its ride around the world of college football. We don???t need to discuss the particulars of any specific institution, but why are such multi-year, guaranteed contracts offered in the first place if administrators aren???t going to ride out the deals? If a coach inks a six-year deal and is fired three years in, the institution must account for the ensuing three years of salary and hire another coach at the same time. Firing coaches becomes a huge financial commitment, so we have to ask, why are such long contracts provided in the first place?

For Kathleen. In honor of 4-year-old Kathleen Quinn, the Salve Regina Student-Athlete Advisory Committee held its first-ever Powder Puff charity football game on November 18. Kathleen was diagnosed with leukemia last year and has undergone extensive treatment, and the disease is currently in remission. Female student-athletes paid $10 to play in the flag-football contest while male student-athletes organized a bake sale. Proceeds from the find-raising effort went to the Tomorrow Fund at Hasbro Children???s Hospital in Providence.

La Salle to cut football. La Salle becomes the latest school in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to drop its football program, joining league members Fairfield, Canisius, Siena, St. John???s and St. Peter???s to leave the gridiron. After a 56-year hiatus, La Salle brought back a non-scholarship football program in 1997, but the dissolution of the MAAC and other variables proved too daunting for the Explorers. In the 10 years since the program returned, La Salle went 35-76 and had back-to-back winning seasons in 2000 and 2001.

Kick it around. The Division I men???s soccer bracket was released Monday and Boston College received the top seed in the tournament. The Eagles lost standout Charlie Davies after last season to the professional ranks, but responded to win the ACC regular season and conference championships. The ACC earned six bids to the tournament ??? BC, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Virginia and Duke. Defending champ UC Santa Barbara is seeded 12th.

I arrived in Penn Station around 11 this morning, took the subway up to Times Square, headed out into the rainy New York morning and walked the few blocks north to the Marriott Marquis.

At noon, select players and coaches from Syracuse, Ohio State, Texas A&M and Washington arrived to have lunch and chat with the media for a couple of hours. Everyone is thrilled to be in New York to play big-time basketball games and enjoy Thanksgiving in the city that never sleeps.

Following the press conferences, I headed west to 10th avenue and walked up to 58th Street, locale of John Jay College, a Division III institution that specializes in criminal justice and law. Syracuse is working out here for a couple of hours prior to a reception this evening at the historic Tavern On The Green.

Perhaps the irony is clear to me solely because I was a Division III student-athlete, but I find it interesting that Syracuse, which plays its home games in front of 30,000+, is sharing an old-school gymnasium with the John Jay women???s basketball team as I write this post.

When we discuss the New York experience ??? the games in Madison Square Garden, the dinner at Tavern On The Green, seeing the floats on Thanksgiving ??? this has to be part of it. The NCAA is a diverse association and it???s not all about arenas that are bigger than mid-sized American cities.

There are more John Jays out there than Syracuse???s, so I have to think that part of the Big Apple learning experience for Jim Boeheim???s student-athletes is this shootaround at a school that specializes in criminal justice.

The ultimate competition. It???s no secret that women???s basketball is a rapidly growing game and the sport is hoping to take it to a new level this season. Between January 1 and February 17, participating Division I institutions will compete in a ???Pack the House Challenge,??? stuffing as many fans as possible into their arenas. Institutions will predetermine one home game as its ???Pack the House??? entry and marketing staffs will work to fill the stands for that contest. The goal is for each institution to eclipse its previous year???s single-game attendance record. Thirty-two institutions will be selected as champions and the NCAA will donate $500 to a non-profit organization of each winning institution???s choice. Competition within competition ??? you have to love it.

One fast dude. Are you kidding me Nicodemus Naimadu? The Abilene Christian senior won his fourth Division II cross country title this weekend, becoming the first runner in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. Naimadu didn???t just win by a little bit, he finished nearly 30 seconds ahead of Adams State???s Aaron Braun. Naimadu has also won eight individual titles in indoor and outdoor track competition. Want to know more about this phenomenal student-athlete? Check out this month???s ???NCAA On Campus,??? which will air tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

A special tournament. I have touched down in New York City, where I will spend the next few days behind-the-scenes of the NIT Season Tip-Off. In addition to attending the ancillary events held for the student-athletes during their special Thanksgiving in the Big Apple, I will also be spending time with the Syracuse program. It???s going to be a great week, so stay tuned!

My kind of education. If I could find six weeks, I would be heading out to Scotland this summer. Yesterday, I caught wind of a sports journalism class that will be taught this summer through the Wisconsin-River Falls ???Wisconsin in Scotland??? program. Students from any college in the country are eligible to sign up and get credit for the course. In addition to learning about sports journalism, students will attend several Scottish sporting events ??? including soccer, rugby and tennis matches. Of course, the class will culminate with a trip to St. Andrews, the mecca of golf. Is it me, or does this class sound like a ton of fun?

On today???s edition of Mondays With Myles, NCAA President Myles Brand discusses the NCAA Eligibility Center, which opened its doors on November 1.

Previously, the NCAA contracted out amateurism certification to the ACT in Iowa City, but now the services will be provided by the Association. Things have run smoothly in the first two weeks of operation, and Dr. Brand tells us why the changes are important for prospective student-athletes.

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Holy Harvard. While much of the noise surrounded the game between Ohio State and Michigan on Saturday, I was tuned into a big match-up in the Ivy League, as ???The Game??? was taking place between Harvard and Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. The 124th game between the academic powers had a lot at stake, as both the Bulldogs and Crimson entered the contest a perfect 6-0 in league play. In just the fourth meeting between undefeated Ivy teams in the final week of the season, Harvard took it to the hometown Yalies, 37-6, and claimed the Ivy League crown. I???m sure we???ll get more details later in the week from Harvard senior and Double-A Zone blogger Carl Ehrlich.

Tourney football is here. Bowl season is around the corner, but if you???re like me and like tournament football, there???s a ton of action to follow across the three divisions. The Division II and III football championships are currently underway, and the Football Championship Subdivision bracket was released this weekend. At 11-0 Northern Iowa is the top-seeded squad in the bracket, while McNeese State and Montana are also perfect this season. Appalachian State, which has won the last two national titles and upset Michigan early in the season, will play James Madison in the first round. Although it seems that every football fan wants a playoff system to replace the bowl games, there are some out there who enjoy the way things are set up.

