Tickets, get your tickets
Tickets are still available for the Syracuse game.
Call 1-877-CATS-TIX or visit CATSTIX.com

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Bengals news
* Signed free agent G Evan Mathis, a fourth-year player from Alabama, to the roster. Mathis played in Games 2-8 this season for Miami and was waived by the Dolphins on Nov. 7. He entered the NFL as a third-round draft choice of Carolina in 2005 and played in 25 games with 15 starts for the Panthers over 2005-07. He was waived by the Panthers on Aug. 30 of this year.
* Signed free agent DE Josh Mallard, a fourth-year player from Georgia, to the roster. Mallard (6-2, 265) played in 11 games last season, three with Atlanta and eight with Denver, posting 20 tackles with 3.5 sacks, a pass defensed and a forced fumble. He was with the Broncos in preseason and was waived on Aug. 26. He entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft choice of Indianapolis in 2002 and played in 13 games. He did not see regular season NFL action from 2003-05 but was signed by Atlanta for 2006, playing in 14 games. His career NFL totals include 38 games, one start, 48 tackles, 8.5 sacks, five fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles and three passes defensed.
* Placed DE Robert Geathers on the Reserve/Injured list. Geathers, a fifth-year player from Georgia, suffered a knee injury in last week’s game at Pittsburgh. He has started all 11 games this season and has 56 tackles, a team-leading 2.5 sacks, a pass defensed, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.
* Placed DE Frostee Rucker on the Reserve/Injured list. Rucker, a third-year pro from Southern California, suffered a hamstring injury in last week’s game at Pittsburgh. He has played in all 11 games this season, with four starts. He has 35 tackles with one sack, a pass defensed and a fumble recovery, and he is tied for the team lead in forced fumbles (two).
* Signed DE Victor DeGrate to the practice squad. DeGrate (6-3, 250; Oklahoma State) is a first year player. He entered the NFL in 2007 as a college free agent with Houston, and after being waived in preseason, he spent the final five games of the season on Detroit’s practice squad. He opened the 2008 preseason with the Lions and was waived on Aug. 30.

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Carson hopes to resume throwing soon
C. Trent

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UC can clinch Big East on Friday
South Florida beat UConn, 17-13, last night in Tampa.
The loss eliminates UConn (7-4/3-3) from the Big East title.
Only UC and West Virginia can now claim the BCS bid.
WVU must win out(at Pitt/home S FL) AND have the Bearcats lose to Syracuse on Saturday to win the league.
UC is 5-1 in the league....only Rutgers, Pittsburgh and West Virginia could tie UC at 5-2....but UC has already beaten all three.
So if West Virginia loses on Friday at Pitt, UC wraps-up the Big East before it plays the Syracuse game Saturday.

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Crew brings home the MLS Cup
Columbus Dispatch
CARSON, Calif. --The Columbus Crew capped off one of the finest single seasons in Major League Soccer history with an emphatic 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls in the MLS Cup final yesterday afternoon. A sun-splashed crowd of 27,000, including thousands of boisterous fans from Columbus, paid witness at the Home Depot Center.

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More bowl projections
ESPN

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Monday show preview
I'm back....can't wait!
Topics
Topic A: Bengals or UC/College football?
UC: Did you go?
College football
College basketball
HS football
Looking ahead
Tuesday: Former Bearcat Haruki Nakamura will join me. Former Ravens OL Jonathan Ogden checks in. Brian Kelly at 5:30
Wednesday: Bengals Breakdown at Buffalo Wings and Rings

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All hail my Bulldogs!
Butler Bulldogs #1 this morning in the RPI.
Thanks to Travis Holmes, producer for The Cut Man, for the heads up

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The Rutgers Mess: A lesson for UC?
NY Times
Rutgers, the biggest and most important public university in New Jersey, has spent millions of dollars furthering its ambition to become a major football power that might otherwise have been devoted to academics. It has done so during a period of rising tuition and budgetary cutbacks in academic departments, and, worse, without any real oversight from the university's president, Richard McCormick, and its Board of Governors.

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Phillies hire Mackanin
Philadelphia Daily News
Mackanin, who played sparingly for the Phillies in 1978-79, will be manager Charlie Manuel's bench coach, replacing Jimy Williams, who unexpectedly quit earlier this month. The hiring means former Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo, hired last week for an unspecified position, will spend the 2009 season as the team's third-base coach.

