Edition: U.S. / Global

College Sports

The View from Baylor: Back at No. 1

By KRISTA PIRTLE
Brittney Griner of Baylor, right, being guarded by Chelsea Poppens of Iowa State in a game on Wednesday.Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press Brittney Griner of Baylor, right, being guarded by Chelsea Poppens of Iowa State in a game on Wednesday.

The Baylor Lady Bears are back in familiar territory, reclaiming the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press poll after seven weeks out of it.

“I never worry about it because I’ve come to learn that the only thing that matters is championships in your conferences, a good seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament,” Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey said. “You don’t have to be ranked No. 1 to get a No. 1 seed or to even be the overall No. 1 seed. I think the [N.C.A.A.] selection committee uses it as a gauge, but because you’re No. 1 in the country doesn’t mean you’re going to be the No. 1 seed. I don’t put much stock in it, other than it might bring a little recognition to your school, your program.”

The Lady Bears fell from the top after a 71-69 loss to Stanford in Hawaii on Nov. 16.

Stanford, then No. 1, fell to No. 2 Connecticut 61-35.

Connecticut, then No. 1, fell to No. 5 Notre Dame 73-72, bringing Baylor to the top again.

For Baylor, how can it be better this season when it was perfect last season?

“I was looking at the N.C.A.A. stats the other day and I have not had a team sharing the basketball as much as this team is sharing it right now,” Mulkey said. “We are scoring a high, high percentage from the field. The field goal percentage is probably the highest of any team I have ever coached and it is coming from a lot of different places. It is not just coming from Brittney (Griner) or coming from Odyssey (Sims), it is just a lot of people shooting the ball well.” Read more…

For Cornell Wrestling, a Promising Start to Season

By HALEY VELASCO
Nahshon Garrett of Cornell, left, competing against Edward Klimara of Oklahoma at Grapple at the Garden in December. Garrett won the match.Seth Wenig/Associated Press Nahshon Garrett of Cornell, left, competing against Edward Klimara of Oklahoma at Grapple at the Garden in December. Garrett won the match.

Cornell’s wrestling team began the season with a lot of injuries (senior Steve Bosak had to have surgery on his wrist), a number of promising new wrestlers, and their biggest star in a compelling new role.

That star, senior Kyle Dake, returned for his fourth season with the Red, but looked a little different on the mat as he moved up to the 165-pound weight class. The weight is Dake’s fourth group since he began his collegiate career, and a national championship this year would give him four titles in four different weight classes, which has never been accomplished by a collegiate wrestler.

But Dake has not been the only Cornell wrestler in the spotlight. Freshman Nahshon Garrett was named Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association wrestler of the week after beginning his rookie season with a 10-0 record as of the week of Nov. 19. The young wrestler helped the team to a victory against Binghamton, three wins at the Journeymen Northeast Duals and a third place finish at the Las Vegas Invitational as Cornell headed into early December.

“Nahshon Garrett is doing very well but I truly believe he can win a national championship if he wants to. He is getting better every day and that is what it will take,” Dake said in an interview. Read more…

Keeping Score: Characteristics of a Champion

By CARLTON J. CHIN and JAY P. GRANAT

Carlton J. Chin, a portfolio strategist and fund manager, and Jay P. Granat, psychotherapist, are authors of “Who Will Win the Big Game? A Psychological & Mathematical Method.” They have previously written about the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament, the N.B.A. finals and the Super Bowl.

After analyzing the championship games or series of the N.F.L., N.B.A., Major League Baseball and N.H.L., and the major finals in golf and tennis, we identified 50 championships characteristics in our book, “Who Will Win the Big Game? A Psychological and Mathematical Method.” In particular, our work relates key statistics to sports psychology concepts like leadership, consistency and minimizing errors. We have also developed a football simulator based on a probabilistic Monte Carlo model to use in conjunction with our championship factors.

Defense: Across a variety of sports, our research shows that defense is more closely related to winning championships than a glitzy offense. In college football, the team with the better defense in terms of points allowed has won 57.1 percent of the championship games since Bowl Championship Series began in the 1998 season.The team with the better rushing defense, as measured by average yards yielded per attempt, has won 69.2 percent of the B.C.S. title games over the past 13 years (Rushing defense statistics for the 1998 season were not available).

In points allowed per game, Notre Dame (10.3) edges Alabama (10.7). But in defensive yards per rush, Alabama held opponents to a mere 2.5 yards versus Notre Dame’s 3.2 yards. Edge: Draw

Consistency: In professional football and college football, average yards per rush is a good indicator of consistency and control of the game. Since the 1999 season, the team with the better rushing statistic has won 58.3 percent of the championship games. (Rushing statistics for the 1998 season were not available). Alabama has run for 5.6 yards per rush, versus Notre Dame’s 5.0 yards per rush. Edge: Alabama Read more…

The View From Notre Dame: For Farley, a New Look and New Success

By ANDREW OWENS
Matthias Farley intercepting a pass against Stanford in October.Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press Matthias Farley intercepting a pass against Stanford in October.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Matthias Farley bears little resemblance to the player he was in 2011, and it’s not just because of a position switch he made last spring from receiver to safety.