Carolina wins. It???s a been a big week for Double-A Zone bloggers, as North Carolina???s Dani Forword beat Penn State on Sunday, 3-0, to claim the Division I field hockey championship. Dani scored in the second half for the Tar Heels, who finished the season perfect at 24-0.

Tough break. Dennis Dixon reinjured his torn ACL on Thursday night, and the Oregon senior quarterback is out for the rest of the season. After Dixon left the game, the No. 2 Ducks went on to lose to Arizona, effectively spoiling their chances at a national championship. The Heisman front runner before Thursday???s game, Dixon???s shot at the prestigious award also went down with his left knee. While this certainly is an unfortunate turn of events for Dixon, injuries are part of the game. In July, we discussed Dixon???s summer job, which pays him decent money for his commitment to the Atlanta Braves franchise. Oregon coach Mike Bellotti wasn???t pleased when Dixon signed with the Braves, but I wonder what he thinks now. If Dixon had suffered a career-ending injury, at least he would have had some money to fall back on.

About a month ago, I sat down with Jeff Williams and J.D. Hamilton of the NCAA statistics staff and asked them to share some insight into their daily responsibilities. I don???t think most people understand what the staff does and why they do it, so this seemed like an appropriate forum for us all to receive an education. The statistics staff will offer recurring posts on the Double-A Zone, even contributing ???wacky stats??? from time to time.

When Josh first asked the statistics staff to provide a guest blog on the Double-A Zone, the first thought was, ???where do we begin????

After all, while many people use the weekly and final statistical compilations and possibly just take for granted the statistics are there each week, few may realize there is a small staff (eight total staff members) compiling and editing these statistics for posting. And, while the statistics are a key component to our job each day, there is much more that the NCAA statistics staff does.

Still we decided, instead of using our first Double-A Zone posting to provide several pages of rambling about what we do daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, we thought we???d give you some background on our staff.

When most people hear ???statistics,??? I???m sure the thought is that we must be former math majors who took classes in college like differential and integral calculus or applied multivariate analysis. But that???s not really the kind of statistics we keep. All eight members of our staff are former Sports Information Directors at various schools and conferences, we???re all current members of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America), and we all have journalism backgrounds. In all, we???ve worked or attended school at 14 NCAA member schools and two league offices.

Our staff is an interesting mix of national office veterans and relatively new NCAA employees. Three staff members average more than 24 years at the national office. The other five members of the staff have a total of 15 years at the NCAA but more than 39 years in the membership before joining the staff.

In future postings, we???ll tell you how we compile the statistical rankings each week and at the end of seasons. We???ll talk about all the other things our staff does, including RPI, records books, coaching records, attendance, championship media coordination and more. And we???ll occasionally try to provide rare, record-breaking, or sometimes wacky stats.

It???s our hope that our postings will further highlight some of the less-recognized accomplishments of NCAA student-athletes while also give a glimpse of one small area of the national office.

If you have questions that we can address in this forum or if you just want to submit a stat we may not be aware of, feel free to post it here or send an e-mail to Jeff Williams (jswilliams@ncaa.org) or J.D. Hamilton (jhamilton@ncaa.org).

Harvard's Carl Ehrlich discusses Crimson controversy before the big game with Yale.

I???ve never met Carl Morris, but once a Harvard football player, always a Harvard football player and I think that it???s my job as blogger liaison to defend the legacy that he worked so hard for during his time in Cambridge. All Carl Morris ever did was keep his head down, work as hard as he could and approach the game with class and respect. The same cannot be said for my roommate, Corey Mazza.

Those of you that have read the press on Harvard football in the last week may have come across articles about Corey Mazza ???tying??? Carl Morris??? career touchdown record with 28. Corey ??? if that???s even his real name ??? suffered an ???ankle injury??? after the second game of his 2005 season and received a medical hardship year so that he could come back and play this year.

SAACs to meet. The national Student-Athlete Advisory Committees will meet this weekend in Indianapolis to discuss important issues affecting the more than 380,000 student-athletes across the country. I am fortunate to serve as a staff liaison to the Division III committee and listening to our members debate student-athletes issues is something I look forward to every single day. We will discuss meeting outcomes after the weekend.

An unnecessary tradition. Each year, Clemson students burn the South Carolina mascot in effigy before the teams play their football game. Traditionally, South Carolina students return the favor, holding an annual ???Tigerburn.??? Clemson has announced that the annual ritual will be cancelled this year because of the beach house fire that killed seven students from the schools last month. South Carolina is still contemplating whether or not to burn the paper-mache Tiger. There are plenty of traditions in college sports, but I???m not sure burning your opponent???s mascot is appropriate. Am I too conservative on this?

Restructuring at Arkansas. Since 1972 and the inception of Title IX, Arkansas has had separate men???s and women???s athletics departments. With longtime athletics director Frank Broyles retiring at the end of the year, the timing seemed right for Chancellor John White, who has decided to merge the departments. Jeff Long has been tabbed as the school???s new athletics director, and Bev Lewis, who has led the women???s department since 1989, will become an associate vice chancellor at the university and report to Long.

264 points. Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble would be proud. Troy beat Division II Paul Quinn on Wednesday night, 133-131, as Justin Jonus led the Trojans with 44 points. Damien Chisholm hit eight three-pointers for Paul Quinn and finished with 42 points. The teams combined for 37 threes in the overtime thriller.

North Carolina's Danielle Forword describes the Tar Heels' exciting ACC championship win over Wake Forest and the upcoming national semifinals.

