Jim Tressel Resigns as Ohio State Head Coach

By Justin Worsley,

Jim Tressel has resigned as the head coach at Ohio State according to the Columbus Dispatch, ending an era that began with winning the National Championship and ending with a scandal.

Assistant head coach Luke Fickell will serve as the interim head coach for the upcoming season.

Tressel, 58, was hired by Ohio State in 2001 to replace John Cooper. In 2002, Tressel led the Buckeyes to their seventh National Championship and their first since 1970. Ohio State also made it to the 2007 and 2008 National Championship games, where they lost to Florida and LSU.

Ohio State has gone 106-22 under Tressel, the second-best winning percentage by a Buckeyes head coach. The Buckeyes have also dominated their rivalry with Michigan under Tressel, going 9-1 including a current seven-game winning streak.

While Tressel may be known for returning Ohio State to prominence as well as the sweater vest he routinely wore during his tenure, he ends his career under scrutiny. Just before the Sugar Bowl, the NCAA discovered that several players were selling autographed jerseys or one of their Big Ten championship rings to tattoo parlor owner Edward Rife, who has been arrested by the FBI for drug trafficking. The NCAA later found out that Tressel knew of the players activity and suspended him for two games and fined him $250,000. The five players, most notably quarterback Terrelle Pryor, will be forced to sit out the first five games this season.

Before coming to Ohio State, Tressel served as the head coach of Youngstown State, where he won four Division I-AA National Championships.

Garcia Suspended by South Carolina

By Justin Worsley,

The South Carolina Gamecocks have suspended quarterback Stephen Garcia indefinitely.

Though there has been no official release from the school citing the reason why he was suspended, sources have told ESPN.com that Garcia was loud and disruptive at a mandatory team leadership meeting last Tuesday. When approached by coaches, Garcia had alcohol on his breath.

This is the fifth suspension for Garcia, and second this spring, since joining South Carolina in 2007. Less than two weeks ago, Garcia vowed to not get in trouble again.

Garcia has been the starting quarterback for South Carolina since the 2009 season. Last year, he led the Gamecocks to their first ever Southeastern Conference Championship game and to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, where they lost to Florida State.

Last season, Garcia completed 224 of 349 passes for 3,059 yards with 20 touchdown and 14 interceptions.

Head coach Steve Spurrier, a former quarterback for Florida, has not set a timetable for Garcia's return, but did say that he, athletic director Eric Hyman and University President Harris Pastedes would meet after the spring to decide when Garcia should return.

Duke PG Kyrie Irving to Enter NBA Draft

By Justin Worsley,

Duke University point guard announced on Wednesday that he will forgo the rest of his collegiate eligibility and enter the upcoming NBA Draft.

Irving, 19, missed 26 games this season while battling a sever ligament injury in his right toe. The injury, which Irving suffered on Dec. 8, caused him to miss the rest of the regular season.

Irving returned in time for the NCAA tournament and was a force for the Blue Devils, scoring 28 points off of the bench in the Blue Devils season-ending loss to Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen.

In 11 collegiate games, Irving averaged 17.5 points and 4.3 assists per game and Duke was 10-1 in game that Irving played. He is the one of the highest rated prospects in the nation for the upcoming draft.

Along with Irving, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith, both seniors, will also not be with the program next season.

Matt Painter to Visit Missouri Officials

By Justin Worsley,

Purdue head coach Matt Painter will meet with Missouri athletic director Mike Alden on Tuesday to discuss the Tigers head coaching vacancy according to ESPN.com.

Painter, 40, was hired by the Boilermakers in 2004 as a coach-in-waiting for Gene Keady who was retiring following the season's end. Since taking over the team in 2005, Painter has won the Big Ten Coach of the Year award three times, including this season and has a career record of 155-66, including a 130-61 record with Purdue.

Purdue has also made two Sweet Sixteen appearances under Painter and has four consecutive seasons of 25 or more wins.

Former Tigers head coach Mike Anderson left the team last week to become the head coach at Arkansas, where he spent 17 years as an assistant.

Missouri is reportedly willing to offer Painter a seven-year, $14 million contract, similar to the offer they gave to Anderson in an attempt to keep him with Missouri.

