| Tuesday, November 11, 2014 |
| In Honoring Veterans, MSU Rose Garden Also Serves Campus, Community | |
 | National Veterans Day will be celebrated Tuesday but one location at Mississippi State serves as a permanent, year-round outdoor tribute to former U.S. service members, including the more than 220,000 in the Magnolia State. The university's Veterans Memorial Rose Garden is located across State Highway 182 from the main campus at the entrance of R. R. Foil Plant Science Research Center -- commonly known as North Farm. "The mission of the garden is to serve as a bridge between the community and university," said Guihong Bi. "We want this to be a place that honors veterans and gives back to the community. We strive to promote community involvement and are finding ways to expand that," added the associate research professor of plant and soil sciences who oversees garden operations. |
| Singer/songwriter Randy Newman to perform at MSU Riley Center | |
 | Randy Newman is one of popular music's great songwriters, known for his croaky voice and humorous lyrics that are often sarcastic and always observant. He has long been one of the most musically and lyrically ambitious singer-songwriters in popular music. The MSU Riley Center's historic stage in downtown Meridian will host this prolific artist on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $59 and $53 at the MSU Riley Center box office. |
| Models to Exhibit 'High Trashion' at MSU Trashion Show | |
| Trash will be trending at Mississippi State University's sixth annual Trashion Show. MSU Fashion Board models will walk the runway on The Bridge in Giles Architecture Building at the free, public "High Trashion" show on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The clothes they'll be wearing will be made of recyclables, repurposed as handcrafted fashions, said Aryn Phillips, senior architecture major and MSU-chapter president of NOMAS, the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students. |
| Clarke County resident inducted into MSU Society of Scholars | |
| Twenty-four Mississippi State seniors are new members of the university's prestigious Society of Scholars in the Arts and Sciences, including Danielle Marie Moulds, daughter of the Ivan and Melba Moulds from Clarke County. Established in 1981 the honor organization recognizes top university students each semester from all majors who have demonstrated the highest standard of academic excellence, and who also have pursued a broad exposure to courses in the arts, sciences, and humanities. A psychology major at Mississippi State University-Meridian, Moulds was a member of Psi Chi National Honor Society, the Psychology Club and earned a 4.0 GPA. |
| Photo: Getting a Leg Up at MSU-Meridian | |
| Greg Duke, Central Region Manager for Audits, Mississippi Department of Revenue, conducted an informational interview with Cheryl Stringer, a MSU-Meridian accounting major from Ellisville Monday morning. Fourteen students signed up for the interviews to learn about accounting positions available with the state agency. The interviews were set up by Heather Richardson Woodall, senior coordinator for the Career Center at MSU-Meridian. |
| Farmtastic Event At MSU Horse Park | |
| Some Starkville area kids are getting a lesson they'll take home to their parents about where food, clothing and other daily products come from. The MSU Horse Park on Poorhouse Road is turned into a farm with learning stations. Farm animals are a part of seven exhibits at the "Farmtastic" event where thousands of area third graders are experiencing agriculture at their fingertips. "Most of our children these days are three to four generations removed from the farm. And they don't understand that agriculture affects their daily lives," said Julie White, MSU Extension Agent. |
| Researcher: Wild hogs not a mere nuisance | |
 | Wild hogs are a nuisance and potential danger to farmers and landowners throughout the United States. Brought to the Americas by early Spanish explorers as a livestock animal and later transported by hunting enthusiasts, wild hogs have spread rapidly throughout the Southeast. The Mississippi State University Extension Service is currently working with farmers and landowners to quantify the economic impact of wild hog damage in the state. They are also investigating the public's perception and knowledge of wild hogs. Future research will involve quantifying wild hog damage to public lands as well as damage resulting from human-hog interactions in urban areas. |
| OCEDA leader unveils delayed financial plan | |
 | The Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority is expected to operate a $735,700 budget with an equal amount of revenues and expenditures during the current fiscal year. OCEDA President Jack Wallace unveiled the document to county supervisors last week after health issues delayed his work until after Oct. 1, the start of Fiscal Year 2014-2015. The organization's three primary sources of income -- a 15 percent cut of Starkville's total 2 percent food and beverage tax returns and Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park rent-sharing and lease agreements -- are estimated to produce enough income to balance out OCEDA's planned expenses. |
| Presidential medal to honor 3 slain civil rights workers | |