Eight minutes to go, one goal down and I???m thinking, it???s chilled, we???ve got this. A timeout is called and coach decides to ???pull the keeper.??? So instead of having 10 players and a goalkeeper, we now have 11 players and no goalkeeper. Yes, that means no person in big padded armor to fill the empty space called a goal box. But still I am thinking it???s chilled; we have the best defense in the country and we have nothing to lose (may I add I use the word chilled as a focus word that calms me down; may I also add it was used in this game numerous times). Having 11 field players allowed us to attack and swarm the Deacons, resulting in a short corner and a goal. Phew, so now it???s 3-3 and five minutes still to play. No more goals which means the dreaded overtime, commonly referred to as ???100-meter sprints,??? seven-a-side on a full field and a playing time of 15 minutes. The Carolina girls obviously wanted to seal the deal and free the spectators and parents of any nerves that might have built up. We won a short corner which hit a Demon Deacon???s foot and we were awarded a penalty stroke. Yes this game was like the movies ??? it had every variety of scene, people getting hit, suspense, being a goal down, close calls, time running out, no goalkeeper, goals, etc. Regardless, I would rate it a family film and a must-see with a rating of 10 out of 10. We were ACC champions and the victory was a sweet one. We worked hard for it, overcame adversity and came out triumphant. Woohoo!!!

UNC Greensboro's Kyle Hines checks in after the team's big win over Georgia Tech.

I would first like to thank everyone that read and commented on my first entry last week. I really appreciate all the comments and support that everyone showed (even my brother and dad checking in). Since my last entry, a lot has happen during the course of this week.

I???m first going to start off where I left off with my previous entry. Last week marked the beginning of our season. Our first game was at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga., which is about a six-hour drive from Greensboro. Going on road trips for me is always an exciting time. First, it gives me an opportunity to get away from my lifeless apartment and stay in really nice hotels. The beds in some of these hotels are unbelievably comfortable. The second reason is the food; we get fed well on some of these trips. We go to nice restaurants and our menu choice ranges from pasta to steak to chicken and sometimes even seafood. Great choices for us tight-budgeted college students. Normally, our idea of a great meal is a few hot dogs and a couple of packs of Oodles of Noodles.

Fire closes NCAA office. A fire at the NCAA Hall of Champions yesterday morning has caused the national office to close its doors for a second consecutive day. A display at the Hall malfunctioned, starting the fire and causing the sprinklers to activate. There has been significant damage to the Hall, which is truly unfortunate, as the building serves as a wonderful gathering place for youth groups within the Indianapolis community and visitors from all over the country.

101-point victory. The Lipscomb women???s basketball team beat Fisk yesterday, 123-22, coming just one point shy of the Division I women???s record for biggest winning margin. While it???s hard to justify a 101-point differential, Fisk head coach Shavicka Newsome wasn???t angered, saying she didn???t think Lipscomb tried to run up the score at all. In fact, Lipscomb coach Frank Bennett played his entire team, but the bench players responded and scored 86 points. With 1:49 left in the game, and just six points from the record, Lipscomb attempted just one shot, choosing not to embarrass its Division III opponent anymore.

Why? A third postseason basketball tournament will be offered for Division I programs this winter, although I???m not exactly sure why. With 65 teams earning berths to the NCAA tournament and an additional 40 gaining access to the NIT, nearly 33 percent of Division I basketball teams already have an opportunity to compete in the postseason. The inaugural College Basketball Invitational, sponsored by the same folks who put on the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic, will be played this March and will offer an additional 16 teams postseason opportunities. The Invitational will be single-elimination until the championship series, which will be a best-of-three format. Additional postseason opportunities are fine, but I???m just not sure it???s necessary. Sure, the extra games are good for young teams, but aren???t there enough opportunities out there already?

Another championship. Listen up Division II field hockey players ??? Jamie Vanartsdalen has another year of eligibility. The Bloomsburg junior set single-season record for points and goals this season while leading the Huskies to their fifth national title in six years. Vanartsdalen had two goals in Bloomsburg???s 5-2 win over UMass-Lowell on Sunday. She finished the season with 35 goals and 89 points.

There has been quite a bit of chatter online regarding the selections for the Division II football championship. Because the Division II membership has elected not to have conference champions receive automatic qualifiers to the bracket, the selection committee uses something called ???earned access??? instead.

With Shaw bumping an outstanding Carson-Newman team from the tournament because of ???earned access,??? we decided to have the selection process fully explained by committee chair Kevin Buisman, the director of athletics at Minnesota State. Kevin lays out the procedures and gets at the specifics of the decision to put Shaw in the championship, and keep Carson-Newman out.

Get the lowdown on championship selections.

Bringing out the ugly. Last week, Wyoming football coach Joe Glenn guaranteed a win over Utah on the gridiron. I???m not sure why coaches ever make guarantees, and why they would do so publically, but Glenn???s guarantee was clearly ill-advised, as Utah went on to win 50-0. Instigated by Glenn???s confidence, Utah came out on fire and quieted the opposing coach, jumping out to a convincing lead early in the game. To continue the ugliness and poor sportsmanship, Utah executed, and recovered, an onside kick with a 43-0 lead. After the Utes recovered the ball, Glenn directed an obscene hand gesture toward the Utah bench. Glenn has since been reprimanded by the Mountain West Conference and Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham admitted his poor decision in calling for the onside kick. But seriously, what were these guys thinking? What kind of an example were they setting?

Easy, John Kerry. Before bed last night, I flipped to HBO and caught 10 minutes of a special documentary on the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry. While fans of both programs offered the usual (and expected) colorful language about the rivalry, it was a John Kerry moment that stole the show for me. While campaigning in Ohio before the 2004 election, Kerry proclaimed to the crowd, ???I love the Buckeyes!??? Obviously, Kerry???s words were met with raucous applause, but when he took the campaign wagon to Michigan, it was a completely different story. Kerry admitted to the Michiganders that he supported Ohio State, and you have never heard such boos before. In fact, one person in the crowd screamed above the noise: ???Do you know anything?????? Ah, the glory of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry. It even impacts presidential elections.

OBC at Pioneer Bowl. An interesting note from the Pioneer Bowl, the only NCAA-sanctioned bowl game featuring historically black college football teams: Steve Spurrier, the Ol??? Ball Coach, will deliver the keynote address at the banquet before the game.

Hoops party. What???s up with the freshmen hoopsters so far this season? Indiana???s Eric Gordon had 33 points in his debut while Syracuse???s Jonny Flynn had 28 points and nine assists in his opener. Highly-touted O.J. Mayo had 32 points in USC???s tough loss to Mercer, but promises to excite all season long.

