AP source: Eastern Michigan hires Ron English

DETROIT – Eastern Michigan has hired Ron English, making him the fifth black head football coach in major college football, a person familiar with the contract agreement told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the school hasn't announced its decision.

Eastern Michigan scheduled a news conference for Monday.

The other black coaches among the 119 teams in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision are Buffalo's Turner Gill, Miami's Randy Shannon, Houston's Kevin Sumlin and New Mexico's Mike Locksley.

The 40-year-old English was Louisville's defensive coordinator in 2008 after serving on Lloyd Carr's staff at Michigan for five seasons.

English turned the Cardinals' inexperienced defense around before an injury-depleted unit was overmatched in a lopsided loss to end the season at Rutgers.

After helping Michigan beat Florida 41-35 in the 2008 Capital One Bowl, English chose to accept an offer from Louisville after being aggressively pursued by schools such as UCLA.

English was on Carr's staff for five seasons, the last two as defensive coordinator. He began at Michigan as the secondary coach after being an assistant at Arizona State, San Diego State and Northern Arizona.

He earned four letters at California, starting at safety for the Bears as a senior and ending his playing career in the 1990 Copper Bowl.

English replaces Jeff Genyk, who was fired last month and went 16-42 in five seasons.

No. 9 Louisville surges past Mississippi 77-68

CINCINNATI – Earl Clark had career highs of 25 points and 16 rebounds and No. 9 Louisville held off Mississippi 77-68 on Thursday night, adding a little more misery to Rebels coach Andy Kennedy's day.

Samardo Samuels added nine points and 13 rebounds as the Cardinals (7-1) won their fifth straight.

David Huertas had 20 points for the Rebels (7-4), who fought gamely after a tumultuous day that began with Kennedy's arrest on misdemeanor assault charges following an altercation with a cab driver.

Kennedy, a former assistant and interim head coach at Cincinnati, decided to coach the game after meeting with athletic director Pete Boone. He received a warm ovation after being introduced and exchanged handshakes with local radio personnel during halftime.

The Rebels trailed by 18 points but kept chipping away and tied the game at 67 on a 3-pointer by Chris Warren with 5:26 remaining.

It would be Mississippi's last field goal as Louisville closed the game with a 10-1 run. Clark started it with a layup and Edgar Sosa followed with a 3-pointer and Louisville's defense — ranked fifth in the nation in points allowed — made it hold up.

The loss capped a rough day for Kennedy, who denied allegations that he called the driver racial epithets and his attorney entered a written plea of not guilty. A pretrial date was set for Jan. 16.

If Kennedy's troubles bothered his team, it didn't show during a valiant rally.

Louisville's six previous wins had come inside the comfy atmosphere and friendly rims at Freedom Hall.

Things weren't quite so easy at U.S. Bank Arena for the second game of the doubleheader between teams from the Big East and Southeastern conferences. The Cardinals were 1-5 in their last six regular season neutral-site games and seemed on the brink of making it 1-6 after the Rebels took a 63-62 lead on a tip-in by DeAundre Cranston with 7:31 to play.

The Cardinals gathered themselves and harassed Huertas and Warren into rushed shots, allowing Louisville to escape.

Louisville's win, combined with Cincinnati's victory over Mississippi State in the early game, earned the Big East a 2-2 split in the four-game invitational. Vanderbilt beat South Florida and No. 16 Tennessee knocked off No. 24 Marquette in Nashville on Tuesday.

The win was a catharsis of sorts for the Cardinals, whose only loss this season was a 68-54 stunner against Western Kentucky last month. The Cardinals admitted after that game that they came out a little flat and didn't think they had to work hard to beat the Hilltoppers.

They vowed not to make the same mistake against the Rebels and it worked.

The Cardinals built a 32-14 lead behind Clark, who did whatever he wanted. He scored 10 of Louisville's first 12 points and tied his season high of 17 on a nifty layup before the game was 8 minutes old, playing with the kind of energy coach Rick Pitino wishes would come more often from his sometimes sleepy star.

