Free Republic

The white out in the stands became the white out on the field as Penn State fans mobbed their Nittany Lions. Well after the biggest victory of the post-Joe Paterno era was over, the cries of "We Are! Penn State!" echoed underneath 56-year-old Beaver Stadium and bounced off its big rusty metal beams.

As Hurricane Matthew pushes north with the Central Florida area square in its sights, the Florida Gators won't be taking the football field this weekend as scheduled. The Southeastern Conference announced that the game Saturday between UF and the LSU Tigers will be postponed. The teams will attempt to reschedule the game for a later date, however they do not share the same bye week later in the month. Florida is off the 22nd, LSU the 29th. The decision came after U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, wrote a letter to Florida Gov. Rick Scott urging him to...

The ACC officially has a new location for its football championship game. The conference announced Thursday morning that the game will move to Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. The move comes two weeks after the conference, following an NCAA decision, decided to move all of its championships outside of the state of North Carolina because of House Bill 2 (HB2), a state law that requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that match the gender on their birth certificates instead of the gender with which they identify.

College football Saturdays are back, so let's stop and ponder a journalism mystery linked to the new football coaching regime at the University of Virginia. The feature at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville is pretty direct, starting with the headline: "Part of the Bronco way is no work on Sunday." Bronco is not a reference to a mascot, in Wahoo land, but to the school's new head coach – Bronco Mendenhall. Things are not off to a good start there, so times are a bit tense. Here is the overture: The day after Virginia’s season-opening loss to Richmond, Ruffin McNeill,...

.... but plays in Cuba and China!

This past week the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) pulled all championship events out of North Carolina for the 2016-2017 season simply because that state passed a law, known as HB 2, which requires men and women to use the restroom or locker room corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate. In essence, the North Carolina legislature said men use the men's room and ladies use the ladies room. By doing this, North Carolina was simply protecting women and children from sexual predators and voyeurs. Along with punishing North Carolina, the NCAA is forcing all potential championship host sites...

The internet was aflame last night with many people upset over a piece in the Huffington Post from contributor Rebecca Walden. Walden penned a piece titled, “Young ladies of the SEC, cover it up!” and boy was it just awful. Now, it turns out that the Huffington Post wants this all to go away and so they deleted it. Not a good look HuffPost and not very journalistically sound either. But have no fear, below you can read the piece as it look on the HuffPost website before it was deleted: Dear young ladies of the SEC, can you do...

SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) – The Atlantic Coast Conderence (ACC) has announced they will be moving championship games out of North Carolina, because of House Bill 2. All 15 university will continue to host ACC Championships at campus sites. Clemson University President James Clements says, “The decision to move the neutral site championships out of North Carolina while HB 2 remains the law was not an easy one but it is consistent with the shared values of inclusion and non-discrimination at all of our institutions.” They say the locations will be announced in the future. The NCAA said on Monday that...

The ACC has decided to move all of its neutral site championships from the state of North Carolina, the conference announced in a statement Wednesday. “The ACC Council of Presidents made it clear that the core values of this league are of the utmost importance, and the opposition to any form of discrimination is paramount,” commissioner John Swofford said. “Today’s decision is one of principle, and while this decision is the right one, we recognize there will be individuals and communities that are supportive of our values as well as our championship sites that will be negatively affected. Hopefully, there...

The NCAA has now joined the NBA and other organizations pulling its official events out of the state of North Carolina due to concern over the state's House Bill 2. Emphasizing an "inclusive atmosphere for all college athletes, coaches, administrators and fans," the NCAA announced it would be pulling seven championships from the state, including a site for the 2017 NCAA Tournament. "Fairness is about more than the opportunity to participate in college sports, or even compete for championships," said Mark Emmert, NCAA president said in a statement. "We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events...

The NCAA will move seven championship events this academic year from the state of North Carolina, including the first and second round of the 2017 NCAA men's basketball tournament, because of the state's controversial HB2 law. The NCAA's Board of Governors made the announcement late Monday night. The decision comes on the heels of the NBA moving the all-star game in February from Charlotte to New Orleans.

The University of Mississippi’s marching band will no longer play any variation of the song “Dixie” – a tradition some seven decades old at football games and other sporting events. The University's Athletic Department confirmed to Mississippi Today on Friday that the song, which was the unofficial anthem of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, will no longer be played at athletic events.

A lot of talk lately about the Big 12 Conference adding teams. One possibility.. high-profile Brigham Young University. But a gay advocacy group has written a letter to the Big 12 commissioner urging him not to consider adding BYU to the conference saying the Mormon school is discriminatory against the LGBT community. What should the commissioner do?

A coalition of national LGBT advocacy groups is urging the Big 12 not to admit BYU as a new member, FOX Sports has learned. On Monday, Athlete Ally, a non-profit that conducts LGBT awareness campaigns for sports leagues, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, sent a letter to Big 12 administrators detailing what they believe are discriminatory policies by BYU, a religious institution owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In the letter addressed to commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the authors write in part: “BYU … actively and openly discriminates against its LGBT students and staff. It...

The NCAA on Friday said cities looking to host future championship games must submit details by Aug. 12 about how they will protect participants from discrimination, a move that could hurt North Carolina's chances of landing future games. The announcement came one day after the NBA said it was moving the 2017 All-Star Weekend from Charlotte over a controversial North Carolina law known as House Bill 2. Cities that have already been awarded games will face a separate questionnaire deadline, which will be determined later, the NCAA said. [Snip] Cities bidding for games now must complete a questionnaire from the...

Earlier this week, CoachingSearch looked at the longest-tenured assistants in FBS. Now, here’s a look at the tenure of every FBS head coach. Illustrating the amount of turnover in the profession, 108 of the 129 FBS head coaches have been hired since 2010, and 88 have been hired in the past four years. That means more than 2/3 of all head coaches have been hired since 2013.Some veteran coaches who left the list this offseason included Frank Beamer (1987), Gary Pinkel (2001), George O’Leary (2004), and Steve Spurrier (2005).First, the longest tenured coach in each conference:AAC: Ken Niumatalolo (Navy) -...

Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history who helped boost the women's game to the big time in a 38-year career at Tennessee, has died at 64.

The NCAA Board of Governors on Wednesday took steps to protect participants and spectators from discrimination at NCAA events. At its quarterly meeting in Indianapolis, the board adopted a new requirement for sites hosting or bidding on NCAA events in all divisions — from the Men’s and Women’s Final Fours to educational events such as leadership development conferences — to demonstrate how they will provide an environment that is safe, healthy, and free of discrimination, plus safeguards the dignity of everyone involved in the event.

The NCAA has created an anti-discrimination process for championship bids, including cities that want to host the Final Four, the association announced Wednesday. The NCAA Board of Governors adopted a new requirement for sites bidding on championship events to demonstrate “how they will provide an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination, plus safeguards the dignity of everyone involved in the event,” according to an NCAA news release. The requirement comes as legislatures in many states have passed religious freedom laws that allow residents to refuse to provide certain services based on people's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament, March Madness, kicks off today. But if you’re one of the millions that takes part in filling out your brackets and putting some money into a betting pool with your friends, you’re breaking Michigan law. State law allows an exception for small bets during poker games, but almost everything else is against the law. The state department notes, “Participating in betting pools based on sports, or anything else, is illegal.” Michigan sponsors a state lottery (with the funds benefiting government), but individuals gambling on themselves is a no-no. So enjoy the tournament – but bet...