Ball State

In one of the wildest offensive shootouts in the history of Navy football, the Midshipmen rolled up the third-largest total of rushing yardage ever - but couldn't win, falling in overtime to Ball State, 34-31, last night. Ball State freshman Jake Hogue kicked a 24-yard field goal to put Navy away in overtime. Duke@Navy Saturday, 1 p.m., 1090 AM

Former Orioles outfielder Larry Bigbie will be among five former student-athletes inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday. Bigbie was an All-America second-team selection and Mid-American Conference Player of the Year in 1999 after his career with a school-record .386 batting average. The previous year, he was one of four juniors in conference history to accumulate at least 200 hits. His school-record 24-game hitting streak in 1999 was the third longest in MAC history, and he helped the Cardinals to their first MAC baseball title and a school-record 42 victories.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Coppin State senior guard Keith Carmichael picked an opportune time to regain his shooting touch, and it enabled the Eagles to leave the Oldsmobile Spartan Classic with a split.Carmichael came back from a poor shooting performance one night earlier and connected on two key three-point shots that lifted the Eagles to a 76-75 win over Ball State in last night's consolation game of the Oldsmobile Spartan Classic at Michigan State's Breslin Center.The Eagles are 3-6 during a grueling early schedule, which puts them on the road in 12 of their first 13 games.

Tennessee's title defense ended sooner than expected, wrapping up the worst season for Pat Summitt's vaunted program. Ball State stunned the two-time defending national champion, 71-55, in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last night in Bowling Green, Ky., ending one of the more remarkable streaks in college basketball history. The Lady Volunteers (22-11) had never lost on the opening weekend of the tournament, going 42-0 through the years. Fifth seed Tennessee also became the first defending champ to lose in the first round of the women's tournament.

David Letterman is going to love this: At No. 25 in the Associated Press college football poll, his alma mater, Ball State. The Cardinals, who have remained unbeaten while losing one of their best players to a career-ending spine injury, are ranked in the Top 25 for the first time. After a week with few upsets, the top of the media poll underwent only slight alterations. Oklahoma was No. 1 with 51 first-place votes and 1,608 points, gaining a few points and top votes in its second week on top of the rankings this season.

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Even before Kansas was made the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional, Jayhawks coach Roy Williams and his players had been hearing how they would make even a quicker exit in this year's tournament than they did a year ago."It was a challenge for us because for the last couple of weeks, people have been putting us in the grave," Williams said yesterday.Kansas (26-6) rose to the challenge in the opening round against Ball State (26-8) at the Rosemont Horizon. The first 30 minutes were a struggle for the Jayhawks against a team Williams had called "the best 15th seed in the history of the tournament," but the last 10 were pretty impressive.

Nevada (8-3) vs. Ball State (8-3)Site: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las VegasTime: 9 tonightTV: ESPNLine: Nevada by 6 1/2Outlook: Nevada, under first-year coach Jeff Tisdel, features a potent passing game and an offense that leads the country with 527.3 yards a game. QB John Dutton completed 66.5 percent of his passes and threw for 22 touchdowns. Ball State's defense was fourth in the country and allowed an average of only 17.5 points a game. Ball State lost its first three games, then won its last eight to win the Mid-American Conference.

Ball State vs. Buffalo 8 p.m. [ESPN2] At least unbeaten Ball State isn't playing in the middle of the week. This one is for the Mid-American Conference championship, at Detroit's Ford Field. Cardinals quarterback Nate Davis (right) has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 28 of his past 29 games, has had three four-touchdown games and has surpassed 3,000 yards for the second straight season.

Colleges -- Ball State apologized to former basketball coach Ronny Thompson after an outside review found "unprofessional behavior" by an employee tainted the school's report to the NCAA on possible rules violations. Ball State also said yesterday that the school and Thompson had resolved a dispute surrounding his July resignation. Cycling -- American cyclist Floyd Landis cannot compete in France until 2009 even if he has his two-year doping ban lifted by the sport's highest court. The French Anti-Doping Agency said it had imposed its own ban against Landis, preventing him from riding in France until Jan. 31, 2009 - ruling him out of next year's Tour de France.

Coppin State (3-3 at Ball State (3-3)Time: 7Site: University Arena, Muncie, Ind.Outlook: The Eagles are having trouble staying above .500. They have won all three of their home games, and lost all three on the road. Most recently, they were beaten by TCU, 89-86, despite a career-high 30 points from Reggie Welch, who also grabbed nine rebounds. Terquin Mott added 17 points, and Julian King -- who recently became eligible -- had 16. The series is tied, 1-1. Last December, the Eagles won, 76-75, in the consolation game of the Oldsmobile Spartan Classic.