Mississippi, however, steadied itself and fought back as Clark and the Cardinals cooled. The Rebels ended the half with a 16-3 flurry capped by a 26-footer from Warren, who shot it over two defenders at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 38-34.

Louisville played without assistant coach Steve Masiello, whose father Steve Sr., died of a heart attack earlier this week. Pitino said he would attempt to attend a wake for Masiello Sr. in New York on Friday then fly to Phoenix to join the team. Louisville plays undefeated Minnesota in the Stadium Shootout on Saturday.

(This version CORRECTS Clark's rebound total.)

Chism helps No. 16 Tennessee beat No. 24 Marquette

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Southeastern Conference is struggling so far this season with Tennessee the only team in the league currently ranked. The Big East has a record eight teams in the Top 25.

So a perfect time for the Big East to burnish its reputation, right? Not in Nashville, at least not when Tennessee is involved.

Wayne Chism scored a career-high 26 points, and No. 16 Tennessee beat No. 24 Marquette 80-68 on Tuesday night to give the SEC a sweep of the first doubleheader in the Southeastern Conference/Big East Invitational.

Vanderbilt beat South Florida 71-52 in the first game.

The Big East won three of four when the conferences did this last season. The second doubleheader is Thursday night in Cincinnati, featuring Mississippi State against Cincinnati and Mississippi facing No. 9 Louisville.

In other games involving ranked teams on Tuesday, it was: No. 5 Texas 88, Texas Southern 72; and No. 25 Clemson 76, North Florida 36.

Under coach Bruce Pearl, Tennessee improved to 6-1 in the Sommet Center, where the Vols turn the arena into a home away from Knoxville every time they visit. They had 9,498 fans painting the arena orange on Tuesday night.

"Nashville has been a great place over the last four years for Tennessee basketball," Pearl said. "We've played some great teams and had some great crowds. It just keeps getting better every year. I just appreciate the turnout, and well, we needed that one needless to say."

The Volunteers (7-2) came into the game having lost two of their last three, including a big loss at Temple last Saturday in which they never led. Tyler Smith had 14 points and Bobby Maze added 10 for the Vols.

Marquette (8-2) had won three straight and has four starters averaging in double figures. The Golden Eagles had won four of the previous six between these schools, but this team has a short bench. Coach Buzz Williams played only eight players and three fouled out.

"Anytime we get in foul trouble, no matter who the player is, we're out of whack," Williams said.

Wesley Matthews had 30 points for Marquette, Lazar Hayward added 14 and Jerel McNeal 10.

Tennessee had the deeper bench with nine Vols playing at least seven minutes. That and Chism wound up being the difference with officials calling 54 fouls.

Chism scored 21 points in the second half, including a stunning sequence when he dunked, then hit a 3. He was a career-best 8-of-11 at the free throw line and grabbed 11 rebounds in an arena he calls the Icebox.

"I haven't lost in this gym," Chism said. "It's been cold and cold and cold. This was the first time I felt it was warm. For some reason, I like this gym, and it's a very good place to play in."

No. 5 Texas 88, Texas Southern 72

At Austin, Texas, A.J. Abrams scored 27 points and Dexter Pittman added a career-high 19 for the Longhorns (9-1), who led 35-34 at halftime. Abrams had 16 points and Pittman added 15 as Texas scored 53 points in the second half to pull away for the home win.

Matthew Miller led Texas Southern (0-9) with 21 points, 10 above his season average.

No. 25 Clemson 76, North Florida 36

At Clemson, S.C., Trevor Booker had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots as Clemson moved to 11-0 for the third time in four seasons. The Tigers are 43-0 under coach Oliver Purnell over the past four seasons in games played before Dec. 22.

It was the fewest points scored against Clemson since a 77-28 win over Wofford on Feb. 6, 1996.

Kyle Groothuis had nine points and seven rebounds for the Ospreys (0-8), who shot 16 percent (4-of-25) in the second half.