 | President Barack Obama announced 19 recipients Monday of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, including three civil rights workers killed by the KKK in Mississippi in 1964. "From activists who fought for change to artists who explored the furthest reaches of our imagination; from scientists who kept America on the cutting edge to public servants who help write new chapters in our American story, these citizens have made extraordinary contributions to our country and the world," he said. The medal will be awarded on Nov. 24 to the families of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were killed on June 21, 1964, near Philadelphia, Mississippi. |
| KiOR intends to find buyer for bankrupt plant | |
| KiOR Inc., a biofuels manufacturer, is seeking bankruptcy reorganization, though its Columbus facility was left out of the filing, giving rise to hopes that a buyer may be found for it. KiOR said in its Chapter 11 filing Sunday night in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that it does intend to find a buyer for the plant. Joe Max Higgins, director of Columbus-based Golden Triangle Development, said that after the company's financial problems surfaced this year, there were quite a number of inquiries and some visits by prospective buyers but that interest has cooled in the past 30 days. There's "still a chance the Columbus facility could be sold," Higgins said. |
| MDOC contractor fires McCrory, confirms claims | |
| One of Mississippi Department of Corrections' largest contractors confirmed claims in a 49-count federal indictment against former Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps and Rankin County businessman Cecil McCrory. Utah-based Management & Training Corporation said in a lengthy statement issued Monday that immediately after winning contracts to run three Mississippi prisons in the summer of 2012, Epps recommended the company hire McCrory as a $12,000-per-month consultant. The men allegedly then split those payments as part of a massive kickback scheme in which McCrory paid Epps nearly $1 million in exchange for nearly $1 billion in contracts benefiting his various business interests, according to the indictment. |
| Mississippi Legislature will have $170 million more next year | |
 | he Mississippi Legislature will have $170 million more to spend during the 2015 session, which starts in January, than it did during the 2014 session, based on the revenue estimate adopted Monday. The Legislative Budget Committee, which consists of Speaker Philip Gunn, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and legislative leaders, met with a representative of Gov. Phil Bryant to adopt an estimate of the amount of revenue the state is expected to collect during the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. Based on a recommendation from the state's financial experts, the Budget Committee and governor adopted an estimate of $5.63 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, which would represent a growth rate of 3 percent if revenue grows for the current fiscal year as expected. |
| Mississippi budgeters expect modest growth in spending | |
 | op Mississippi lawmakers said Monday they expect a 3 percent increase in state spending during the coming year, reflecting a prediction of modest growth in the state economy. The 13-member Joint Legislative Budget Committee met Monday and set a revenue estimate of about $6 billion, which is an educated guess about how much money the state will have available to spend. The estimate is used as a basis to write a budget for fiscal 2016, which begins July 1. State economist Darrin Webb told lawmakers that he expects Mississippi's economy to grow at a slow pace the next six months, then strengthen. |
| Hinds election chief broke law, she admits | |
| Hinds County Election Commission Chairwoman Connie Cochran admitted Monday that she broke the law by not ordering the required number of ballots for last week's general election. Cochran also said that election officials were still tallying affidavits and absentee ballots, and the Hinds County election results would likely not be certified until Friday -- the maximum 10 days after the election, as set forth by state law. The secretary of state's office confirmed that state law requires election commissioners to order enough ballots for 75 percent of registered voters to cast votes. "If it had rained, we would have been fine, but the weather was perfect, and we had a lot of people come out to vote," Cochran said. "It's inexcusable to run out of ballots. All I can do is apologize to people who call and let them know it won't happen again." |
| Mississippi attorneys seek to uphold ban on gay marriage | |
| Mississippi's Republican governor and Democratic attorney general are asking a federal judge to uphold the state's ban on same-sex marriage. The state made the request in court papers Monday, responding to a lawsuit filed Oct. 20 in U.S. District Court in Jackson by two lesbian couples and a gay-rights group, Campaign for Southern Equality. The lawsuit seeks to overturn the ban, saying Mississippi violates constitutional rights of gays and lesbians and denies same-sex couples the "rights, benefits and duties that automatically come with marriage." |
| Gov. Phil Bryant in Israel to participate in security conference | |
| Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is in Israel to speak at the 3rd International Conference on Homeland Security. The website for Israel HLS 2014 shows Bryant is the only U.S. governor speaking at the conference, which started Sunday and runs through Tuesday. Bryant took part in a panel discussion Monday about information management and limiting breaches of privacy during emergency situations. Bryant traveled to Japan for a trade conference in mid-September. |
| Georgia, other Southern states headed for 'SEC' presidential primary in 2016 | |
 | Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp's efforts to build what he calls an "SEC" presidential primary in 2016 appear to be proceeding apace. Kemp is working with his counterparts in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama to arrange a coordinated, regional primary for the first Tuesday in March 2016. In a letter to six Southern secretaries of state, Kemp confirmed that he intends to set March 1 as the date for Georgia's presidential primary: "It is my hope that our region will participate together that day and that the voters of the Southeast will have a major impact in the selection of the presidential nominees of both parties." Delbert Hosemann, the Mississippi's secretary of state, has announced his intention to seek legislation to set March 1 as his state's designated primary day. |
| Boehner Kills Internet Sales Tax Bill | |
 | Tax-free Internet shopping is safe for now thanks to Speaker John A. Boehner. A bill granting states the ability to force out-of-state websites to collect Internet sales tax is dead, according to the Ohio Republican's spokesman. "The speaker has made clear in the past he has significant concerns about the bill, and it won't move forward this year," said spokesman Kevin Smith. "The Judiciary Committee continues to examine the measure and the broader issue. In the meantime, the House and Senate should work together to extend the moratorium on internet taxation without further delay." A bipartisan group passed the Marketplace Fairness Act out of the Senate last year on a 69-27 vote, led by Sens. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., and Michael B. Enzi, R-Wyo., but it has languished in the House. Backers hope to get the bill through during the lame-duck session, and aren't yet throwing in the towel despite Smith's comment. |
| Obama: 'Protect net neutrality' on the Internet | |
 | President Barack Obama on Monday dove head-first into the heated net neutrality debate, urging the Federal Communications Commission to adopt "the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality" by aggressively regulating Internet service providers like Verizon, Comcast and AT&T. "We cannot allow Internet service providers to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas," Obama said in a video posted on the White House website. The president's statement was applauded by online advocacy groups and quickly denounced by Internet service giants and their supporters, who argue that the FCC lacks the authority to get involved in their business. |
| Companies and water: Water a growing business problem and many companies haven't noticed | |
| Water -- its scarcity, quality and the regulations affecting it -- is becoming a new corporate headache. A survey by CDP, a research firm that works for institutional investors, finds that in almost two-thirds of the world's largest listed companies responsibility for dealing with water problems lies at board level. An increasing number of bosses say water is or will soon become a constraint on their firm's growth. They are right to worry, but most firms are not doing much about the problem. Shortages do not only affect those that use millions of gallons in their industrial processes (miners, say) or whose products are made of water (beer and soft-drinks makers). It also affects those whose inputs depend on the stuff (food companies) and, indirectly, almost all firms that do business in water-stressed countries, which include China. |
| For CIOs, Universities Can't Train Data Scientists Fast Enough | |
 | Chief information officers are struggling to find data scientists, those individuals with engineering and business skills, as well at the statistical savviness required to analyze and derive value from Big Data companies generate. Academic leaders are endeavoring to produce more data scientists by offering school programs that teach several disciplines, and encourage students to think more broadly about the technical and business levers they must pull to achieve desired outcomes. The University of Mississippi Medical Center employs plenty of researchers who can crunch and analyze data, but they cannot apply it to improve patient care for the health-care organization, says CIO David Chou. "They don't have that skillset," said Mr. Chou. The key to achieving the skillset is a cross-disciplinary approach. |
| It's Official: Mormon Founder Had Up to 40 Wives | |