2011 March Madness Preview

By Brian Harris

Another national pastime is about to take over as on Tuesday, March Madness begins. With the addition of three more play-in games, four more teams get to go to the Big Dance. This year’s college basketball season has shown quite a bit of parity amongst the major conference landscape. If there was a year for a mid-major to finish the job that Butler started and came within an inch of finishing the job, this year is it. Here now is my region-by-region breakdown of this year’s Mens’ NCAA Tournament.

East
This region is Ohio State’s to lose. This will not be a complete cakewalk for the Buckeyes, as I see both George Mason and definitely Kentucky giving OSU some early-round agita. The real story of intrigue is in the bottom half of the bracket where Xavier and Washington will make a lot of noise by beating teams like Syracuse and a younger than usual North Carolina. But in the end, OSU’s season-long success will be too much for Washington to handle.
Winner-Ohio State

West
Another year, another walk-in-the park type of bracket for Duke and I’m saying this as a Duke fan. Apart from Temple exposing San Diego St. as a one-hit wonder and UConn continuing their buzz saw-like run for a couple of more wins, this will be a slip-n-slide for the Blue Devils into the Final Four in Houston.
Winner-Duke

Southwest
This is the region that will, for the most part, fall in line with conventional wisdom. The one and two seeds, Kansas and Notre Dame, are the two best teams in the region and will face each other in the regional finals, with Kansas eking out a close. What will be the most interesting thing to come out of this bracket is USC being the first team to make it to the Sweet 16 out of a play-in game. On a minor note, look for the Richmond Spiders to also make it to the Sweet 16 and St. Peter’s to upset Purdue.
Winner-Kansas

Southeast
This region is chockfull with bracket-busting mines all throughout. Also factor in two weak top seeds in Pitt and Florida and what you get is a nightmare for those millions of people who spend hours mulling over picks. One thing that I learned over the years when it comes to March Madness is to never count out Tom Izzo and the Spartans of Michigan State. I foresee another run for of State, in which they will finally shut up the Jimmer Fredette bandwagon on their way to beating K-State, who will dispatch the underwhelming Pitt Panthers. I would love to have St. Johns go over Gonzaga but the loss of DJ Kennedy is way too much to counterbalance.
Winner-Michigan State

So my Final Four is Ohio St., Duke, Kansas and Michigan St. Duke has been a little shaky at times this year and I feel that OSU can hold on against Smith, Singler and company. On the other side of the bracket, yet another feel-good run by Michigan State will be snuffed out at the Final Four courtesy of Kansas. The final will be an absolute barnburner and slugfest, but this is where OSU’s dependence on its freshman star Jared Sullinger will hurt them as Kansas outlasts the Buckeyes and makes it two titles in the last three years, making up for last year’s shocking early exit.
National Champion-Kansas

If you still haven't filled out your bracket yet,a copy of the bracket has been made for the Working Title courtesy of Brigitte Volochinsky and is available here

Oklahoma Fires Jeff Capel

By Justin Worsley,

Two years ago, the Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball program went 30-6 and found themselves in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

Today, the program is an embarrassing 14-18 and according to reports, head coach Jeff Capel is out of a job.

The Sooners ended their season last weekend with a blowout 74-54 loss to conference rival Texas in the Big XII tournament. In five years, Capel has compiled a 96-69 record, but in the last two seasons, Oklahoma has gone a combined 27-36, including 9-23 in the Big XII.

One of the biggest reasons that Oklahoma has failed to build on their 30-win season is due to the departure of Blake Griffin. The forward left the Sooners after his sophomore year and went on to become the first-overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Griffin won the Oscar Robertson Award in 2009 as the nationa's top basketball player.

Capel is the second head coach in the Big XII to lose his job in the past week. Texas Tech fired Pat Knight a week ago.

Ohio State Awarded No. 1 Seed in NCAA Tournament

By Justin Worsley,

The Ohio State Buckeyes were given the first-overall seed and the Big East sent 11 teams in the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.

Defending national champions Duke, Kansas and Pittsburgh were also given top seeds for their region. Duke will attempt to become the first team since Florida in 2006-07 to win back-to-back national titles.