For the sophomore, it all lies in the beard he has cultivated, joining defensive linemen Tony Springmann and Kapron Lewis-Moore and offensive lineman Mike Golic Jr. in Notre Dame’s exclusive “Beard Gang.”

“A lot of it’s genetic,” Farley said. “You have to have the capability to grow a beard and there’s a lot of maintenance you might not think of.”

Which makes it just like his development in the secondary for No. 1 Notre Dame, which is set to play in Monday’s B.C.S. championship game in Miami.

The Charlotte, N.C., native was first drawn to high school soccer and did not even play football until his junior year of high school. When Farley moved from slot receiver to safety, it appeared he had time before the Irish would need him to make a splash.

But Farley was called upon sooner than anyone could have expected. Read more…

Texas Track Coach Resigns After Admitting 10-Year-Old Affair

By LYNN ZINSER
Bev Kearney, front right, after Texas won a national championship in indoor track and field in March 2006. Bev Kearney, front right, after Texas won a national championship in indoor track and field in March 2006.

On one hand, the story of Bev Kearney, the longtime women’s track and field coach at the University of Texas, sounds just like the disappointing stories about a lot of coaches. She was found to have had an affair with a student and was pressured to resign by the school, which she did on Saturday.

The difference, though, is that Kearney’s affair happened 10 years ago, even the Texas administrators who put her on leave believe it was a one-time incident that never happened again and there didn’t appear to be any other damaging fallout from something that happened so long ago.

So, while Kearney sadly owned up to her lapse in judgment in an interview with The Austin American-Statesman, her lawyer issued a statement saying the punishment was unusually harsh. “We believe that Ms. Kearney has been subjected to a double standard and has received far harsher punishment than that being given to her male counter-parts who have engaged in similar conduct,” her attorney, Derek A. Howard, said in a statement. Read more…

Alabama Routs Notre Dame in Title Game

By MIKE HUGUENIN

Alabama easily defeated Notre Dame, 42-14, in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Alabama’s national title is the SEC’s seventh in a row and the Crimson Tide’s third in four seasons, a feat accomplished by only two other teams in league history. Read more…

The Secret Soothsayer Behind Notre Dame’s Revival

By MICHAEL NICHOLS
Notre Dame Stadium was packed during a game against Purdue on Sept. 8, the Irish's second victory in an undefeated regular season.Michael Conroy/Associated Press Notre Dame Stadium was packed during a game against Purdue on Sept. 8, the Irish’s second victory in an undefeated regular season.
A late-night trek to the statue of the famed Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne led to a prophecy of the Fighting Irish's stunning run.Joe Raymond/Associated Press A late-night trek to the statue of the famed Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne led to a prophecy of the Fighting Irish’s stunning run.

Football is not always on the minds of Notre Dame students — especially on a dead Saturday in late February after a disappointing season. Such was the case when Scotch Henderson moseyed into my grungy dorm room. Half asleep and half hypnotized by a terrifying local commercial, I barely noticed him join me on the broken, taco-shaped futon. The glaze that fell over our eyes while watching bad TV was interrupted only when he noticed a sock sticking to the side of the wall. That is when we realized we needed to get out — fast. But where to go? We would be either catching the tail ends of parties or going to bed at a time that seemed more fitting for a nursing home than a college dormitory.

We had heard from a friend that the science building had an unlocked observatory on the roof. Thinking that a rooftop would be a neat place to go at night, we decided to embark on the adventure with a slight hope that the doors would actually be open. Everyone else we invited either had no hope or called us crazy for wanting to be outside on a cold night. They must not have seen the sock stuck to the wall.

Walking around clothes and video-game controllers, Scotch peeked into the already ajar refrigerator on his way out. Typical of such a night, only one blue can stared back at him, so he deposited it into his hoodie pocket for hydration at our hoped-for destination. Opening the door to North Quad, I noticed that the sky was not blue-gray, but instead was a deep navy with a crisp moon and stars — a perfect night to relax on a roof. Sadly, the university did not think so, and the locked doors kept us moving. Read more…

Saban Is Keen to Explain ‘Process’

By GREG BISHOP
Alabama Coach Nick Saban speaks during media day for the B.C.S. National Championship game.Joe Skipper/Reuters Alabama Coach Nick Saban speaks during media day for the B.C.S. National Championship game.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Alabama Coach Nick Saban climbed atop a stage on Saturday morning and spent an hour in one of his least favorite places on the planet: in front of the news media, obliged to answer any and all questions. He looked as if he would have preferred to run through a blizzard in a Speedo.