Oklahoma RB Murray to miss title game with injury

NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray will have surgery to repair a hamstring injury and miss the BCS national championship game against Florida.

Murray will undergo surgery on Dec. 22 to repair the tendon in his left leg, Sooners' coach Bob Stoops said Tuesday. The championship game is Jan. 8.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed for DeMarco," Stoops said in a statement. "He has been an important part of our success this year and we will miss his contributions."

Murray was Oklahoma's leading rusher before he was injured in the Big 12 championship game against Missouri on Dec. 6. The injury was first diagnosed as a bruise but an MRI exam revealed the damage.

Murray, now the team's second-leading rusher with 1,002 yards, will be replaced by Mossis Madu. Chris Brown leads the Sooners with 1,010 yards.

"With Chris Brown and Mossis Madu, we still have two very fine backs," Stoops said. "Our team has a lot of confidence in their abilities."

Murray also had 395 receiving yards and was second on the team with 18 touchdowns. He will be able to resume training in about five months, said Oklahoma athletic trainer Scott Anderson.

Madu has rushed for 463 yards and six touchdowns as the third-team back. He filled in for Murray during the Big 12 title game and carried 15 times for 114 yards and three touchdowns.

No. 2 Connecticut routs Stony Brook 91-57

HARTFORD, Conn. – Jeff Adrien had 18 points and 10 rebounds and No. 2 Connecticut returned from an 11-day break for exams to rout Stony Brook 91-57 on Monday night.

It was the 36th career double-double for the senior forward, who was one of five Huskies in double figures. Hasheem Thabeet had 18 points and nine rebounds, while Jerome Dyson added 16 points and Craig Austrie and A.J. Price had 13 each for UConn (9-0).

Danny Carter led Stony Brook (5-5) with 20 points, 14 in the first half.

Stony Brook, which had been giving up just 55 points per game, used a weave on offense to try and slow the pace, but shot 32 percent from the field.

UConn, which played its first game since a 68-64 victory at Buffalo on Dec. 4, used a 20-2 second-half run to stretch a 12-point lead to 30.

The Huskies have won 134 of their last 135 home games played before January against opponents from outside the Big East.

The competition picks up later this week, when UConn travels to Seattle to face No. 7 Gonzaga on Saturday.

Connecticut looked sluggish early and used 11 players in the game's first 3 minutes. Nine minutes into the game the Huskies led just 16-11.

But that was as close as the Seawolves would come. UConn went on a 19-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Austrie.

Carter hit two 3-pointers as Stony Brook made a push at the end of the half, closing within 44-30.

Two 3-pointers by Bryan Dougher cut the lead to 53-41 early in the second half, but the Huskies were able to get Stony Brook into a running game and stretched the lead back to 66-43 on a 3-pointer by Dyson from the right wing.

The Huskies led 73-43 midway through the second half.

The game marked the return of UConn forward Stanley Robinson, who missed the first semester for personal reasons, spending his time working as a laborer at a metals wholesaler and recycling facility near the Storrs campus in Willimantic. Robinson, who averaged 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds last season for the Huskies, made his presence known early, slamming home an alley-oop pass 3 1/2 minutes into the game. He scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in 16 minutes.

The win improved Jim Calhoun's record to 12-0 against former assistant coaches. Seawolves coach Steve Pikiell played at UConn from 1987-91 and was an assistant with the Huskies for the 1991-92 season. He is 0-2 against Calhoun.

Arizona defeats No. 4 Gonzaga 69-64

PHOENIX – Nic Wise scored 21 points, including three free throws in the final 31 seconds, and Arizona upset No. 4 Gonzaga 69-64 on Sunday.

Jordan Hill added 22 points and Chase Budinger had 14 for the Wildcats (7-2), who beat a team ranked in the top four for the first time since Nov. 8, 2001, when they beat No. 2 Maryland.

The Wildcats, who led most of the game, outscored Gonzaga 7-2 over the last 2:25, with Hill and Wise scoring all their points.