This year's tournament will also feature three more at-large bids for the first time, expanding the bracket from 65 teams to 68. The "first four" games in the inaugural season of the new bracket include Texas-San Antonio vs. Alabama State, USC vs. Virginia Commonwealth, UAB vs. Clemson and North Carolina-Asheville vs. Arkansas-Little Rock.

Ohio State went 32-2 this season to secure the top seed and will try to win their first national championship since 1960.

Second seeds include Notre Dame, North Carolina, San Diego State and Florida.

The opening round of the tournament begins on Wednesday. A copy of the bracket has been made for the Working Title courtesy of Brigitte Volochinsky and is available here.

Texas Tech Fires Pat Knight

By Justin Worsley,

Texas Tech has fired Pat Knight after three season at the university, according to ESPN.com.

The Red Raiders are 13-18 this season, including 4-12 in the Big 12 conference. Knight will coach the team through the Big 12 tournament and step down after.

Knight, who was given the job after his father, Bob Knight, retired in 2008, has a 46-53 career record at Texas Tech and only one winning season. The Red Raiders started the 2009-10 season off 9-0, but quickly faded before being knocked out of the first round of the NIT by Ole Miss, finishing the season with a 19-16 record.

Texas Tech travels to Kansas City to face no. 24 Missouri in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday.

Forcier No Longer With Michigan

By Justin Worsley,

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon announced that sophomore quarterback Tate Forcier was no longer with the program on Wednesday during new head coach Brady Hoke's introductory press conference.

Forcier was ruled academically ineligible during the Wolverines 52-14 loss to Mississippi State.

During the 2009 season, Forcier was named the starting quarterback by then head coach Rich Rodriguez. He was only the third quarterback in school history to be the opening day starter as a true freshman.

The Wolverines began the season successful under Forcier, going 4-0 for the first time since 2006, however, the team struggled for the rest of the year and finished 5-7.

Forcier found himself on the second-team offense during the annual Michigan Spring Game. Fellow sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson replaced Forcier as the starter.

Robinson went on to start opening day and took college football by storm, creating hype as a Heisman Trophy contender. During the Wolverines opening day win over UConn, Forcier was seen on the sidelines sulking in the game's closing minutes. The following Monday, reports came out that Forcier was possibly seeking a transfer.

Forcier did stay at the school, however, and continued to serve as Robinson's backup. The 20-year-old is not enrolled at the university this semester.

In eight games last year, Forcier passed for 597 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions.

Michigan Names Brady Hoke Head Coach

By Justin Worsley,

After failed attempts at getting Jim Harbaugh and Les Miles to take over the Michigan football program, the Wolverines finally found their Michigan man.

The university announced on Tuesday that San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke will take over a program that went 15-23 in the past three seasons under Rich Rodriguez's command.

Hoke, who served as the program's defensive line coach between 1995 and 2002, was also the head coach at Ball State. In 2008, Hoke's last season as the Cardinals head coach, the team started off 12-0 before losing both the MAC Championship and the GMAC Bowl. When Hoke first entered the program in 2003, Ball State had not had a winning season since 1996.

San Diego State was 2-10 in 2008 before Hoke took over. The Aztecs went 9-4 and won their first bowl game since 1969.

Once a powerhouse program, Michigan has fallen on hard times. The Wolverines began the 2007 ranked second in the nation, but fell to FCS foe Appalachian State in the season opener and found themselves struggling to return to the Top 25.

Last season's 7-6 campaign was the only winning year under Rodriguez.

Michigan brass targeted Harbaugh immediately after firing Rodriguez. Harbaugh, a former Wolverines quarterback, helped Stanford win 12 games this year, a school record.

The attraction of the NFL was just too much for Harbaigh, however, and he eventually took the head coaching job at San Francisco.

Miles, the current LSU coach, is not only a former Michigan athlete, but an offensive line coach as well. Miles, however, decided to remain with the Tigers after meeting with Michigan Monday night. Miles won the National Championship with LSU in 2007.

Hoke, 52, is 47-50 in his career including 1-1 in bowl games.

Rutgers QB Savage to Transfer

By Justin Worsley,

Last season, Rutgers entered the season with high hopes of winning the Big East conference due to the stellar performance of freshman quarterback Tom Savage the previous year.

Now, the quarterback who was once the face of the program will transfer.

