A prominent University of Washington student-athlete is under investigation in the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl on Saturday night in an apartment near Garfield HS.
The UW declined to comment on the investigation but issued a statement that read, "Neither department officials, nor members of the UW men's basketball coaching staff or team will comment on the matter at [Tuesday's] open media session."
I am leading with this item today because I want to nip all speculation about who it is on our blog until the University or the Seattle Police Department makes an announcement. So please do not speculate on the blog about the identity of the suspect or I will have to hide or delete it.
Auburn beats Oregon for BCS championship
Last nights national championship game was exciting all the way down to the last tick of the clock when Auburn iced the outcome with a game winning field goal to win 22-19. Auburn seemed to be the better football team, but Oregon hung in till the very end, and came oh so close to putting the game into overtime.
I think the deciding call of the game was unfortunate for the Ducks. If they had kept hitting the ball carrier after he had supposedly gone down the flags would have started flying. IMHO the play should have been whistled dead because everyone had stopped, but it wasn't, and Auburn wins the game. I guess the tough lesson learned is play through the whistle.
The story of this game was the way the Auburn defense shut down the Oregon running game. I think we all have the recipe now on how to beat Oregon. Fill your front seven with future NFL draft picks and you can slow down the Duck offense. Auburn was definitely the more physical football team.
Congratulations to the Ducks and their fans for a season to remember.
Coaching Carousel
San Diego State's Brady Hoke has taken the job at Michigan after LSU's Les Miles decided to stay put in Baton Rouge. Hoke is a longtime former Michigan assistant under Lloyd Carr. Hoke was also on Stanford's list of possible replacements for Jim Harbaugh.
Pittsburgh hired Tulsa's Todd Graham in what I would call a great move. They had to fire Mike Haywood after two weeks but they end up with what I think is a better candidate to succeed this time.