 | Mormon leaders have acknowledged for the first time that the church's founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, portrayed in church materials as a loyal partner to his loving spouse Emma, took as many as 40 wives, some already married and one only 14 years old. The church's disclosures, in a series of essays online, are part of an effort to be transparent about its history at a time when church members are increasingly encountering disturbing claims about the faith on the Internet. Many Mormons, especially those with polygamous ancestors, say they were well aware that Smith's successor, Brigham Young, practiced polygamy when he led the flock in Salt Lake City. But they did not know the full truth about Smith. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormon Church is formally known, has quietly posted 12 essays on its website over the last year on contentious topics. |
| UM sociologists conduct study on campus racial climate | |
 | One student recalled his classmates mocking their Asian professor. Another recalled a group of young men hurling sexist remarks at her sorority sisters. Yet another recounted a peer who dropped a class because the professor was a black woman. These are just a few of the diary entries from a sociology study launched in August to measure the racial climate on campus. More than 400 students have already recorded their on-campus experiences with racism, sexism, homophobia and Islamophobia. The study, called "Everyday Racial Experiences of College Students," is being led by three University of Mississippi sociologists: Professor Kirk Johnson, Professor James Thomas and Professor Willa Johnson. |
| Veteran flight nurse soars with UMMC 'AirCare' | |
| He doesn't know exactly how many lives he's saved, but to Paul Boackle, it's nothing heroic. It's a privilege. Boackle, a 39-year-old critical care flight nurse with the University of Mississippi Medical Center's AirCare, is also a flight nurse with the 183rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. He's one of about a dozen Air Care employees who have served or currently serve in the military. On a daily basis, AirCare may fly just about anywhere in the state and sometimes into surrounding states. A crew of two medics and a pilot will have one to two patients onboard. |
| Farm to Fork comes to Columbus in time for Thanksgiving | |
 | Some Columbus residents could have a full Thanksgiving dinner for little to nothing, courtesy of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Mississippi and Alcorn State University's Farm to Fork project. The Farm to Fork Project aims at bringing healthy and nutritious food to Mississippi as a way to tackle obesity. UnitedHealthcare and Alcorn State say the Thanksgiving meal distributions are a way to give the community the option of eating healthy by offering the produce at a low or no cost. |
| U. of Alabama releases homecoming details | |
 | The University of Alabama's homecoming football game with Western Carolina University will be at 3 p.m. Nov. 22, and a week's worth of homecoming activities will begin this Sunday. The organizers of the annual homecoming parade, held before the football game, are expected to announce the time today, according to a UA spokesperson. The route traditionally includes Greensboro Avenue and University Boulevard into campus, but this is subject to change. The parade is the culmination of a week of homecoming events ahead of the game. The theme for homecoming this year is "Tide Together: Celebrating the Capstone Spirit." |
| Five show cows escape on LSU's campus Sunday night; at least 1 roams sorority row | |
 | Five show cows escaped Sunday night from a small barn on LSU's campus, and at least one of the brave bovines wandered a few hundred yards down Sorority Row before being caught. The cows, which belonged to members of the 4-H Youth Development Organization and the FFA, escaped around 6:30 p.m. from a barn near the LSU AgCenter's Parker Coliseum, LSU Police said. All five escapees were corralled within about 45 minutes, said Capt. Cory Lalonde, a LSU Police spokesman. |
| Consultant: U. of Florida could save millions if it buys, operates cogeneration plant | |
 | The University of Florida could save $150 million over the next 27 years if it buys the 21-year-old cogeneration plant on Mowry Road on the UF campus from Duke Energy and operates it on its own, an energy consultant hired by the university reported. Concord Engineering, a New Jersey-based consultant, said UF's best option going forward as its 22½-year contract with Duke expires in December is to buy the plant and upgrade it to provide all the electricity and steam needs for the main campus. UF commissioned the study in preparation for the negotiations underway on Duke's contract renewal and has been discussed with the appropriate UF administrators and Duke's negotiating team, said Curtis Reynolds, UF vice president of business affairs. |
| Tennessee free tuition not for undocumented students | |
| Undocumented high school students will not be able to take advantage of Tennessee Promise, the state's new free community college program. WPLN-FM reports before getting state funding, students must apply for federal financial aid. But undocumented students are eligible for it. Some immigrants had hoped it would be different. The governor's speech introducing Tennessee Promise said that "every student" would be able to attend two years of community college or college of applied technology for free. |
| UGA scientists get $3 million grant to develop infectious disease outbreak warning system | |