Austin Daye had 22 points and Matt Bouldin added 14 for the Bulldogs (7-1).

The second half was played with the fury of an NCAA tournament game.

Hill broke a 62-62 tie with two free throws with 1:17 to go, then hit a 4-footer over Josh Heytvelt to put the Wildcats up 66-62 with 36 seconds left.

Bouldin scored on a layup, then Wise iced the game at the free throw line, going 3-of-4 down the stretch.

The Bulldogs seemed to unravel in the clutch, with a spate of turnovers in the final 2 minutes.

This was Gonzaga's second straight game against a Pac-10 opponent. But after blitzing Washington State 74-52 at Pullman on Wednesday night, the Bulldogs struggled to cope with Arizona's athleticism.

They also had to deal with a pro-Arizona crowd at "neutral" U.S. Airways Center, home of the Phoenix Suns. The arena is only about 90 miles from Arizona's campus in Tucson.

Arizona and Gonzaga met for only the third time — and the first since the top-seeded Wildcats held off the Bulldogs in a double-overtime thriller in the NCAA's second round in 2003.

Gonzaga hopes this is the first of two trips to Arizona this season. The Bulldogs may return in March, when the NCAA West Regional will be staged in nearby Glendale.

The Wildcats took a 35-34 lead at halftime as both teams shot 46.4 percent from the field (13-of-28).

The game was the second half of a doubleheader. No. 20 Arizona State held off IUPUI 59-58 in overtime in the opener.

Charles lifts No. 1 UConn over Penn State, 77-63

NEW YORK – Tina Charles had 29 points and 18 rebounds to help top-ranked Connecticut beat Penn State 77-63 on Sunday in the second game of the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden.

UConn (7-0) had been on an 11-day break for exams since beating Holy Cross on Dec. 3. The rust showed as Connecticut was sloppy in the early going. The Huskies came into the game scoring 92.8 points and shooting 60 percent from the field. They looked out of synch for the first 11 minutes of the game that drew a crowd of 9,417.

Trailing 19-18 with 9 minutes left in the half, UConn went on a 16-2 run to close the period. Moore started the spurt with a steal that led to a basket by Renee Montgomery. Moore also added seven points during the run. Charles finished the half with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Tyra Grant scored 26 for Penn State (5-5).

Maya Moore added 21 points and Renee Montgomery had 13 for the Huskies, who will head to Cancun to play in the Caribbean Classic this week.

Mashea Williams scored 17 and Brianne O'Rourke added 13 for the Nittany Lions, who open up Big Ten play next Sunday against Michigan State.

Fourteenth-ranked Rutgers beat Army 59-38 in the first game of the doubleheader in honor of the former Army coach. Dixon died April 6, 2006, of arrhythmia, probably caused by an enlarged heart. Her death came three weeks after her first season as Army's coach, a performance that won the admiration of the academy and all of college basketball.

Connecticut struggled to put away Penn State. The Huskies extended their lead to 58-42 on Kalana Greene's free throws with 10:24 left in the game, but the Nittany Lions answered with a 7-0 run capped by O'Rourke's 3-pointer to make it 58-49. Penn State could get no closer than eight the rest of the game as Charles came up with key baskets and rebounds down the stretch.

UConn finished the game shooting just 38 percent from the field, including going only 7-for-30 from behind the arc. The Huskies entered the game hitting 44 percent of their 3-pointers.

Caroline Doty missed her first 3-pointer 40 seconds into the game. The UConn freshman had made her previous 10, falling four short of the NCAA record set by Portland's Deanna Lansing in 1996 and matched by Lauren Howell of Mount St. Mary's last season.

A portion of the proceeds from the games will go to C.A.R.E (Cardiac Arrhythmias Research and Education Foundation, Inc.). C.A.R.E. offered free heart screening for anyone attending the Classic.

Reynolds gets No. 15 Villanova past Saint Joseph's

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Scottie Reynolds scored 18 points and sank the winning free throws with 4.8 seconds left to lift No. 15 Villanova to a 59-56 win over Saint Joseph's on Thursday night.

