Associated Press
The college notebook …
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.ó Colt McCoy’s near blunder in the final seconds of the Big 12 title game hasn’t cost him on the awards circuit so far.
It hasn’t hurt the conference, either.
McCoy capped a big Thursday night for the Big 12, winning the Maxwell Award honoring the nation’s best all-around player.
It was just the latest in a series of postseason honors for McCoy, who also is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He won the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s player of the year award for the second consecutive season earlier in the day.
DIVISION II
FLORENCE, Ala. ó Mel Tjeerdsma isn’t getting tired of these annual trips to Alabama for the Division II national championship game.
Tjeerdsma’s Bearcats (13-1) will play in their record fifth consecutive title game on Saturday against Grand Valley State (13-1) in a matchup of perennial powerhouses.
Northwest Missouri finally got over the hump last season after losing three straight years in the championship game, held annually at North Alabama’s Braly Municipal Stadium. The first two of those losses came against Grand Valley, which had won four titles in five trips before failing to make it to the championship the past two seasons.
Grand Valley is trying to match North Dakota State’s record of five Division II championships, though the players aren’t all that impressed with numbers.
ZOOK TO RETURN
CHAMPAIGN, Ill.ó Illinois fired almost half of Ron Zook’s staff Friday but said the fifth-year head coach will keep his job in spite of a 3-9 season ó the second-straight losing year for the Illini.
DUBOSE TO MEMPHIS
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Former University of Alabama head coach Mike DuBose has been hired by the University of Memphis as a defensive line coach under new head coach Larry Porter.