Still, Saban proved a good sport. He answered dozens of questions on numerous topics, many of the inquiries repetitive, like Alabama’s history compared with the history of Notre Dame, its opponent in the B.C.S. national championship game on Monday night. He even took several questions on his preference for a platoon system at running back. Inquiring minds and all that.

Mostly, though, Saban clung to his fabled process the way other coaches cling to their favorite clichés, or the way children cling to their favorite blankets. Saban loves his process, loves talking about his process, loves explaining his process. One answer he provided at media day on Saturday went nearly 200 words – and that was just on what the process means, what the process is. Read more…

Five Star Treatment, at Least Until Curfew

By TIM ROHAN
The Alabama football team is staying at the luxe Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.Lynne Sladky/Associated Press The Alabama football team is staying at the luxe Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Tony Montana, the “Scarface” drug lord, enjoyed the pool there. James Bond and Goldfinger played gin rummy there. The rapper Drake performed there on Monday for New Year’s Eve. At the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, the real may be more far-fetched than the make-believe.

Celebrities flock there. So do athletes, and the rich and famous. To its three bars, three lounges, three restaurants and two nightclubs, including LIV, which stays open until 5 a.m. And the beach is just outside.

This is where the Alabama football team will rest its heads this week for five nights before Monday’s Bowl Championship Series national title game against Notre Dame.

“I’d be lying if I said there weren’t any distractions,” said Alabama guard Chance Warmack. “But everybody’s on the same page in terms of what time curfew is, what we need to do to get ready for this game. It’s not really going to be an issue.”

The team’s hotel choice drew attention after Jesse Palmer, the ESPN college football analyst, blasted it on “SportsCenter.”
Read more…

Jones’s Health Key to Alabama’s Line

By TIM ROHAN
Alabama center Barrett Jones finished the SEC championship game on very sturdy crutches.Dave Martin/Associated Press Alabama center Barrett Jones finished the SEC championship game on very sturdy crutches.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Alabama center Barrett Jones waltzed into a ballroom Thursday to fulfill his news media obligations, wearing a black boot on his left foot. On Monday night, he will be asked to stop, block and move 326 pounds of Louis Nix III, the Notre Dame nose guard. Sprained foot or not, it will not be easy.

The boot was just to show off for the ladies, Jones said, tongue in cheek. Being a lineman, he wore it to draw attention, he said, joking, adding, “It’s really worked to perfection.”

Sure, the boot. No matter that an Alabama-Notre Dame national championship game surely would star the linemen. No matter that the Jones vs. Nix matchup has already been billed as must-see with Nix, the anchor of Notre Dame’s stingy run defense, pitted against Jones, the anchor of Alabama’s mean rushing attack.

Jones, and the Crimson Tide line, mauled Georgia for 350 rushing yards in the Southeastern Conference championship game, during which Jones sprained his left foot. He missed nine practices, before returning to practice on Tuesday.

Jones promised that by the time of the game Monday night, “I will be 100 percent.”

To stop Nix, he needs to be.

“It’s hard to steer me,” Nix said last month, when asked about Jones. “But I just have to be strong at the point of attack, get my hands on the quicker guy.”
Read more…

The View From Notre Dame: It’s All in the Numbers

By CHRIS ALLEN
Notre Dame's captains, including offensive tackle Zack Martin, right, have made a big statistical impact this season.Winslow Townson/Associated Press Notre Dame’s captains, including offensive tackle Zack Martin, right, have made a big statistical impact this season.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In many ways, Notre Dame’s 2012 season has defied description. It also defies the numbers.

Many of the season’s more celebrated statistics are easy to grasp. The Irish’s 12 victories are the most for any Notre Dame team in the regular season. Senior linebacker Manti Te’o’s seven interceptions are the most by a linebacker in a single season since 2006. As of Jan. 2, it was 24 years, or 8,766 days, since Notre Dame last won a national championship. But a few key metrics on Notre Dame’s season have escaped the headlines — and help explain how the Irish built their 12-0 record.

Martin’s (Almost) Perfect Year

The senior left tackle and captain Zack Martin hasn’t gotten the publicity lavished on Alabama tackles and future top N.F.L. draft picks D. J. Fluker and Cyrus Kouandjio, who deserve plenty. But the Indianapolis-born anchor of Notre Dame’s offensive line had a sparkling season — including on the stat sheet. On the first Irish offensive drive of the season in Dublin against Navy, Martin allowed a sack of sophomore quarterback Everett Golson. It was a shocking start for a player who came into the season with 26 consecutive starts at left tackle. But Martin rebounded and did not allow a sack for the remainder of the season.