 | John Drake, an associate professor in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, will use a five-year, $3.18 million grant to develop an early warning system that could help public health officials prepare for -- and possibly prevent -- infectious disease outbreaks. Funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, the research is part of the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study, a coordinated network of scientists who use computer models to study infectious disease dynamics. While each scientist leads an individual project, they work together toward the overall goal of helping the public health community prepare for and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. |
| Report: Low-income, minority students losing ground at Kentucky colleges | |
 | Low-income and minority students are losing ground at Kentucky's colleges and universities after repeated funding cuts by state lawmakers, according to the Council on Postsecondary Education's latest annual report card. Among low-income students seeking a bachelor's degree, the latest six-year graduation rate was 36.6 percent, up slightly from 34.5 percent in 2010-11 and well below the overall graduation rate of 48.9 percent. The state's colleges and universities also have made little progress on graduation rates for minority students. On the positive side, Kentucky has met its goal for total degrees and credentials awarded. |
| Missouri provost candidate Stokes speaks about experience at Florida State, UGA | |
 | In the fourth campus forum for the University of Missouri's open provost position, candidate Garnett Stokes explained on Monday how she thinks her experiences would contribute to success as provost at MU. Stokes is the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Florida State University. She was interim president of the university until midnight Monday. Florida Sen. John Thrasher was confirmed as Florida State's next president on Nov. 6. In her forum, Stokes addressed her experiences as provost at Florida State, dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia and head of the Department of Psychology at Georgia. She said her goals as provost at Florida State were to improve faculty morale, raise the university's research profile, work to enter the American Association of Universities and hire more tenure and tenure-track faculty. |
| Q&A: Lamar Alexander On Education In The New Congress | |
 | Higher education, preschool funding, the Common Core and the future of No Child Left Behind are just a few of the education policies that will be in play under the new Republican-controlled Congress. How will these things change? We called up Senator Lamar Alexander to ask. The Tennessee Republican is expected to become chairman of the health, education, labor and pensions committee. There, he'll preside over the Republicans' education agenda, an issue he's been deeply engaged with for decades as governor, presidential candidate, university president and U.S. education secretary. |
| Another College-Access Issue: Financial-Aid Jargon | |
 | From his office window, Eric Johnson can see the groundskeeping staff clearing off the sidewalk with leaf blowers. Colleges like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he works, pull out all the stops to make their campuses inviting. But rarely, he says, do they work as diligently to create a welcoming presence online, even though that's where today's prospective students encounter them first. In a way, Mr. Johnson's job is to be the online equivalent of those groundskeepers, clearing debris from a corner of the university's website that can be particularly inhospitable: the section explaining financial aid. One of his tasks, as the fairly new assistant director of communications in the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, is to translate web pages and application forms from financial-aid jargon into plain English. There's no shortage of jargon to tackle. |
| Colleges turn to campuswide bans of fraternity, sorority parties | |
 | When a 16-year-old girl reported having been raped by two men at a John Hopkins University fraternity party last week, the university moved quickly to punish the chapter. Neither the victim nor the men are believed to be affiliated with Sigma Alpha Epsilon or the university, but John Hopkins said the incident was related to underage drinking at the off-campus house, and placed the chapter on interim suspension. On Friday, the university announced that open parties at fraternities are banned for the rest of the semester. It's a measure that some John Hopkins students worry could dramatically alter the university's social scene, but collective punishment of Greek systems has been used with some frequency at other colleges this academic year, as well. |
| OUR VIEW: Bulldog-Tide debate is all the rage in Columbus | |
| The Dispatch editorializes: "There are many things that make Columbus unique among Mississippi cities. One of those unique qualities will be the topic of much discussion this week. In other Mississippi communities college athletic loyalties are drawn along the lines of Ole Miss and Mississippi State. But while Ole Miss certainly has a well-established following in Columbus, the Friendly City's loyalties are most commonly divided between Mississippi State and Alabama. ... This week, in particular, we'll see the MSU-Alabama football rivalry at its height." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State must beat Bama to control SEC title destiny | |