SIU-Edwardsville senior Amy Austin checks in before the first game of the season.

Friday finally begins my senior season when our team heads to Central Missouri for a tournament and our first real game of the year. It???s hard to imagine we???ve already been practicing for a month! I think I can speak for our team and say that we are ready to play against someone other than ourselves. It???s a time to put everything together and see what works on other teams.

Exhibition games prove to provide a lot of educational feedback to use in the future. One, it doesn???t ???really??? count. Although it doesn???t hurt us in standings or go as a loss on our record, it still matters to me. It is a game in which we put on uniforms and show what we are truly capable of doing. It gives the coaches a chance to see our strengths and weaknesses, and build on what we need to emphasize more. Trust me, I???ve never heard the word ???emphasize??? or any other variation of the word more in my basketball career than this week. Not saying that it???s a bad thing! Two, it gives the players a chance to learn more about each other within a game situation. Although we should know each other by now, it just reinforces our team chemistry, something that is crucial in games.

Gameday at Williams. Who saw Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit in Willamstown on Saturday? That???s right ??? the ESPN College Gameday team hunkered down at Division III Williams College this weekend, scene of one of football???s best rivalry games between the Ephs and Lord Jeffs of Amherst. Williams went on to win the game, 20-0, and finished its season 6-2 despite losing its first two contests of the year. Williams claimed its 45th Little Three (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan) title and will head into the off-season smiling. As a conference rule, NESCAC teams don???t compete in the Division III football championship, so Saturday???s victory will have to last the Ephs into next August. Obviously, the game is meaningful enough to get the ESPN gang out to Massachusetts and for true football fans, taking in an Amherst-Williams game is just as important as seeing Ohio St.-Michigan and Harvard-Yale.

Smart idea. Nick Smart caught 16 passes in Southwest Baptist???s loss to Washburn on Saturday, finishing his season with an NCAA-record 143 receptions. It was rough year for the Bearcats, who finished 0-11 overall, but Smart gave fans a reason to smile all season long, as he came ready to play week in and week out. Along with the 143 catches, Smart also had 1,263 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

Stealing the show. Of course, I spent part of yesterday evening checking out the Syracuse men???s basketball team in its season opener against Siena. Yes, I was pumped about Jonny Flynn and his 28 points and nine assists. Of course, Paul Harris fired me up with 15 rebounds. And obviously, I shouted for Donte Green, who blocked five shots in his college debut. But none of that was as impressive to me as when the broadcasters began sharing the resume of Siena head coach Fran McCaffery. Why did the bio catch my attention, you ask? Well, it turns out that McCaffery did his undergraduate work at Pennsylvania, one of the nation???s finest universities. While that???s impressive, it???s not nearly as impressive as the fact that he received his bachelor of science degree from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, which is widely regarded as the best undergraduate (and graduate) education one can receive in the field of business. Upon his graduation from Penn, McCaffery headed to Lehigh, where he worked as an assistant coach and picked up his master???s degree. He became Lehigh???s head coach at the ripe old age of 26 and went 49-39 in three years. He then spent 11 seasons as an assistant at Notre Dame before moving on to UNC-Greensboro, where he spent six years at the helm. McCaffery is in his third year at Siena. Pretty decent credentials, huh?

Reverse curse? Congratulations to Double-A Zone student-athlete blogger Sam Mitchell, who was named Conference Carolinas women???s volleyball player of the year. She was named to the all-conference team for the third-straight season. Way to go, Sam!

Two weeks ago, the NCAA crowned Arizona swimmer Whitney Myers its 2007 Woman of the Year. Myers, who holds 14 school records at Arizona and was a seven-time all-American, has made a mark in her local community by volunteering with local Girl Scout troops, in elementary schools and at a pharmacy. Myers was on the dean???s list every semester at Arizona and received academic all-American honors four consecutive years.

On today???s edition of Mondays With Myles, NCAA President Myles Brand discusses his thoughts on the outstanding women honored at the event in Indianapolis and addresses why there isn???t a corresponding NCAA Man of the Year award.

Listen to Mondays With Myles

Read the latest from NCAA intern Michael Fly on the state of college basketball.

???Grand Valley State knocks off Michigan State.??? ???Ohio State goes down to Findlay.??? ???Gardner-Webb shocks Kentucky in Rupp Arena.??? Since these headlines have dominated the college hoops scene in this young season, I have heard the word parity more times than I can count and care to remember. It seems to me that it has become a good way of excusing a lackluster performance by a favored team or something that people hear on television and sports radio so much that it becomes part of their regular vocabulary.

I am not arguing that parity in college sports does not exist (see Appalachian State over Michigan and the crazy college football season that ensued), but I believe that there is an explanation behind the word that seems to be on the tip of everyone???s tongue from Dick Vitale to my office co-workers.

It???s not that Tom Izzo, Thad Matta, and Billy Gillispie have lost their edge and are therefore losing to much smaller programs. Nor is it that DII and mid-major programs have caught up to larger schools in recruiting, game preparation, and overall talent. If these ???excuses??? for the parity in college basketball were not enough, some try to explain the success of George Mason and now Gardner-Webb, Findlay, and Grand Valley State by pointing to the fact that powerhouse programs have trouble ???getting up??? or staying interested enough to play their best against lesser opponents.

Raw deal? Yesterday, the SportsProf asked why we don???t have a playoff in the highest level of college football? He suggests that the teams which lose earliest in the season will have a better chance of competing for the national title, mostly because voters will hold the teams that lose late more accountable. He???s certainly right ??? when we have two undefeated teams, it makes things a lot easier. I want a playoff as much as the next guy, but here???s the reality ??? it???s not coming anytime soon. There are two undefeated teams in the country (Kansas and Hawaii), and if the season ended today, neither would have a chance at the national championship. That doesn???t seem fair to me. But in theory, the SportsProf is right. LSU and Oregon lost earlier in the season have rebounded to claim the top two spots in the BCS rankings. With a loss this weekend, Ohio State fell behind its one-loss brethren and probably can???t recover in time to play for the national crown.

