Seminoles

College football Music City Bowl 4 p.m. [ESPN] With Florida State - minus a chunk of its roster suspended for suspected academic misdeeds - facing Kentucky, the Seminoles might need to be creative in filling out their roster. With this bowl being played in country music's capital, Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden could check on how much eligibility Brooks and Dunn have left.

With only two full days of practice heading into tonight's 7:30 ESPN-televised game at Wake Forest, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was a tad concerned yesterday about his starting quarterback missing one of those days. It turned out Xavier Lee had a valid excuse - he was meeting with a professor. "Of course, as soon as we got off the field, there he was, with his tutor, explaining to us what had happened," Bowden said. "We were hoping and praying he'd get out early, but he didn't." If anyone needed the practice time for the Demon Deacons, it might have been Lee, whose poor performance in last year's 30-0 loss to Wake Forest had him benched before halftime.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Baltimore-based developer of its two Hard Rock hotel and casino complexes settled a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit yesterday, ending a 10-month legal fight. The terms were unclear last night, but the tentative agreement reached in March was for $756 million. Initial terms called for the tribe to pay $231 million -- in $10.5 million annual payments for 22 years -- and lend an additional $525 million to Cordish Co. and its affiliate, Power Plant Entertainment.

A pending settlement that would end the Indian casino partnership between the Cordish Co. and the Seminole Tribe of Florida will result in the Baltimore development firm and its partners earning roughly $1.3 billion from the deal. Cordish built the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino complexes in Tampa, Fla., and Hollywood, Fla., but fell out of favor with the tribe soon after the casinos opened in 2004. Each side has sued the other over matters related to the deal - a development project that company President David S. Cordish once called his "proudest accomplishment" - but those lawsuits are now expected to end. Even as it collapses, the contract has garnered Cordish subsidiary Power Plant Entertainment one of the largest development fees in the history of Indian gaming.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- There was an impressive series against Maryland last night when Al Thornton, Florida State's star forward, plucked the ball out of a young Terp's hands, drove it down the court and punctuated the play with a one-handed dunk. Thornton, who scored a game-high 27 points, had his way with Maryland, but that wasn't entirely unexpected -- he scored 27 on the Terps last year, too. The difference was that Florida State's three starting guards also scored at will against Maryland last night.

Connecticut, Indiana and Kentucky all recruited 6-foot-3 guard Jason Rich, but as a 2004 high school senior, he instead chose Florida State because he wanted to "help start something." NBA scouts recruited senior Al Thornton last year, but the 6-foot-8 forward chose to return to Florida State - to finish something. Thornton wanted one more chance at playing in the NCAA tournament, somewhere Florida State hasn't been since 1998. Maryland@Florida State Tonight, 8 p.m., Ch. 54, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM Line: Florida State by 3

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Seminole Tribe's purchase of the Hard Rock Cafe International chain won approval yesterday, a month after the $965 million deal was announced and despite a lawsuit by the Cordish Co. of Baltimore. Shareholders of Rank Group, LLC of London approved the sale with a "show of hands" at a special meeting, Rank executives said in statement. The outcome was expected despite allegations made in a recent lawsuit accusing the tribe and others of rigging the bid in favor of the Seminoles.

Cordish Co. has sued the Seminole Tribe of Florida, accusing it of secretly colluding with the management of the Hard Rock Cafe to rig the bidding for the legendary restaurant and casino chain and shut out the Baltimore developer. Cordish and its affiliate, Power Plant Entertainment LLC, allege that Hard Rock USA conspired with the tribe months before Hard Rock's parent company, the Rank Group, announced Dec. 7 that it would sell the chain to the Seminoles for $965 million. Hard Rock USA managers, including chief executive Hamish Dodds, excluded Cordish and others from bidding in exchange for the tribe agreeing to keep Hard Rock USA management in place, according to the lawsuit, filed late Friday in Circuit Court in Broward County, Fla. "Because of these personal incentives and conflicts, Hard Rock management ... interfered with plaintiffs' likelihood of purchasing the Hard Rock Business," the suit claims.

Whatever you want to know about Florida State basketball, go ahead and "Ask Al." He might just answer it. Senior star forward and NBA prospect Al Thornton is the only player on the Seminoles' roster with his own school-sponsored Web site - www.althornton12.com - and it features a question-and-answer forum. "The Web site is kind of interesting," Thornton, 6 feet 8, 220 pounds, said. "Sometimes I get some off-the-wall questions I really can't respond to, but it's a success." It's also one more responsibility that has come with his team-high 15.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.

COLLEGE PARK -- The final drive lasted about five minutes. It felt more like days. Florida State held the football. And passed it. And ran with it. The Seminoles did everything with it except score, allowing Maryland to escape last night with a 27-24 victory that brought fans storming onto the Byrd Stadium field and made the Terrapins bowl-eligible for the first time in three years. Some defenses bend without breaking. Maryland's was twisted like a roller coaster as the Seminoles rallied from a 27-14 deficit.