Read more…

The View From Notre Dame: Offensive Line Is Key

By ALLAN JOSEPH
Notre Dame running back Theo Riddick celebrated a touchdown against Southern Cal with his teammate Braxston Cave in November.Jeff Gross/Getty Images Notre Dame running back Theo Riddick celebrated a touchdown against Southern Cal with his teammate Braxston Cave in November.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In the age of high-powered spread attacks, Alabama and Notre Dame have proven one thing: at the highest level, the battle in the trenches still matters. The Crimson Tide and the Irish each reached the B.C.S. title game with dominant line play, and in the buildup to Monday’s game, many analysts have focused on the clash between Alabama’s huge offensive line and Notre Dame’s dominating defensive line. But the flip side of that matchup will go just as far in determining which team hoists the crystal football.

A look at each team’s statistics shows just how important the battle between the Irish offensive line and the Crimson Tide defensive line will be. Alabama’s opponents averaged fewer than 80 rushing yards per game, an astonishingly low total. But the three teams that gave the Crimson Tide their closest contests — L.S.U., Texas A&M and Georgia — ran the ball effectively. Only in those three games did Alabama yield more than 100 rushing yards, for an average Crimson Tide margin of victory of just one point. In the other 10 contests? Alabama won by an average of 36 points. And do not forget that the Crimson Tide lost the only game in which they allowed their opponent to surpass 150 yards on the ground.

Read more…

The View from Wisconsin: In Alvarez They Trust

By NICK KORGER
Montee Ball of Wisconsin celebrating after a 70-31 victory over Nebraska in the Big Ten conference championship game on Dec. 1.Gregory Shamus/Getty Images Montee Ball of Wisconsin celebrating after a 70-31 victory over Nebraska in the Big Ten conference championship game on Dec. 1.

Longtime fans of Stanford might be feeling a bit of déjà vu come Jan. 1 in Pasadena.

Why? Stanford faces Wisconsin and Barry Alvarez in the Rose Bowl, the same opponent and head coach the Cardinal faced in their last berth in the Rose Bowl back in 2000.

But that, for the most part, is where the similarities end between the two meetings.

Alvarez takes over a Wisconsin team battered by bumps and bruises. Just to highlight a few, the Badgers fired their offensive line coach after two games, started three quarterbacks, lost five games (by an average of 3.8 points) and lost their head coach, Bret Bielema, after he surprised fans and players alike by accepting the head coaching job at Arkansas.

Even more surprising was Bielema accepting the job three days after Wisconsin’s 70-31 thrashing of No. 12 Nebraska in the Big Ten Championship game, which clinched an unprecedented third-straight trip to the Rose Bowl. Read more…

The View from Alabama: Saban Delivers Again

By MARQUAVIUS BURNETT
Coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide face Notre Dame in the B.C.S. title game on Jan. 7.Vasha Hunt/AL.COM, via Associated Press Coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide face Notre Dame in the B.C.S. title game on Jan. 7.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s football program reached a fork in the road after the 2006 season.

After dismissing Mike Shula, the Crimson Tide and Athletic Director Mal Moore wanted a proven, championship-caliber head coach who could re-energize fans and produce a winning team.

There were reports the Tide pursued Rich Rodriguez and Steve Spurrier before landing the first choice.

At the time, Nick Saban was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, but his representatives contacted Moore, saying that Saban was interested in returning to the college game. Moore, who was an assistant coach for the N.F.L. Cardinals in the 1980s, could relate to Saban’s desire to leave the N.F.L.

In the N.F.L., “nobody ever came to see me or just dropped by,” Moore said. “I have people drop by here all the time, but in the N.F.L. you didn’t have that. So when he said he wanted out of the N.F.L. and back on the college level, I believed him.”

Read more…

The View from Notre Dame: Tickets to Ride

By MEGAN DOYLE
Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert, left, and linebacker Dan Fox after the Irish defeated U.S.C. on Nov. 24 to book their place in the B.C.S. title game against Alabama.Danny Moloshok/Associated PressNotre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert, left, and linebacker Dan Fox after the Irish defeated U.S.C. on Nov. 24 to book their place in the B.C.S. title game against Alabama.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The players had not left the Los Angeles Coliseum after Notre Dame defeated Southern California on Nov. 24 when the Fighting Irish senior Danny Kinasz secured his seat for the plane ride to Miami for the Bowl Championship Series title game on Jan. 7.

Before the berth was officially secured, Kinasz wanted to ensure he would be a part of “a weeklong celebration of Notre Dame.”

“Within five minutes of the game ending, I booked my flight,” he said.

He does not have a ticket to the game. But he will be on that plane to Miami.

Read more…