Reynolds was fouled on a driving layup down the lane to put the Wildcats (9-1) in position for the victory over their city rival. The 87-percent free-throw shooter made the first and swished the second for a 57-56 lead.

Dante Cunningham stole in the in-bounds pass, was fouled and clinched the win with two free throws, sending the Villanova student section into a frenzy. Cunningham scored 14 points.

Villanova trailed most of the second half and appeared on the brink of losing for the second straight season to the Hawks (4-5). Ahmad Nivins, who scored 16 points, hit two free throws with 44 seconds left to give Saint Joseph's a 56-55 lead.

Playing only two nights after No. 6 Texas beat them 67-58 at Madison Square Garden, the Wildcats took over from there and won their second city series game of the season.

Darrin Govens had the Hawks hopeful of an upset with a hot hand from 3-point range, going 6-for-11 from outside the arc and leading them with 18 points.

While the rivalry between the schools has remained the most heated in the city among the six Division I teams, the games have become quite lopsided over the past few years. The average margin of victory entering Thursday was 17.1 points over the last seven games, including a 22-point win by Saint Joseph's last season.

This was one was vintage Big 5. All that was missing was the Palestra.

The long-time city rivals went on a 3-point spree that got the staid Pavilion crowd rocking. Tasheed Carr hit the first 3 for the Hawks, Dwayne Anderson answered with one, then Govens nailed his fifth 3 of the game for a 47-44 lead.

After a timeout and empty possessions for teams, Govens got the Hawks going again with yet another 3-pointer and a six-point lead with 5:44 left.

Reggie Redding hit two jumpers in about 90 seconds, one that pulled the Wildcats within one and the last one that finally put them ahead 53-52 with 2:55 left. That let the Villanova students start a "We can't hear you!" chant across the court to their suddenly subdued Saint Joe's counterparts.

The Wildcats did not attempt a free throw in the first and half and the Hawks went 2-for-2. Then it became a battle from the line down the stretch to decide this one.

Nivins made two from the line and the Wildcats took a 54-53 1:25 left only for Redding to make two at the 59-second mark for a 55-54 lead.

The Wildcats finished 13 of 15 from the line and needed them all to improve to 42-24 in the series.

Govens hit 35 percent of his 3s coming into the game and he connected on back-to-back shots to give the Hawks a 17-13 lead. His fourth 3 of the half stretched the lead to nine and Saint Joseph's took a 35-26 lead into halftime.

No. 5 Oklahoma beats Maine 78-52

NORMAN, Okla. – Blake Griffin had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 5 Oklahoma to a 78-52 victory over Maine on Wednesday night.

Griffin made his first six shots and finished 11-of-13 from the field. The 6-foot-10 sophomore recorded his seventh double-double of the season. He played 22 minutes and 14 of his points came on dunks.

Oklahoma (9-0) is off to its best start since the 2003-04 team opened with 10 straight wins.

Freshman Willie Warren added 19 points and reserve Ray Willis had 13 points for the Sooners.

Mark Socoby had 10 points to lead the Black Bears (5-5), who shot 29 percent from the field and had 20 turnovers.

Griffin, who has had 15 or more rebounds in a game six times this season, had three blocks, three assists and two steals.

Oklahoma led by as many as 23 points in the first half and was ahead by as many as 32 in the second. The Sooners had 28 points off turnovers while committing only nine themselves.

Tony Crocker had 10 points for Oklahoma, which shot 45 percent from the field, but was 7-of-28 from 3-point range.

In the first ever meeting between the schools, Oklahoma trailed 3-0 before Griffin scored the next eight points and 10 of 12 for the Sooners as they began to pull away.

Sean McNally had nine points for Maine.

The No. 5 ranking is Oklahoma's highest since November 2005.

