LITTLE ROCK — WISCONSIN
Andersen to be hired
Gary Andersen publicly pledged his allegiance to Utah State not long ago, but now he is on the verge of becoming Wisconsin’s coach.
Wisconsin reportedly will hire Andersen to replace Bret Bielema, who left the Badgers earlier this month to take the Arkansas job.
The news about Andersen broke Tuesday night, but neither Utah State nor Wisconsin had anything official to announce about Andersen on Wednesday. The delay is at least in part tied to laws in Wisconsin that require a state job to be posted for at least two weeks before it can be filled. The two-week posting was up at the end of business Wednesday.
The school is expected to introduce Andersen at a news conference today, but a snowstorm might change those plans.
Andersen, 48, just completed his fourth and best season at Utah State. The 18th-ranked Aggies finished 11-2 with a bowl victory against Toledo and won the Western Athletic Conference.
It’s been a remarkable rise for a program that had been near the bottom of major college football for years and stuck in distant third in its own state behind BYU and Utah. The Aggies won nine games in the previous four seasons before Andersen took over. The last football coach to finish his tenure in Logan, Utah, with a winning record was Phil Krueger who went 21-12 from 1973-75.
Andersen drew interest from California, Colorado and Kentucky last month but decided to pass on those opportunities and received a contract extension from Utah State.
CLEMSON
Breeland out for bowl
CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson starting cornerback Bashaud Breelandwill miss the Chick-Fil-A Bowl because of a groin injury.
Coach Dabo Swinney said Breeland would have surgery today. Clemson (10-2) will take on LSU (10-2) at the Georgia Dome on New Year’s Eve.
Breeland started five of the first seven games for Clemson, but he played in just three of the final five games because of the injury. Swinney said Breeland had been practicing and hoped to be ready to face LSU.
Breeland finished the season with 32 tackles, 3 passes broken up and 1 sack.
OREGON Case headed to hearing?
Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday that Oregon is likely headed toward a hearing with the NCAA committee on infractions after it couldn’t resolve an investigation of the football coaching staff’s use of a scouting service.
Yahoo cited two unidentified sources in a report Wednesday.
The NCAA investigated Oregon after questions arose over a 2010 payment of $25,000 to Willie Lyles and his Houston-based recruiting service. Lyles had a relationship with a player from Texas who committed to Oregon.
In July 2011, Lyles told Yahoo Sports the money was for influencing recruits to attend Oregon.
Earlier this year, Oregon requested a summary disposition in the case. The school presented a report to the infractions committee outlining violations the school believed occurred and appropriate sanctions. But that request was apparently turned down.
“The integrity of the process and our continued full cooperation with the NCAA prohibits us from publicly discussing the specifics of this matter,” Oregon said in a statement Wednesday night.
Sports, Pages 23 on 12/20/2012