| For the first time in its history, Mississippi State is 9-0. It's two wins away from guaranteeing a trip to Atlanta and the Southeastern Conference title game for the first time since 1998. The caveat is one of those wins has to be against No. 4 Alabama. No. 1 MSU can still represent the SEC west in the title game with a loss Saturday, but it wouldn't control its own destiny. The Bulldogs could win the final two after a loss in Tuscaloosa but would need the Crimson Tide to lose one of its final two games. "There's probably about 50 scenarios that could still happen in the SEC west," MSU coach Dan Mullen said. "One game isn't going to make or break or define a season." |
| Under(Bull)dogs: Top-ranked team won't be favored in road battle | |
| Mississippi State enters Saturday's showdown with Alabama as the nation's No. 1 team for the fifth straight week and riding a 12-game winning streak. However, the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide opened as a touchdown favorite at home, which means the Bulldogs find themselves in a familiar position once again. "Every article you read and everywhere you look, we're a big underdog going into this game," said MSU coach Dan Mullen. "We've done that before. We know that role and we're going to be OK with that." |
| Mississippi State plays underdog vs. Alabama | |
| Mississippi State's ranking doesn't mean much in Las Vegas. The No. 1 team country is a 7-point underdog against No. 3 Alabama this week. It's the most points handed to the top team in the country since the 2012 BCS Championship game. No. 1 Notre Dame was an 8.5-point underdog. Again, Alabama was the opponent. "It really doesn't bother us. We know we're coming in as the underdog even though we're the No. 1 team," MSU wide receiver Fred Brown said. "This week we're just going to work hard and get better each and every day and just show up on Saturday." It's a role Mississippi State hasn't played often this season. The Bulldogs have been favorites in seven of their nine games. |
| Bulldogs zeroed in on Crimson Tide | |
| Despite rolling into Saturday's showdown against No. 4 Alabama as the top-ranked team in the country, No. 1 Mississippi State suddenly finds itself in a familiar position. MSU running back Ashton Shumpert was hoping it would happen. "I want us to be the underdog," said Shumpert after running for 82 yards in last Saturday's win over UT-Martin. "I think we play better as the underdog, it gives us that fuel that we need." Shumpert's wish has come true. Heading into what has shaped up as the game of the year in the Southeastern Conference, unbeaten MSU will make the trip to Tuscaloosa as a seven-point underdog to the Crimson Tide, who have won six straight in the series. |
| Bulldogs ready for top-5 road matchup at Alabama | |
 | Following its final nonconference game of the season, the No. 1 Mississippi State Bulldogs (9-0, 5-0 in the Southeastern Conference) prepare for their toughest road test of the season at No. 4 Alabama. Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said these types of games are what he envisioned when he first took over the program. "The opportunity to play big games late in the season is what it's all about. It's what you work for," he said. "Hopefully that becomes the norm for our program." |
| Mississippi State's Mullen praises Alabama as 'model program in the country' | |
| Dan Mullen has been constructing Mississippi State's plan of success since his arrival in 2009. Six years later, the Bulldogs are at the pinnacle of that plan, having held a No. 1 national ranking for five consecutive weeks. Meanwhile, 90 miles away across the state line, Alabama coach Nick Saban sits with three national championships won during Mullen's stint in Starkville. It is that type of prosperity and longevity that Mullen wants his team to have moving forward. "Nick has the model program in the country right now," Mullen said. "As a program, you want to be able to win consistently. We want to be competing for championships every year. (Alabama) seems to be a team that's in that championship discussion every single year and that's a credit to the program Nick has built." |
| Egg Bowl chosen over Iron Bowl for prime CBS slot | |
| The CBS mid-afternoon slot for the final Saturday of the college football regular season has been typically set aside for the Iron Bowl, but not this year. CBS revealed Monday that it decided to change its usual practice and instead show the Egg Bowl at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 29. It marks the first time that the Egg Bowl will be shown on CBS and Alabama-Auburn will not be broadcast by CBS for the first time in seven years. The reasoning behind the decision is pretty clear. This year's Egg Bowl of No. 1 Mississippi State vs. No. 10 Ole Miss sets up as the biggest game in the history of the rivalry. |
| Can Mississippi State's 'Moneyball' approach win against financial powerhouse Alabama? | |