Watch your words. Nebraska???s football team has lost five games in a row and head coach Bill Callahan is on the hot seat. His agent turned in perhaps the most offensive comment of the weekend, saying to Cornhusker fans: ???Listen to how stupid you people are. You people need to start studying soil content or something. Why don't you find out how many pair of socks get washed every day in the locker room?" That seems like a pleasant way to endear yourself to the Lincoln faithful.

A lot of touchdowns. Colt Brennan has to be considered one of the greatest college quarterbacks in history, doesn???t he? The Hawaii standout was 28-of-39 for 396 yards and tossed two touchdown strikes on Saturday night, leading the Warriors to a 37-30 win over Fresno State. Brennan, who was hurt in the victory, tied the NCAA career mark for touchdown passes with his 121st right before he was knocked out of the game. Hawaii improved to 9-0 overall.

A lot of touchdowns, take two. One week after its big victory over Notre Dame, Navy won a shootout against North Texas, 74-62. The teams set a college football record with 136 points in the game, and set another record for 94 in the first half. The Midshipmen clinched a berth in the Poinsettia Bowl on December 20.

Goodbye Orange Bowl. In a tough way to say goodbye to the Orange Bowl, Miami???s offense couldn???t muster any points on Saturday, losing to Virginia in the stadium finale, 48-0. It was the first shutout loss for the Hurricanes in the Orange Bowl since 1974. And it will also be the last.

North Carolina-Greensboro basketball standout Kyle Hines was named Southern Conference player of the year last season for his outstanding performance on the hardwood, and returns this year as a candidate for all-American honors. While he is pursuing a conference title and berth in the NCAA tournament this winter, the 6-foot-6 communications major will also spend time blogging for the Double-A Zone.

I first would like to welcome all of you to my blog. I am really excited to do this, having done one for our Web site and the local newspaper when we were in Italy this past summer.

During each post you will able to read my ???inner thoughts??? and gain an inside look of my life during this - my senior season. Before I go any further, I should probably let everyone know just who I am.

First, I am originally from a small town called Sicklerville, New Jersey. It is okay if you never heard of it because no one else, outside of the people that live there, have either. If you???ve every driven to Atlantic City, you???ve driven through it ??? right where the AC Expressway starts. For those that haven???t, it is located about 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. And yes, I???m not afraid to admit that despite their struggles I am an Eagles, Sixers and Phillies fan. (Hey, at least the Phillies made the playoffs this year!)

Changing of the gard? After Michigan State and Ohio State lost exhibition basketball games to Division II programs, I asked if greater parity was responsible for the upsets. Our friend JM, one of the Double-A Zone???s most frequent commenters, refuted the notion. On Wednesday night, Gardner-Webb knocked off 20th-ranked Kentucky, 84-68, in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. With an enrollment of about 4,000, Gardner-Webb pulled off the greatest upset in school history, and handed Mike Gillespie a devastating loss in just his second game on the Wildcat sidelines. Yes, it???s November. Yes, it???s just one game. But can???t we agree that there???s a lot of parity out there? JM? Anybody?

Safety first. How many times have you gotten into a taxi and left the seat belt dangling by your side? When you get on a bus, do you glance over your shoulder for the safety gadget? Even the most religious of seat belt wearers probably doesn???t buckle up when he or she takes a shuttle from the airport to a hotel. But why not? Inspired by the bus crash that killed five Bluffton baseball players last spring, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announced a proposal Thursday that would require seat belts on buses used for long rides. The senators also want better training for drivers and roofs that will hold up in rollover accidents.

Protect your heart. Beginning with the football team in September, Stanford researchers completed elective electrocardiograms on all 800 of the university???s student-athletes and heart ultrasounds are coming up next. The researchers are looking for genetic defects that can cause sudden death if they haven???t been discovered.

When Lafayette heads into Goodman Stadium to take on Lehigh on November 17, it will be the 143rd football meeting between the two universities. The most-played football rivalry in the country, the teams began playing one another in 1884.

Lehigh Director of Athletics Joe Sterrett hasn???t been around for all of the games between his Mountain Hawks and Lafayette, but he has seen a number of them. Sterrett, who played quarterback during his undergraduate days at Lehigh, has spent 32 years in Bethlehem, the last 19 as athletics director. Sterrett met his wife Cindy at Lehigh, and their four children have also attended the university.

On today???s edition of Campus Connection, Joe and I discuss his love for Lehigh, the storied football rivalry and some of the other excitement happening in the Valley.

Getting it done. Want proof that student-athletes are performing well in the classroom? Well, here it is. The second year of Academic Success Rate data shows that 69 percent of Division II student-athletes graduate within a six-year window. The ASR is similar to the Division I Graduation Success Rate and was developed to provide a more accurate representation than the federal methodology, which doesn???t take into account nearly 16,000 nonscholarship student-athletes. If the federal rate is used as an indicator, 55 percent of Division II student-athletes graduate within six years ??? significantly higher than the 46 percent from the regular student body.

One fast dude. Former Hunter College men???s cross country standout Omri Holzman finished 34th in Sunday???s New York City Marathon, finishing the 26.2-mile course in 2:32.13. It was the best career finish for Holzman, who finished 48th last fall in the same year he finished his undergraduate studies. The City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) male scholar-athlete of the year in 2006, Holzman graduated from Hunter with a 3.73 GPA and a degree in computer science. During his time in college, Holzman balanced his athletics responsibilities with a full-time day job at the United Nations while attending night classes. A 15-time conference champion, the Tel Aviv native first took up running during his days in the Israeli army.

Findlay wins! It hasn???t been a great week for Big Ten basketball, so it???s a good thing we???re not in the full swing of the regular season. On Tuesday night, Ohio State became the second Big Ten squad to drop an exhibition game to a Division II opponent in less than one week, as Findlay dropped the Buckeyes, 70-68. Last week, Grand Valley State???s men???s team knocked off Michigan State in an exhibition contest. Both exhibition games were aired on the Big Ten Network, as was the season-opening football game between Appalachian State and Michigan. Will Big Ten schools start looking for a way back to network television??? Findlay happens to be have a strong Division II program and Ohio State is rebuilding following last year???s run to the national championship game, but there does seem to be more parity in college hoops than one might expect.

