College Football
Louisiana Tech (9-3) misses out on bowl
• Louisiana Tech, with a 9-3 record and the top-rated offense in the country, is not going to a bowl game.
Athletic Director Bruce Van De Velde told the Associated Press that Independence Bowl organizers offered a spot in their game on Saturday, but the Bulldogs had other possible options still available to them. Van De Velde says he asked the Independence Bowl for more time to make a decision, but was told by game organizers that they could not wait.
He said when Northern Illinois slipped into the Bowl Championship Series, taking a possible BCS bid away from Oklahoma, it started a domino effect that filled those other spots with Big 12 teams.
• Appalachian State said longtime coach Jerry Moore won’t return to the Mountaineers next season. Athletic Director Charlie Cobb said Sunday that he and Moore — the winningest coach in school and Southern Conference history — agreed after the 2011 season that this year would be his last. Cobb said Moore didn’t want to make the decision public during the season because he didn’t want the attention. The Mountaineers’ season ended Saturday with an overtime loss to Illinois State in the second round of the playoffs.
• Vanderbilt rewarded coach James Franklin with another new contract after he led the Commodores to their best record in 30 years and to consecutive bowls for the first time in school history. The Commodores (8-4) will be playing in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 31 a few miles away from campus. Since Franklin was hired two years ago, Vanderbilt now has gone from only four bowls in the program’s history to six. Vanderbilt finished the regular season with six consecutive wins, the first such streak since 1955.
• Authorities said two University of Oklahoma football players have been arrested on possession of marijuana complaints. Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Meghan McCormick said deputies arrested wide receiver Jalen Saunders and defensive back Cortez Johnson around 2 a.m. Sunday during a traffic stop in Norman. McCormick said both Saunders and Johnson were booked into the Cleveland County jail and were released between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday.
• Skip Holtz was fired as South Florida’s football coach after two consecutive losing seasons. Athletic Director Doug Woolard made the announcement Sunday after meeting with Holtz individually and then accompanying the former coach to a gathering with players. A search for a replacement will begin immediately.
College Soccer
North Carolina wins NCAA Championship
• North Carolina scored three goals in the second half to Beat Penn State 4-1 and win its 21st women’s soccer NCAA Championship. The Tar Heels (15-5-3), who were making their 26th appearance in the final four College Cup, won the title for the first time since 2009. Penn State, which was playing in its first women’s soccer championship game, finished its season at 21-4-2. With the game tied 1-1, Hanna Gardner scored 48 seconds into the second half when she converted Katie Bowen’s corner kick with a header past Penn State goalkeeper Erin McNulty. It was Gardner’s second goal of the season.
Skiing
Ligety wins second Cup race in a row
• Ted Ligety easily captured his second consecutive World Cup giant slalom race with a flawless and fast final run Sunday. He finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 25.59 seconds to hold off top rival Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 1.76 seconds. Davide Simoncelli of Italy was third.
— From wire reports