QB Colt McCoy tells paper he'll return to Texas

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas quarterback Colt McCoy confirmed that he'll return to the Longhorns for his senior season in 2009. McCoy has led No. 3 Texas (11-1) to a Fiesta Bowl matchup against Ohio State with 3,445 yards passing and 32 touchdowns, both team records. He's also the team's leading rusher with 576 yards and is expected to be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy this week.

"I'm not going anywhere," McCoy said in an interview published Monday on the Austin American-Statesman's Web site.

McCoy said he wants to try to win a national championship next season after falling one spot short of the Bowl Championship Series title game this season.

McCoy has said all season he plans to be back next year, but said recently that he would at least inquire about his potential draft status.

Gators chomp past Bama for SEC title; eye BCS bid

ATLANTA – Florida appears headed back to the national championship game. Alabama picked the worst possible time for its first loss of the season.

Tim Tebow threw three touchdown passes — including the decisive score with just under 3 minutes remaining — to lead the No. 2 Gators to a 31-20 victory over No. 1 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Saturday. That should be enough to give Florida a spot in the BCS title game for the second time in three years.

Showing it could win a close game in a season of routs, Florida (12-1) went into the fourth quarter trailing 20-17. But Jeff Demps, helping fill in for injured Percy Harvin, scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 2-yard run with 9:21 remaining.

Tebow finished the scoring, hitting Riley Cooper on a 5-yard scoring pass with 2:50 left. Alabama (12-1) will likely have to settle for a spot in the Sugar Bowl, ruining its hopes of a seventh national championship in school history.

Instead, mark down a spot for Florida, which won the title during the 2006 season with a rout of Ohio State in the title game. The Gators came into the game ranked fourth in the BCS standings, but the impressive win over unbeaten and top-ranked Alabama will surely be enough to move them into one of the top spots.

Their opponent? Oklahoma had the inside track heading into Saturday night's Big 12 championship game against Missouri. Texas was waiting in the wings if the Sooners were upset.

Whoever it is will have to stop Tebow, who was 14-of-22 passing 216 yards and led the team in rushing with 57 yards. He tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Carl Moore to finish off Florida's opening possession, went 5 yards to David Nelson to give the Gators a 17-10 halftime lead, and came through one more time to clinch the victory.

"That's a good team we just played," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "We've come a long way as a team. We had a lot of injuries during the season, but we had a lot of guys step up."

With Florida facing third-and-goal at the 5 after a rare sideline interference penalty, Tebow found Cooper breaking toward the middle in front of Marquis Johnson. The perfectly thrown pass — low enough to give no chance of an interception — was cradled by Cooper to make it a two-score game.

Joe Haden's interception ended any hope of an improbable comeback. Tebow was named the game's MVP.

"One more year! One more year!" the Florida fans chanted afterward, hoping their junior quarterback will return for his senior season.

Alabama trailed at halftime for first time this year, but just the fact that it was close put the Gators in an unusual position.

Florida came in as the nation's third-highest scoring team (46.3 points a game) and its average margin of victory was a staggering 37 points. Then again, the Gators did lose their only close game, a shocking 31-30 defeat to Mississippi at the Swamp on the final weekend in September.

The Tide was feeling good about itself after Mark Ingram scored on a 2-yard run and Leigh Tiffin booted his second field goal, a 27-yarder that pushed Alabama ahead going to the final period.

But Florida caught a huge break when Demps was dragged down short of the marker on third down, but oDont'a Hightower got a handful of facemask. The 15-yard penalty gave the Gators first down at the Bama 27.

Tebow took it from there. A 13-yard pass to Nelson. Then a 6-yarder to Nelson again to convert another third down by a yard. And finally, a quick pitch to Demps, who streaked around the left side and hurdled over two fallen players at the goal line for a 24-20 lead.

"Going 12-0 is a hard thing to do," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Every time they needed to make a play, Tim Tebow made the plays that made the difference in the game."

This was the 41st meeting between the top two teams in The Associated Press poll. No. 1 still holds a 23-16-2 edge.

The Gators had to play without Harvin, who didn't even suit up after spraining his right ankle the previous week in a win over Florida State. He walked on the field stiff-legged — clearly, it wasn't even a close call whether or not he would play — and watched the game from the sideline wearing his No. 1 jersey.