A couple of weeks back, The Sporting News??? Mike DeCourcy levied criticism at the NCAA for its handling of the initial eligibility of Marquette basketball student-athlete Trevor Mbakwe.

After Mbakwe arrived at Marquette this fall, he had a two-week period in which he was permitted to participate in conditioning drills, preseason workouts and other team activities. When the two weeks were up, and the NCAA hadn???t yet ruled on Mbakwe???s initial eligibility, DeCourcy expressed frustration and declared that the student-athlete ???was exiled and asked to disappear into the cracks of the sidewalk.???

DeCourcy doesn???t take issue with whether or not the NCAA should determine student-athlete eligibility; instead, he questions how student-athletes are treated during the process. I???m not angered by DeCourcy???s stance, but he certainly misleads readers by leaving a few things out of his story.

First of all, Mbakwe didn???t submit his initial-eligibility request until September 4, despite the fact that classes began August 22. Simple math will tell you that he was late ??? and could have finished his paperwork months earlier. Mbakwe didn???t take care of business, yet DeCourcy faults the NCAA. That doesn???t make much sense, does it? If the information had been submitted in a timely fashion, the NCAA wouldn???t have had to wait until October before Mbakwe???s secondary school cooperated and sent important clarifications. If Mbakwe had done his due diligence, he would have been able to continue working with the team.

DeCourcy faults the NCAA for its rule, but in fact, the two-week practice limitation was voted in place by NCAA member institutions like Marquette. If the schools wanted the rule changed, they could vote for it.

The NCAA processes more than 70,000 eligibility requests from prospective student-athletes each year in a timely fashion. The ones that run late are almost certainly because information was held up on the other end.

The faster alternative. Sprint football isn???t an NCAA-sponsored sport, but it???s still extremely cool. Sprint football, which uses the same rules as regular football, requires that no player weigh more than 172 pounds. The sport was developed in 1934 and is generally regarded for its fast-paced action. Currently there are five teams in the Collegiate Sprint Football League ??? Army, Navy, Cornell, Princeton and Pennsylvania. Now it looks like a sixth team will join the league, as Mansfield announced it will begin sponsoring sprint football in 2008. The Division II university discontinued its varsity football program in 2006 due to a large projected financial loss, but administrators have determined that sprint football offers an affordable alternative for the campus community. Mansfield all-time wins leader Tom Elsasser will come back to the university as director of football operations.

Intelligence on the mats. Ohio State???s men???s gymnastics program won its third straight Big Ten championship title last spring, marking the fifth time in seven years the Buckeyes have gotten it done on the mats. More importantly, Ohio State???s gymnasts are excelling in the classroom as well, as the team was honored as the 2007 National Academic Team Champion for its cumulative GPA of 3.4. Seven Buckeye gymnasts secured GPAs of 3.5 or higher and were named College Gymnastics Association All-America Scholar-Athletes - Jake Bateman, Tony Duong, Kristopher Kline, Mike Marino, Andy Saurber, Shachar Tal and Jimmy Wickham. Fans came out in droves to support the Buckeyes at the award ceremony this week, and the Buckeyes responded with an autograph session afterwards.

Tourney time! The Division III field hockey and men???s soccer tournaments begin this afternoon. Trinity (Texas) headlines the men???s soccer bracket with a perfect 18-0-0 record and the support of a campus still fired up over the football team???s 15-lateral play. Defending field hockey champ Ursinus received a bye to the second round and could face undefeated Bowdoin in the national semifinals. It???s tourney time, baby!

With two games remaining this season, the Poly Prep High School football team has lost more than it???s won. The Blue Devils are 3-4 this fall, but victories don???t define success for head coach Dino Mangiero.

Now in its second season, ???The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year??? features college and prep coaches each week on ABC. Last week, Mangiero was featured for his outstanding performance ??? on and off the field ??? at Poly Prep.

During his eight-year tenure in Brooklyn, Mangiero has coached approximately 200 players at the varsity level. Of those 200, a remarkable 60 have gone on to play football at the college level. More impressive, however, is the number of players who have earned their college degrees after competing for Mangiero. The number? All of them. A perfect 100 percent.

During Saturday???s piece, Mangiero laid it out quite simply: ???We try and give poor kids from the inner city a chance to come to a school like Poly Prep and maybe change his life for the better.???

Sounds like a pretty good candidate for a ???Coach of the Year??? award to me.

Hoop it up. Alright hoopsters, it???s officially that time of year. The college basketball season tipped off last night in Memphis, as the third-ranked Tigers rolled over Tennessee-Martin, 102-71, in the opening round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. Junior Chris Douglas-Roberts led Memphis with 28 points while highly-touted freshman Derrick Rose had 17 points, six rebounds and five assists in his college debut.

Congratulations in order. We???re also gearing up for another exciting year of women???s basketball and former Auburn standout and current NCAA national office staff member Linda Godby was selected by the Indianapolis Star as one of the 10 best Indianapolis Metro Area high school female basketball players of all-time. Linda played professionally in the now-defunct American Basketball League, placing third in the 1998 all-star slam dunk contest.

Brotherly love. Four brothers on one football team? In case you missed it on ESPN College GameDay Saturday morning, let???s take a second to discuss the Linfield Lemons today. Four brothers ??? Chet, Chase, Bubba and Mychal Lemon ??? all play for the Linfield football team. Their father, Meadow, is in his fourth year as an assistant coach with the program. Meadow???s father is Meadowlark Lemon, the legendary frontman for the Harlem Globetrotters. It???s definitely an athletic family, and quite a remarkable story. Unfortunately for Linfield and the Lemons, the Wildcats had their Northwest Conference title hopes dashed on Saturday after a 10-6 loss to Whitworth.

Best letter in the alphabet. Hope College recently awarded varsity letters to 240 female student-athletes who attended the college between 1939 and 1972. The women competed at a level deserving of varsity letters, but due to inequitable treatment of females in educational settings before the days of Title IX, they never received them. Fifty of the former student-athletes attended a special ceremony to receive their letters. The idea for the honor came from a research project by two 2007 graduates of the college ??? Rachel Sauerman and Lisa Smith.

Harvard football student-athlete Carl Ehrlich made a big catch last weekend...and he wasn't even playing.