Ball State vs. Buffalo 8 p.m. [ESPN2] At least unbeaten Ball State isn't playing in the middle of the week. This one is for the Mid-American Conference championship, at Detroit's Ford Field. Cardinals quarterback Nate Davis (right) has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 28 of his past 29 games, has had three four-touchdown games and has surpassed 3,000 yards for the second straight season.

Sampson restricted until '13; IU on probation col. basketball The NCAA placed Indiana University on three years of probation yesterday and made it nearly impossible for former coach Kelvin Sampson to return to college coaching anytime soon for a telephone recruiting scandal that set back the once-storied men's basketball program. The NCAA gave Sampson five years of potential penalties for his role in more than 100 impermissible phone calls to recruits made while he was still on probation for a similar phone-call scandal at Oklahoma.

David Letterman is going to love this: At No. 25 in the Associated Press college football poll, his alma mater, Ball State. The Cardinals, who have remained unbeaten while losing one of their best players to a career-ending spine injury, are ranked in the Top 25 for the first time. After a week with few upsets, the top of the media poll underwent only slight alterations. Oklahoma was No. 1 with 51 first-place votes and 1,608 points, gaining a few points and top votes in its second week on top of the rankings this season.

In many ways, Brandon Crawford stands out as a college football player. There's his age. At 32, Crawford is not only the oldest player on the Ball State team, but he also is believed to be the oldest player on any Football Bowl Subdivision roster. "I think I'm more relaxed with it now," Crawford said this week as Ball State prepared for tonight's nationally televised home game against Navy. "I'm playing my role, trying to help my team out. I'm more in my comfort zone. "But I'm not satisfied.

Colleges -- Ball State apologized to former basketball coach Ronny Thompson after an outside review found "unprofessional behavior" by an employee tainted the school's report to the NCAA on possible rules violations. Ball State also said yesterday that the school and Thompson had resolved a dispute surrounding his July resignation. Cycling -- American cyclist Floyd Landis cannot compete in France until 2009 even if he has his two-year doping ban lifted by the sport's highest court. The French Anti-Doping Agency said it had imposed its own ban against Landis, preventing him from riding in France until Jan. 31, 2009 - ruling him out of next year's Tour de France.

In one of the wildest offensive shootouts in the history of Navy football, the Midshipmen rolled up the third-largest total of rushing yardage ever - but couldn't win, falling in overtime to Ball State, 34-31, last night. Ball State freshman Jake Hogue kicked a 24-yard field goal to put Navy away in overtime. Duke@Navy Saturday, 1 p.m., 1090 AM

Everything seems to be in place now. The University of Maryland's football coach has a new four-year contract. The Terps are coming off their first winning season and bowl appearance since 1985, and the university, during the off-season, gave Byrd Stadium a $13.2 million face lift that included new seats, new restrooms, a huge concession area and a five-story press box.Excitement. Hysteria. Euphoria. The Terps are hoping to ride those emotions into today's season and Atlantic Coast JTC Conference opener against Virginia at Byrd Stadium (noon)

As the NFL draft begins to unfold tomorrow, with teams making their selections in the first three rounds, Lorenzo Scott will be on the clock. An outfielder at Single-A Delmarva, Scott doubled as a linebacker at Ball State. Rather than choose a sport that defines him, Scott said he's "an athlete" - one who has an important decision to make. Approached last week after batting practice at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Scott indicated he might stick with football if he's selected this weekend.

Navy coach Paul Johnson indicated yesterday that he didn't suffer any eye strain reviewing his team's 41-24 loss to No. 15 Rutgers - a performance he considered way, way below par. "It wasn't that hard to see [the lack of] effort," said Johnson, who, with his assistant coaches, counted 62 offenses, 31 on each side of the ball. "You don't have to look that close. We grade technique, assignment and effort. If they don't play to the whistle, that's a [lack of] effort. Ball State @Navy Saturday, 5 p.m., 1090 AM Line: Navy by 7

As the NFL draft begins to unfold tomorrow, with teams making their selections in the first three rounds, Lorenzo Scott will be on the clock. An outfielder at Single-A Delmarva, Scott doubled as a linebacker at Ball State. Rather than choose a sport that defines him, Scott said he's "an athlete" - one who has an important decision to make. Approached last week after batting practice at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Scott indicated he might stick with football if he's selected this weekend.