Ohio State-Penn State game time set

COLUMBUS (AP) — The Big Ten Conference has announced that when Ohio State hosts Penn State on Nov. 19, the game will kick off at 3:30 p.m.

The game will air regionally on ABC and be carried elsewhere on ESPN.

The Nittany Lions are currently ranked No. 12 with an 8-1 record (5-0 Big Ten) and host No. 19 Nebraska this Saturday.

The unranked Buckeyes are 6-3 this season (3-2 Big Ten) and travel to Purdue this week.

 

Ex-boxing champ Frazier dead at 67

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight champion who handed Muhammad Ali his first defeat yet had to live forever in his shadow, died Monday night after a brief final fight with liver cancer. He was 67.

Frazier, who took on Ali in three momentous fights in the 1970s — including the epic “Thrilla in Manilla” — had been under home hospice care after being diagnosed just weeks ago with the cancer that took his life, a family friend said. Until then, Frazier had been doing regular autograph appearances, including one in Las Vegas in September.

Smokin’ Joe was a small yet ferocious fighter who smothered his opponents with punches, including a devastating left hook he used to end many of his fights early. It was the left hook that dropped Ali in the 15th round at Madison Square Garden in 1971 to seal a win in the so-called “Fight of the Century.”

 

McNutt to resign at end of season

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi football coach Houston Nutt will resign at the end of the season.

Nutt will coach the Rebels’ last three games this year,” athletic director Pete Boone said at a press conference Monday, where also announced that he will step down as athletic AD by the end of 2012.

The Rebels have lost 12 consecutive Southeastern Conference games, including Saturday’s 30-13 lost to Kentucky. Mississippi is 2-7 this year, including 0-6 in the SEC. Nutt is 24-23 in his four years in Oxford.

 

Big East, BYU discuss joining league

PROVO, Utah (AP) — The Big East has had discussions with BYU about giving up its football independence and joining the rebuilding conference.

Cougars football coach Bronco Mendenhall said the Big East approached the school about joining the league.

The Big East wants to add Boise State, Air Force and Navy in football only and SMU, Houston and Central Florida in all sports, but would still need another member to eventually have 12.

Adding BYU would give the Big East a historically successful football program and allow the league to further bolster the western wing it’s building with Boise State, Air Force and the Texas schools.

The Big 12 and BYU had discussions about the Cougars joining that conference.