Flash bulbs popped, grown men were brought to tears and Corey Mazza hasn???t slept in weeks ??? all because of something that happened last weekend in the greater Boston area. Was it the Red Sox World Series match-up? The Patriots routing of the Redskins? The Celtics? No, this remarkable athletic feat took place in Harvard Stadium of all places??? during the JV game???on the sideline (and predictably, by yours truly).

I???m tentative to discuss my athletic prowess with such hyperbolic word choice, but those that were there for ???The Catch??? as some wise man (myself) named it, understand why I???m writing in such a way. ???Star receiver??? Corey Mazza hasn???t looked at me the same since, for fear that I???ll switch to offense and take his spot. Only minutes after my catch, the buzz was already circling through the training room and in a press conference following the varsity game vs Dartmouth, three reporters asked me if I was the player that made the grab. Even my grandmother called from back home to ask me if it was true. Well, everything except for the grandma part.

With all of our good conversation last week about the difference between regular-season games in the NFL and the Football Bowl Subdivision, it seemed like today was a perfect opportunity to engage NCAA President Myles Brand on the topic.

On our weekly podcast, Dr. Brand discusses yesterday's game between the Patriots and Colts, Boston College's tough loss to Florida State and why a playoff could diminish the importance of the college regular season.

Listen to Mondays With Myles

The day after. Yesterday???s game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots lived up to the hype, as the Pats scored late in the fourth quarter to win 24-20. As good as the game was, however, it was still a regular-season contest that will likely bring a rematch in a couple of months. Boston College, on the other hand, lost to Florida State on Saturday night and is out of the national championship picture after one loss. Which regular season game had more impact in the grand scheme of things? Home-field advantage or no chance to win a national title? The college regular season means more.

Tragedy in NYC. Ryan Shay collapsed and died in Central Park on Saturday during the sixth mile of the United States men???s marathon Olympic trials. Shay, who won the 2001 NCAA individual title in the 10,000 meters while at Notre Dame, had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart but was cleared to run by doctors. Shay???s death is a huge loss for the marathon community, which lost an amateur runner earlier this fall during a race in Chicago. An interesting note ??? the marathon was created when the Greek soldier Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens to announce the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon. After running 26.2 miles to Athens to make his announcement, Pheidippides collapsed and died. Based on its history and recent tragedies surrounding the sport, are marathons too dangerous?

It???s tourney time. The Division III men???s soccer bracket was finalized at about 3 on Sunday morning, and you can tune in at 11 to see where your favorite teams will end up. While the Division I basketball tournament brackets are well publicized, the selection committees for all NCAA sports spend long hours reviewing criteria to make the best possible decisions when putting together a bracket. It???s always an arduous task, but it???s certainly worth it, as more than 380,000 NCAA student-athletes dream of winning a prestigious NCAA championship.

Midshipmen get day off. There are a lot of rivalries in college football, but few have the one-sided history of that between Notre Dame and Navy. The two programs have met each of the last 79 years with Notre Dame getting the better of the Midshipmen most of the time. Things were different on Saturday, however, as Navy pulled out a thrilling 46-44, triple-overtime win. It was Navy???s first victory over Notre Dame in 44 years and despite Notre Dame???s lackluster 1-8 record, the game meant everything to the folks in Annapolis ??? enough to grant the Midshipmen a day off from classes today.

Parity ??? exhibition style. Tim Selgo should have bragged more during our chat about Grand Valley State on Friday. The Laker men???s basketball team pulled out an 85-82 double-overtime victory over Michigan State in an exhibition game on Friday night. And although the game doesn???t mean anything as far as records are concerned, it does say something about the parity between the divisions. Grand Valley wasn???t the only Division II team to pull out an exhibition upset this weekend ??? Tarleton State beat Baylor, 95-85.

The winner of the Division II Directors??? Cup each of the past four years, Grand Valley State has made a tradition out of being the top all-around athletics department in the country.

Last Saturday, Grand Valley defeated Ferris State on the football field, 34-7, to win a Division II-record 36th consecutive game. A national contender in almost every sport, all 19 Laker teams advanced to NCAA championship play last year.

On today???s edition of Campus Connection, Grand Valley State Director of Athletics Tim Selgo discusses the university???s athletics success, but more importantly, says it???s the performance of the Laker student-athletes in the classroom and the school???s commitment to the Division II philosophy that make the program truly special.

NCAA intern Michael Fly ponders the all-important question: student-athletes or athlete-students?

I can still remember sitting in the first class I had with a basketball player at the University of Kentucky as a freshman and watching his every move carefully in the classroom. I watched to see if his seat was occupied, whether he slept in class, and if he put his test in a stack with the rest of the students at the conclusion of an exam or if he slipped it to the professor on the side. Why was I expecting such things from a student-athlete and singling their actions out from the rest of the students?

Was it because I knew the history of each player from the time he was in diapers since I was a rabid Kentucky basketball fan? Maybe it was the stories my father had told me about being in college in the 1970???s and seeing such escapades go on in his classes? Could it simply be that I believed that someone talented enough to play basketball at the University of Kentucky had been academically pampered in high school and had no plans to pursue a career that did not include a hoop?

Whatever might have led to my own assumptions, I am not alone in stereotyping student-athletes as underachievers in the classroom. The perception of many student-athletes on college campuses, especially those in revenue-producing sports such as basketball and football, is that they are ATHLETE-students rather than student-athletes. I am not sure if this illusion is created due to the national celebrity that a collegiate athlete is able to attain such as a Kevin Durant or Vince Young that makes them seem more like rock stars than students, or the number of household names that declare for professional drafts prior to graduating from college every year.

NCAA Governance Intern Heather Mathis chronicles her experience during homecoming weekend at her alma mater, Maryville College (Tennessee). Heather was a four-year soccer standout during her days at Maryville and also served on the Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

???Hail to thee our alma mater, Hail to Maryville!???

Since becoming an intern here at the national office, I have really missed the experience of being on a college campus. Nothing can replicate the atmosphere that is created when classes conclude on Fridays and college students head outdoors to enjoy themselves and plan for the weekend. I also miss the small community that surrounds the college, and how incredible the support is for college initiatives and activities. In order to reconnect with my not-so-distant past, I returned to Maryville College for homecoming weekend. I searched for all of my orange and garnet apparel, picked up my college roommate from the airport, and headed to Maryville, Tennessee.