Savage, who was named to the All-American Freshman Team in 2009, was granted his release by head coach Greg Schiano on Saturday.

Savage suffered a sophomore slump this season and was replaced by freshman Chas Dodd when he injured his hand during a loss to Tulane.

When Savage returned. however, he was found himself holding the clipboard as the Scarlet Knights kept Dodd as their starter.

Savage passed for 2,732 yards with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 18 games with Rutgers.

The Scarlet Knights did not see as much success with Dodd at quarterback. Rutgers went 4-8 this season, including 1-6 in the Big East.

Savage, a Pennsylvania native, has not used his redshirt, which will be attractive for school looking into the 20-year-old criminal justice major.

In High school, Savage was also looking at Miami, Penn State and Michigan.

Running back Casey Turner also announced that he would transfer to Florida A&M.

Andrew Luck Stays in School

By Justin Worsley,

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck announced in Thursday that he will return to school next season instead of entering the NFL Draft.

Luck, a redshirt sophomore, was projected as the best overall player available in the draft. The Carolina Panthers, who hold the first-overall pick, stated on Wednesday that they were interested in Luck.

Luck is an architectural design major who will earn his degree next spring. In a statement, Luck said "I am committed to earning my degree in architectural design from Stanford University and am on track to accomplish this at the completion of the spring quarter of 2012."

Luck's decision to stay may also impact the future of head coach Jim Harbuagh. Harbaugh has been courted by several NFL teams this week, including the 49ers and the Dolphins, however, with Luck staying for one more season, Harbaugh could decide he wants to stay for another year as well.

According to ESPN Scouts Inc. Todd McShay, Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert is now the top quarterback available.

After Luck announced his decison, Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett announced his intention to enter the draft.

Luck finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton. Luck was the nation's most efficient passer with a 170.16 rating and 3,338 passing yards and 32 touchdowns to only eight interceptions. He also completed over 70-percent of his passes.

Michigan Officially Fires Rodriguez

By Justin Worsley,

The University of Michigan spent their entire Tuesday afternoon downplaying rumors that the school had decided to fire head coach Rich Rodriguez.

On Wednesday, they spent the day confirming the rumors. Athletic director Dave Brandon announced the decision after meeting with Rodriguez on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Rodriguez was 15-22 in three seasons as the head coach for the NCAA's winningest program, but the team steadily had a better season each year. The Wolverines went 3-9 in Rodriguez's inaugural season, 5-7 last season and 7-6 this year.

The team, however, struggled against ranked programs, going 2-11 against those schools. Under Rodriguez, the Wolverines went a combined 0-6 against Ohio State and Michigan State.

The program was also marred by a NCAA violation in which Rodriguez held practice for more hours than he was allowed to. Michigan ultimately sanctioned themselves with two years of probation and a reduction in practice hours.

The Wolverines began the season 5-0, but quickly faded out on their way to a 2-6 finish. The team played in the Gator Bowl, their only bowl game under Rodriguez, where they were decimated by Mississippi State 52-14.

When Rodriguez left West Virginia for Michigan, he carried a reputation for creating a great spread offense attack. He will leave the Big House with a reputation of creating a poor defense. Michigan twice broke the school record for yards allowed and points allowed under Rodriguez.

Rumors have stated that Michigan is very interested in former Wolverines quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who is currently the head coach of Stanford.

Pitt Gets Second Chance to Hire Head Coach

By Justin Worsley,

The University of Pittsburgh made a mistake three weeks ago when they announced that Mike Haywood would replace Dave Wannstedt as their head coach. And now they have a chance to redeem themselves.

Haywood was arrested on Friday for a domestic battery charge against an unnamed woman who is the mother of his child in South Bend, Indiana. On Saturday, Pitt fired Haywood was their head coach.

Pitt alumni, players and fans never had a warm reaction to the hiring of Haywood and he never did anything to impress them either. In Haywood's introduction speech, he never once mentioned winning, but instead how he planned to discipline players and to mandate that they attended classes.

While students are in college for their education, Haywood failed to realize he took a coaching job in the Big East, not the MAC, where teams compete for a BCS Bowl and winning is more important. The MAC has the highest graduation rate among the BCS conferences.