 | Think of it as college football's version of the Oakland A's versus the New York Yankees. Saturday's highly-anticipated game in Tuscaloosa pits one of college football's thriftiest programs against its most luxurious. Top-ranked Mississippi State has risen to the top of the polls behind a "Moneyball" philosophy made famous by Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane. Mississippi State spent $15.3 million on its football program in 2013, according to U.S. Department of Education statistics. Its entire athletic department spent $57,362,224 -- good for 53rd best in college athletics. Schools such as Iowa State, UNLV and Connecticut all spent more on athletics than the SEC school. Out of the 13 SEC schools that publicly report expenses -- private school Vanderbilt doesn't -- MSU finished dead last. And with its football program currently achieving unprecedented success, Mississippi State doesn't plan on changing its ways. |
| Alabama tends to struggle the week following LSU game | |
| Blake Sims' quick scan of the cabin on the flight home from Baton Rouge told the tale. It wasn't the big celebration you'd imagine after a season-preserving overtime win over a rival. Instead, it was filled with tired eyes and bodies from another barbarous chapter in the high-stakes Alabama-LSU series. Even in victory, the series' physicality is now becoming tradition and leads to Alabama's biggest question: How will it bounce back? Alabama (8-1, 5-1 SEC) comes home and takes on top-ranked and unbeaten Mississippi State (9-0, 5-0) at 2:30 p.m., on Saturday. "We have a tough game coming up, so we need to be thinking about what we need to do to beat this team," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said when asked about the difficulty of responding the week after playing the Tigers. |
| Rick Cleveland on 'Mississippi's Greatest Athletes' | |
| With a passion for Mississippi sports and a career that includes more than four decades as a sports writer (most of those with The Clarion-Ledger) and now as executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, Rick Cleveland has produced a definitive volume on the state's most celebrated sportsmen -- and women. "Mississippi's Greatest Athletes" showcases the state's sports heritage going back at least a century, and chronicles the accomplishments of record setters on every sports field you'd expect -- and then some -- along with the contributions of noted sports writers and announcers as well. |
| Vols' Donnie Tyndall on NCAA probe of Southern Miss: 'Very confident' | |
 | Tennessee men's basketball coach Donnie Tyndall struck an optimistic tone Monday when he spoke to the Knoxville Quarterback Club about the NCAA's investigation into his former Southern Miss team. "I want to quickly address the deal that's going on at Southern Miss," Tyndall told the crowd. "I'm not allowed to comment on it. I know there will be probably be those that want to ask and have questions, but I will be fully cooperating. I can't comment at all until it's run its course, but I feel very confident that everything is going to be fine. I just have to leave it at that." |
| Lawsuit involving Nkemdiches is dragging on | |
| A civil lawsuit against popular Ole Miss players Denzel and Robert Nkemdiche could stretch into next year, court records show. Attorneys for the plaintiff, Matthew Baird, filed a notice of deposition last month for the Nkemdiche brothers for Tuesday at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford. The Nkemdiches' lawyer filed a motion to quash notice of deposition on Oct. 30, and Baird's counsel responded on Friday agreeing that a discovery conference was needed to help schedule further proceedings. Baird filed a civil suit on Feb. 14 seeking $2 million in damages from the Ole Miss football players, stemming from a 2013 incident in which he argued he was beaten unconscious by the Nkemdiches and five of their teammates (which remain unidentified). |
| LSU AD apologizes for 'crude behavior' after 4-letter chant directed at Nick Saban | |
| Late in Saturday night's Alabama win over LSU, a lull in the action quieted the Tiger Stadium crowd. From the student section, a three-word chant with a four-letter word started. The movement was easily heard on the CBS broadcast. By Monday, LSU athletics director Joe Alleva apologized in a letter published on NOLA.com: "Unfortunately, a small minority of people chose to diminish the image of our great university by engaging in a profane chant directed toward Coach (Nick) Saban. We are deeply sorry that such crude behavior occurred in Tiger Stadium, because that is the antithesis of what we represent at LSU." |
| All U. of Tennessee teams but one will compete under 'Tennessee Volunteers,' use Power T logo | |
 | The Power T wil reign over all -- except women's basketball. The University of Tennessee announced Monday night in a release it will implement a branding restructure that will feature the Power T logo for all programs except for women's basketball. In addition, also beginning next fall, all sports other than women's basketball will compete under the name, "Tennessee Volunteers." The move comes in concert with the 2015 campus branding transition and the switch from adidas to Nike as the supplier of equipment and apparel. Nike will begin selling officially licensed, Tennessee-branded merchandise on July 1, 2015. The women's basketball program was excluded from this transition because of the accomplishments and legacy of the championship program built by coach Pat Summitt and her former players. |
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