My return to the lofty Chilhowee mountains of Tennessee was packed full of activities that make homecoming weekend at Maryville very special. As a small private college, I believe the institution does things the right way for the alumni, faculty, administration, staff, parents, students, and the community. The homecoming weekend was more about the engagement of the community and the returning alumni than just a football game. The weekend schedule included banquets, athletics contests, a pep rally, a parade, a crafts festival, and a theater production.

As a political science major in college, I was exposed to Robert Putnam???s Bowling Alone. Putnam explained the significance of community and discussed the deterioration of it in recent years. Studying Putnam???s work as a student at Maryville allowed me to be more aware of the importance of community engagement, and therefore I was relieved to see that Division II was focusing on the importance of community when I arrived at the NCAA National Office as an intern.

Though I did not realize it as a student, my return to Maryville as a post-graduate made me appreciate just how lucky I was to have attended a school that focused a great deal of energy and resources on community engagement. I want to highlight Maryville College on a job well done and thank the individuals within the institution for a wonderful weekend of homecoming festivities. Go Scots!

Read the latest from Harvard volleyball player Mimi Hanley.

Most seniors come back to school in the early fall with good spirits and high hopes for the year. Everyone is excited about what will happen over the course of their last nine months of college life. The fall has always seemed particularly exciting to me. Of course there is the hype about senior spring and graduation, but the really rah-rah school spirited ???this place is great??? attitude is greatest in the fall. Most people have spent the summer months away from school and in the working world, so the idea of having two to three hours of class per day with the rest of your day open, versus an 8-12 hour work day, sounds pretty amazing.

Extra bucks for play-in winner. The Division I Board of Directors voted to award a unit of revenue distribution to the winner of the opening-round game in the men???s basketball championship beginning in 2008. Traditionally, teams are awarded a unit of revenue distribution for earning a berth in the championship and for each victory thereafter. The only exceptions were the winner of the opening round game and the winner of the championship game. For example, all 65 teams were awarded one unit upon qualification for last year???s NCAA tournament. After advancing to the championship game, Florida and Ohio State each received six shares for five wins ??? a victory in the final game is not rewarded with a unit of revenue distribution. Last year???s play-in game was between Niagara and Florida A&M and both teams were awarded one share. This year, Niagara would have had a second share because of its opening-round win. Conceivably, the winner of the play-in game could receive seven shares of revenue distribution if it ran the table, but since a No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1, that doesn???t seem terribly likely. Instead, the benefit will help those programs build for future success.

Markers to the rescue. Virginia Tech rolled to a 27-3 victory over Georgia Tech in Atlanta last night, as Sean Glennon tossed three touchdown passes for the Hokies while wearing a Georgia Tech jersey. That???s right, Glennon had to wear a replacement jersey courtesy of the Yellow Jackets after his own and three others vanished prior to the game. Glennon???s name was written in magic marker on the back of a Georgia Tech road jersey while the school???s nickname was blacked out across the front.

Student-athletes in the community. The Saint Augustine???s women???s basketball team participated in American Cancer Society???s ???Strike For Survival??? bowling event, helping to raise $500 for cancer research. One day earlier, the Lady Falcons volunteered for the Interfaith Food Shuttle, delivering meals in vans to elderly folks nearby ??? With classes cancelled due to the devastating wildfires, student-athletes at San Diego State spent their spare time providing support for victims last week by volunteering at Qualcomm Stadium and the Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center ??? Thanks to the baseball and softball programs at Texas-San Antonio, gloves, bats, balls and more are on their way to Iraq. The equipment will help soldiers continue a softball league they have started on base.

In May 2006, Northwestern suspended its women???s soccer program due to a hazing incident involving the team???s players. Other programs have also had devastating and dangerous hazing episodes come to light recently, and the NCAA has sponsored a summit at its annual convention in January to discuss the issue.

The Hazing Prevention Summit will be held January 10 in Nashville and features a dynamite roster of speakers and presenters. This week, I had the opportunity to chat with one of those individuals, as Northwestern Associate Director of Academic Services Betsi Burns shared some thoughts with us on hazing.

To sign up for the convention and summit, click here.

Listen to Betsi Burns on Hazing

Joe knows school. I love the Yankees, respect what Joe Torre did during his dozen years at the helm, grew up idolizing Don Mattingly and always admired the way Joe Girardi went about playing the game of baseball. I didn???t want to see Torre leave the Bronx, and it???s hard to imagine Donnie Baseball in anything but pinstripes, but I am excited for the Girardi era to begin. Most exciting for me, however, is that I had a chance to chat with Girardi this summer in San Diego, when he was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame. That???s right, Joe was a stud in the classroom during his days at Northwestern, and the former World Series champion and National League Manager of the Year called the academic honor his ???favorite award.???

Want to play? Today is a big day in NCAA history. The doors ??? and phone lines ??? of the NCAA Eligibility Center opened for business this morning, as the initial-eligibility baton has been officially transferred from American College Testing (ACT) to the NCAA. The Eligibility Center, which is located about two miles north of the NCAA national office, brings the initial-eligibility academic and amateurism certification functions together under one roof. The hope is to provide enhanced customer service and efficiency to the NCAA membership, prospective student-athletes and their parents. In a typical year, the Eligibility Center will process approximately 160,000 registrations and will work with conference offices to process 35,000 National Letters-of-Intent.

Crazy stats. Bloomsburg???s Jamie Vanartsdalen has broken the Division II field hockey single-season scoring record. She currently has 81 points for the season, breaking the previous mark of 74 set by Suzanne Cornelissen of Indiana (Pennsylvania) in 2004. She also has scored 32 goals this season, one shy of the record set by Terry Voit of Longwood in 1975. If Bloomsburg advances deep in the NCAA tournament, Vanartsdalen could potentially get the season assist record as well. She currently has 17 assists, with the record being 22. In a sport that routinely has 1-0 and 2-1 games, 81 points in a season borders on absurdity. Bloomsburg has won four of the last five Division II national championships.