Big Ten Denies Ref Fixed Football Games

Illini, Mizzou organizers grapple with nightmare logistics

(NEWSER) - The Big Ten conference has given Illinois $2.1 million to spend on its nine-day, 600-head Rose Bowl jaunt—a sign of the times, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in an era of increasingly lavish college football bowls. The Missouri Tigers program, meanwhile, will have to make do with a budget of only $1.3 million for the 800 people it has joining the team's Cotton Bowl trip to Dallas. Advantage: Illini. More»

Offensive Coordinator Bill O'Brien will still finish playoffs with Pats

(NEWSER) - Penn State has at last found its replacement for Joe Paterno: New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien will take the job, sources tell Chris Mortensen of ESPN , with another league source saying O'Brien will finish out the playoffs with the Pats before starting his new gig. Penn State coaches contacted by the AP , however, said they'd received no word yet that a hire had been made. More»

Former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky charged with 40 counts of sexually abusing boys

(NEWSER) - Penn State's storied football program is reeling from a sex scandal that touches its top ranks: Longtime former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was yesterday charged with sexually molesting up to eight boys, and the school's athletic director and a vice president are expected to surrender tomorrow on perjury charges for failing to alert cops to the abuse, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer . A grand jury investigation yielded 40 charges spanning decades against Sandusky—20 of which allegedly took place while he worked for Joe Paterno, and the rest after his retirement in 1999, as he used Penn State facilities for his work with the Second Mile, a foundation for at-risk boys. More»

(AP) - Southern California made a strong case of its own to be No. 1 as it manhandled Penn State in the Rose Bowl, 38-24. Mark Sanchez passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns, and USC dominated on defense. Out of the BCS championship mix, the fifth-ranked Trojans (12-1) could only wonder what might have been had they not lost at Oregon State 27-21 in September. More»

(AP) - Penn State coach Joe Paterno has a new three-year contract extension to go along with his new hip. The Hall of Famer and winningest coach in major college football history will keep the post he has held for 43 years through 2011. Terms were not made public. Paterno, who turns 82 this weekend, had hip-replacement surgery last month. His No. 6 Nittany Lions play No. 5 USC in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. More»