It also was apparent that Pitt did not spend much time in the search for a head coach. Haywood spent the last two seasons as head coach at Miami of Ohio. In his first season, the RedHawks went 1-11 and had a turnaround season in 2010, going 9-4 and surprisingly winning the MAC title over Northern Illinois.

The MAC, however, was a much weaker conference this season compared to last year. The bottom three teams in the East Division, which Miami plays in, went a combined 5-35. The RedHawks were also an embarrassment outside of conference play. The defeated Colorado State 31-10, but they went 3-9. Florida, Missouri and Cincinnati romped the RedHawks by an average score of 43.3-9.3 Division rival Ohio also pounded Miami 34-13. In fact, the only two teams who had a winning record that Miami beat was Temple and Northern Illinois in the conference championship game.

Out of the 18 recruits slated to play for the Panthers in 2011, at least half of them are reconsidering their choices and looking at other schools. If Pitt wants to maintain these recruits, which includes four-star athlete Terrell Chestnut and defensive tackle Khaynin Mosley-Smith, they will need to reach out and find a coach with a winning attitude. Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is still available as well as recently fired coach Ralph Friedgen. Athletic director Scott Pederson also has ties with Kansas head coach Turner Gill. Gill was the quarterback coach at Nebraska when Pederson was the athletic director.

Whoever Pitt does decide to hire, it needs to happen within the next three days. January is the busiest month for coaches because National Signing Day is a month away. When a program enters a new regime, it is a rough transition year as recruits look elsewhere and new coaches have to sell people on a system which hasn't been played yet.

Pitt did fire Haywood at the right time though. Haywood has yet to hold a practice, recruit any players or even hold a team meeting. He hasn't even moved into Wannstedt's office. Basically, Haywood has done nothing in the three weeks in which he was at the helm of Pittsburgh's football program.

The Panthers play in a prestigious NFL football town and if they want their program to be on that level, they need to make a correct hire now.

FIU Baseball Player Arrested on Rape Charges

By Justin Worsley,

Last spring, Florida International shortstop Garrett Wittels was making headlines as he ended his season with a 56-game hitting streak, two games shy of former Oklahoma State first baseman Robin Ventura's record.

Now, he is making headlines for other reasons. NBCSports.com has reported that Wittels, 20, has been arrested in the Bahamas along with two friends for the alleged rape of two 17-year-old girls.

Wittels and his friends were released last Thursday on a $10,000 bond. The incident occurred on Dec. 20 at the Atlantis Resort and Casino. The age of consent in the Bahamas is 16.

According to Wittels' father, Michael, Garrett is guilty of nothing and is simply being accused by the girls because of who he is.

Wittels' eligibility could possibly be in jeopardy for the upcoming season. The Panthers open their season with a three-game series against Southeastern Louisiana between Feb. 18-20. Wittels hit .417 last season.

Pryor Among Five Buckeyes Suspended Five Games Next Season

By Justin Worsley,

The NCAA ruled on Thursday that Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four other Buckeyes must sit out the first five games of the 2011 season for receiving improper benefits and one other player will have to sit out one game for receiving a discounted service.

Though the players are suspended, they are still eligible to play on Jan. 4 in the Sugar Bowl when the no. 6 Buckeyes play no. 8 Arkansas.

Along with Pryor, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams, Daniel Herron and Solomon Thomas were suspended. They most also repay between $1,000 to $2,500 to charity.

Jordan Whiting will pay $150 to a charity along with his one game suspension.

Head coach Jim Tressel announced in a press conference that he believes only one or two of the named players filed for the NFL Draft in April, however, did not name the players or was aware of whether or not they would be able to escape punishment by going pro.

The players sold game-worn jerseys, pants and other equipment as well as their Big Ten championship ring from the 2008 season. All six players except Whiting are juniors.

The first game they will be eligible will be the Oct. 8 matchup against the newest member of the Big Ten, Nebraska.

Chip Kelly Named Coach of the Year

By Justin Worsley,

Oregon coach Chip Kelly was named the Associated Press coach of the year on Wednesday, beating out several candidates, including Auburn's Gene Chizik and TCU's Gary Patterson.

Kelly, who is in his second year with the Ducks, guided Oregon to and undefeated season and will face Chizik's Tigers in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. At one point of the season, no. 2 Oregon was the top-ranked team in the nation, a first in school history.