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Big East Honor Roll
Connor Barwin, DE, Cincinnati - Had three sacks for losses of 22 yards to go with six tackles in a 28-21 win against Pittsburgh.
Tony Pike, QB, Cincinnati - Completed 26 of 32 passes for 309 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-21 win against Pittsburgh.

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King on Bengals
CNNSI
4. I think most everyone missed a important tidbit about Carson Palmer last week -- most everyone but the faithful listeners to the "Opening Drive'' on Sirius NFL Radio. Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said it's very unlikely Palmer will need postseason elbow surgery, and it's quite likely Palmer will play before the end of the year. I've heard people say, "Why risk Palmer's future?'' And they're right -- if there's any risk in injuring the elbow by playing, he shouldn't play. But if there isn't, he should. The other 52 players are playing each week, so why shouldn't their team leader play if he's healthy enough?
5. I think, by the way, it's idiocy for the Bengals to consider bringing Chad Ocho Cinco back for the 2009 season. What's the point? That the Bengals will be able to puff their chests out and say, "Chad Johnson's not going to shoot his way off this team. No one is.'' Great. So you've proven a point. You can hold onto an ineffective player, and if he goes somewhere else, he could have a Randy Moss-like season in another uniform next year. Big deal. Johnson has been repentant since the incident in Pittsburgh, but so what? There will be another one soon, either before the end of this year or during the offseason. Just move on and cut ties. It'll be better for both parties.

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X marks the spot in Puerto Rico
GoXavier.com
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Holding one of the highest-scoring offenses in college basketball under 60 points, the Xavier University men's basketball team won the Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship. The Musketeers defeated Memphis, 63-58, to begin the season 5-0 for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign.

Senior C.J. Anderson scored 10 points and hauled in seven rebounds to help the Musketeers earn the Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship. He earned MVP honors for his efforts.

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Heard it from Hoard
GoBearcats.com
"No, wearing the colors of Ohio State, Notre Dame, or Boston College - that's not really for me," Kelly said. "It's really about raising your family in an environment they enjoy and having challenges. If I can keep having those in front of me then I'm at the right place in Cincinnati."

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Rings run in Guidugli family
Lexington Herald Leader
Guidugli's four sons - Gino, Jeff, Ben and Tony - have won seven state championship rings playing football for Highlands. "My boys have to deal with me," Dave said, "because I'm always in the middle of what's happening. Everybody calls me 'The Guy' around here. I've been very lucky to have sons like I have. It's been a lot of fun."

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Bowl projections
UC-BC in Orange Bowl
OSU-Georgia: Capital One Bowl
UK-Va Tech: Music City

*D2 football teams scores 93 in playoff win

*FSU safety wins Rhodes Scholarship, hops on plane, plays in game

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DeCourcy: This is all Kelly's creation
The Sporting News Today

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What they are saying in Pittsburgh
Bearcats hold off Panthers
"Defensively we could not get them off the field," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "That kid [Pike], I have to give him credit, he played about as good as any quarterback has played against us in the last two or three years. Not only did he get away from our rush, and we got guys who can rush, he made throws, he found receivers down the field and made some excellent throws under pressure."
Pitt couldn't catch Pike
Asked if Pitt had lost to a better team, tailback LeSean McCoy shot back, "Better team? No, not at all."

 

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UL/Elder product says goodbye with class
Louisville Courier Journal
In fact, there couldn't have been more than a couple hundred U of L fans who saw what Wood did after congratulating West Virginia's players and accepting a handshake from West Virginia defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel, who had sought him out. While his teammates were streaming toward the locker room, Wood went a different direction.
He headed toward the stands and started circling to shake hands with the few fans who remained.

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Lucas notices UK needs a PG
Lexington Herald Leader
"It makes you think," he said, "because that's exactly something I'm looking for."

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Browns back Pro Bowl bid for Rogers
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Everyone who's played with him, blocked him, coached him, schemed for him, scouted him or attempted a field goal against him can agree on one thing: Browns nose tackle Shaun Rogers is having another Pro Bowl-caliber year.

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Haruki's notebook
Carroll County Times

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Weis' time just about up
South Bend Tribune
Unless Weis finds a way to go into the L.A. Coliseum and pull off an epic upset of USC next Saturday, he should not return as the head football coach at Notre Dame next season.

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Tavern Talks: Bengals
Today's target is the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals are a unique drafting team because they still operate as if they were in the 1960's, as the assistant coaches act as personnel directors at their own positions