During the regular season, Harvin was the team's top receiver with 35 catches for 595 yards and seven touchdowns. He also was second on the team in rushing with 543 yards, scoring nine TDs on the ground.

But Florida still had Tebow. That was the difference.

"He's a great competitor. He takes his teammates on his shoulders a lot," Saban said. "They have a lot of confidence he's going to make plays, and they play that way. They scored two touchdowns where we had them covered about as well as we could cover them."

The Alabama-Florida matchup was a mainstay of the SEC championship in its early years. The teams met in the first three title games and four of the first five, beginning with the historic 1992 game in which the Crimson Tide won on a late interception return by Antonio Langham.

Alabama went on to rout Miami in the Sugar Bowl, winning its sixth national title. They'll have to wait another year for No. 7.

Ball State fumbles away perfection against Buffalo

DETROIT – Ball State fumbled away its perfect season. The 12th-ranked Cardinals coughed up the ball four times and Buffalo scored off each turnover, routing the previously unbeaten team 42-24 Friday night in the Mid-American Conference championship game.

"We kind of shot ourselves in the foot," defensive end Brandon Crawford said. "They capitalized off the opportunities."

Ball State (12-1) finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1949, but entered the game without much of a shot to bust into the Bowl Championship Series because it trailed Utah in the standings.

The Bulls returned fumbles 92 and 74 yards on consecutive drives late in the third quarter to take a 28-17 lead.

Buffalo (8-5) won its first MAC title, capping the program's first bowl-eligible season since joining college football's top tier of teams in 1999.

NFL scouts at Ford Field saw Ball State quarterback Nate Davis struggle to hold onto the ball. The Cardinals fumbled four times and Davis was involved each time.

"It was a big effect," Davis said. "They took two fumbles to the house."

The most critical came when he tried to dive toward the goal line, but had the ball knocked loose for Mike Newton to scoop up and take 92 yards for a go-ahead score.

"I was trying to make a big play," Davis said.

Davis finished 31-of-48 for 351 yards with a touchdown and an interception on his final attempt when the game was out of reach.

After the game, the junior put to rest speculation that he will enter the NFL draft.

"I will come back," Davis said. "There's no doubt about. It's been the plan all along."

Buffalo quarterback Drew Willy, meanwhile, played mistake-free football.

Willy was 19-of-28 for 206 yards with three touchdowns to Naaman Roosevelt, didn't throw an interception and was sacked only once.

Roosevelt finished with 116 yards receiving and James Starks ran for 82 yards and a score, though he fumbled twice.

Ball State's MiQuale Lewis ran for 138 yards and two TDs and Briggs Orsbon set a MAC title game record with 13 receptions and had 141 yards receiving.

The Cardinals hadn't trailed by more than a touchdown all season and were behind for just 23 minutes this year, but they fell behind for good against Buffalo with 3:52 left in the third when Newton went 92 yards.

"The coaches told us in the hotel we were going to win this game today," Willy said. "Once Mike Newton made that tremendous play, it got everyone going and the rest is history."

Sherrod Lott returned a fumble 74 yards on the next drive.

The last team to return two or more fumbles of at least 74 yards was Louisville in 2001 against New Mexico State.

"Give Buffalo credit, they were the better team tonight," linebacker Bryant Haines said.

Buffalo celebrated in front of a crowd of just 12,871 at the home of the NFL's Detroit Lions, enjoying its first win against a ranked team. Since playing in the top tier of college football, the Bulls were 0-8 against ranked teams and had scored just 70 points in those losses heading into the matchup with Ball State.

The Bulls won just 10 games in seven seasons before coach Turner Gill took over the program in 2006.

"It makes me happy to know where we were and where we are now," said Starks, who grew up in the Buffalo area.

Buffalo accepted an invitation to play in Toronto's International Bowl, athletic director Warde Manuel said.

"To have the (bowl) game an hour and a half away is a reward for our fans," Gill said.

Ball State, which hasn't won a MAC title since 1996, might return to Detroit to play in the Motor City Bowl.

"It's going to hurt for a little bit, but our kids will bounce back and be resilient and get ready for what's next," coach Brady Hoke said.

BCS can fall into place or fall apart

This has to be the best week in the history of Cincinnati Bearcats football.

The Bearcats have the Big East title and a BCS bid locked up, their hot-commodity coach, Brian Kelly, announced that he plans to stick around for a while and they're headed to Hawaii to play what amounts to a meaningless game Saturday night.

While the Bearcats are frolicking in paradise, the rest of the Bowl Championship Series will be sorted out on the main land.

Alabama and Florida are playing for the Southeastern Conference championship in Atlanta and a spot in the BCS national title game.

Oklahoma can win both a Big 12 title and a spot opposite the SEC champ in Miami on Jan. 8 by beating Missouri for the second straight season in the conference championship at Kansas City, Mo.

Southern California needs a victory against UCLA to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl, and the winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Tampa between Boston College and Virginia Tech goes to the Orange Bowl.

As long as the favorites win, it'll all come together nice and neat for selection Sunday.

But it doesn't take a long memory to realize that even big favorites — which USC and Oklahoma are this weekend — don't always come through.

Last year, West Virginia was more than a three-touchdown favorite against rival Pittsburgh, needing just a victory to play for the school's first national title.

The result: Pitt 13, West Virginia 9. That led to LSU becoming the first two-loss team to play in the BCS national championship game and reshuffling of the BCS lineup.

Can Missouri or UCLA be this season's Pitt?

The picks:

Friday

No. 12 Ball St. (minus 15) vs. Buffalo, MAC Championship at Detroit

Win could get Cardinals back to Detroit for Motor City Bowl ... BALL ST. 44-31.

___

Saturday

No. 1 Alabama (plus 9 1/2) vs. No. 2 Florida, SEC championship at Atlanta

Gators chomp on Tide's perfect season ... FLORIDA 41-17.

No. 4 Oklahoma (minus 16) vs. No. 19 Missouri, Big 12 championship at Kansas City

Sooners hit 60 again ... OKLAHOMA 63-35.

No. 5 Southern California (minus 33) at UCLA

Over/under on Bruins' first downs: 7 .... USC 42-7.

No. 13 Cincinnati (minus 7 1/2) at Hawaii

Will Bearcats stop party to play? ... CINCINNATI 44-28.

No. 18 Boston College (pick'em) vs. Virginia Tech, ACC Championship at Tampa, Fla.

Rematch of last season's title game goes Eagles way this time ... BC 24-21.

No. 23 Pittsburgh (plus 3) at Connecticut

Panthers playing for trip to Sun Bowl ... PITT 24-17.

Navy (minus 10 1/2) vs. Army at Philadelphia

Middies go for seven straight against Cadets ... NAVY 30-21.

East Carolina (plus 13) at Tulsa, C-USA Championship

Winner goes to Liberty Bowl ... TULSA 55-28.

___

Last week: 10-2 (straight); 6-6 (vs. points).

Season: 194-57 (straight); 123-111-1 (vs. points).

Syracuse rushes past Colgate 86-51

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Paul Harris had 22 points and No. 16 Syracuse celebrated its first appearance in the national rankings in more than a year with an 86-51 victory over Colgate on Monday night.

Jonny Flynn added 12 points and a season-high seven assists for the Orange (7-0), who have won 43 straight in the series against Colgate and improved to 116-45 against their longtime upstate New York foe.

In its previous two games, Syracuse rallied from 13-point deficits to beat then-No. 22 Kansas in overtime and Virginia. No second-half rally was needed against Colgate (2-3), which trailed 43-13 at halftime.

Harris and Flynn combined to score the Orange's first 15 points in the first 4:31 of play — two more than the Raiders managed the entire first half as they struggled to find open looks against Syracuse's man-to-man defense.