Kelly received 24 of the 55 votes, edging Chizik's 17. Stanford's Jim Harbaugh received 5 votes while Patterson and Michigan State's Mark Dantonio both received three votes.

Chizik also fell short in the voting for SEC coach of the year, which went to South Carolina's Steve Spurrier after the Gamecocks won their first ever SEC East division title. Spurrier has won the award seven times as well as winning the ACC coach of the year award twice.

Kelly was also named the Pac-10 coach of the year as well the recipient of the Walter Camp Award. He is the first Pac-10 coach to be named the coach of the year by the Associated Press. Patterson won the award in 2009.

The Ducks first brought Kelly in as an offensive coordinator in 2007, the same position he held previously in New Hampshire. Utilizing a spread offense, which replies on the speed of the skill position players to cause big gains against defenses, Oregon saw their win total increase each season.

When the 2008 season ended, former head coach Mike Bellotti knew he could trust Kelly with the team and handed over the keys to the program as Bellotti took over the job as athletic director.

Now, in just his second season, the 47-year-old Kelly has exceeded expectations of both Bellotti and Duck nation as well as delivered Oregon to their first shot at the national title.

Wannstedt Resigns at Pitt

By Justin Worsley,

Congratulations, Dave Wannstedt coaching the University of Pittsburgh to their first Big East title since 2004. Now, it will cost you your job.

The university announced on Tuesday that Wannstedt will resign from his position as head coach after the Panthers finished 7-5, failing to meet expectations in a weak Big East conference this season.

Wannstedt, 58, will remain on the program as a special assistant to the school's athletic director, Steve Pederson.

Wannstedt, a former offensive lineman for the school, felt pressure from the organization to resign and Pitt wanted to change head coaches now instead of after their minor bowl game, the Compass Bowl against Kentucky (6-6), so that they are able to obtain one of the top candidates available as well as have a system set up for national letter-of-intent day, which is Feb. 2.

The Panthers went 42-31 under Wannstedt and 1-1 in postseason play. Between 2008-10, Pitt went 26-12. Only the Dan Marino-led Panthers, who went 33-3, had a better record in three seasons.

Wannstedt was also a head coach for the Chicago Bears and the Miami Dolphins in the NFL.

The Panthers also struggled against their rivals under Wannstedt. West Virginia went 4-2 in the Backyard Brawl while Cincinnati won their first two River City Rivalry games.

No coach has been named yet for the Compass Bowl.

Eastbound and Down

By Justin Worsley,

Texas Christian University has formally accepted an invitation to join the Big East Conference as a full-time member effective July 1, 2012.

TCU will become the 17th member of the conference, however, only the ninth in the football division. This is the third conference TCU has been a member of in the last 10 years. The Horned Frogs were a member of Conference-USA between 2001-05 before bolting to the Mountain West Conference.

By joining the Big East, TCU is now a member of an automatic qualifying conference for a national title game. The Horned Frogs are currently 12-0 and began the season ranked sixth in the Associated Press poll, but may be on the outside looking in for the National Championship after Auburn and Oregon leap-frogged them during the season. In the latest poll, TCU received one first-place vote, behind Oregon's 36 votes and Auburn's 23.

The Big East has also extended an invitation to Villanova to become the conferences 10th football member. Villanova is a member in every sport except football, where they play in the Colonial Athletic Association, an FCS conference.

Miami Fires Head Coach Shannon

By Justin Worsley,

The University of Miami in Florida has fired head coach Randy Shannon just hours after losing to the University of South Florida 23-20 in overtime.

Miami began the season ranked 13th in the Coaches' Poll and re-entered the poll on two other occasions this season, but lost back-to-back games to Virginia Tech and South Florida to finished the season 7-5.

Shannon, 44, was given a new four-year contract last May. Since taking over the team in 2007, Shannon has gone 28-22 including losing both bowl games Miami played in.

Miami was hoping Shannon would help return a National Championship to the university. Shannon was the starting outside linebacker on the 1987 National Championship winning team for Miami. He also had a brief NFL career for the Dallas Cowboys.

Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland will be named interim head coach for Miami's bowl game. The university will find out which bowl game they will be invited to later this month. Shannon was just one of five black head coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision.