Texas A&M, Rice and Houston have rescheduled this weekend’s home games in anticipation of Hurricane Rita’s arrival on the Texas Gulf Coast. The Category 5 storm is expected to make landfall early Saturday.
The Aggies will host Texas State tonight at 7:30 p.m. instead of Saturday.
“We have spent the last couple of days reviewing our options,” said Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne. “Our first objective was the safety of our student-athletes, staff and fans while still being able to contribute to the community efforts relating to Hurricane Rita.”
The Rice-Navy game was moved back to Oct. 22. Houston and Southern Mississippi rescheduled their matchup for the second weekend of November. The Houston-SMU game originally slated for Nov. 12 was bumped to the following weekend when both teams have an open date.
The Cougars were set to evacuate Houston on buses today at noon. Players were told to pack for up to two weeks. They have been promised beds at Shepherd Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.
“We have no idea what we will come home to,” said Houston Director of Football Operations Colin Shillinglaw. “Or when we will be able to come home. We told them to pack all they can.”
The Party’s Over
Six Idaho State athletes were disciplined on Tuesday for misconduct.
Football players David Beverly, Michael Harris and Jason Wright were suspended for one week. Teammate Jermaine Horn and basketball players Tony Jones and Akbar Abdul-Ahad were placed on indefinite suspension.
The suspensions were prompted by “multiple incidents that took place Saturday evening,” Athletic Director Paul Bubb said.
According to police reports, a fight broke out at a weekend party following Idaho State’s 37-0 win over Montana Western.
Horn and Beverly were suspended for allegedly taking part in the fight, Bubb said. He did not give any details on the suspensions of Harris and Wright.
Horn, the starting defensive tackle, is currently third on the team in tackles with 13.
Nixing nicknames
Beginning next year, the NCAA is requiring bowl games to ban the “hostile” or “abusive” use of American Indian nicknames, mascots and logos.
The University of Illinois will be the only Division I-A school affected. The decision was announced Tuesday after Bowl Championship Series officials asked for a ruling.
“We received a written request from the BCS to take appropriate action as it related to bowl games,” NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said. “The BCS didn’t feel it had the governance structure to do what was necessary.”
Although the NCAA does not run bowl games, it sanctions them. The governing body agreed to add the mascot ban to its list of requirements to be licensed. The prohibition will apply to the five BCS bowl games and all postseason contests.
In August, the NCAA released a list of 18 “offenders” that included four Division I-A football schools. Florida State, Central Michigan and the University of Utah were all granted extensions. The University of North Dakota also has filed an appeal, the NCAA said earlier this week.
Reach Gerald Tang at [email protected].
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
