Art Briles has built Baylor into a powerhouse. Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Big 12 football teams will be required to play one nonconference game against a team from the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC or Notre Dame.
The conference, which does not have a postseason championship game, also announced Tuesday that each team is permitted to schedule only one game annually against an FCS school.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in the release that strength of schedule, a factor in Oklahoma reaching the College Football Playoff, was the key reason for the shift.
—Junior tight end Jake Butt wants coach Jim Harbaugh to weigh in before he decides whether it’s time to jump to the NFL.
Butt, who recovered from a torn ACL in 2014, is the No. 1 tight end potentially available for the 2016 NFL Draft according to NFLDraftScout.com rankings. He was an All-Big Ten selection with 48 receptions for 620 yards and three touchdowns.
“It’s 50-50 right now, I can’t say I’m leaning one way or another,” Butt told the Detroit News.
—Citing clear indications the NCAA was determined to reach a predetermined conclusion about the role of former Southern Cal running backs coach Todd McNair during the investigation into Reggie Bush’s violations, a court will hear the defamation lawsuit McNair filed.
The NCAA hit USC with excessive penalties — Bush surrendered the 2005 Heisman Trophy for violations involving a marketing agency and the program faced a scholarship reduction of 30 over three seasons, vacated wins, plus a bowl ban — while McNair maintained he wasn’t aware of Bush receiving impermissible benefits.
The ruling by a three-judge panel in California’s Second District eliminates portions of McNair’s case. The defamation suit remains fully intact.
—Alabama wide receiver Chris Black was released from his scholarship and plans to go elsewhere as a graduate transfer after his 2015 season was cut short by an injury.
If Black completes his degree by the end of the school year, he would be eligible to play next season at another FBS school. Ankle surgery ended Black’s season in November.
Black, a former four-star recruit who was considered one of the nation’s top prospects in 2012, entered the 2015 season as the Crimson Tide’s leading returning receiver with 15 catches for 188 yards in 2014. But injuries and the development of wide receivers Richard Mullaney and Calvin Ridley left Black with just two receptions for 23 yards this season.
—Arkansas State defensive end Chris Stone and wide receiver Tyler Trosin were arrested on drug charges Tuesday in Jonesboro, Ark.
Stone and Trosin, both seniors, were taken into custody at about 2 a.m. on suspicion of possession of metamphetamine or cocaine, according to the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office. Both remained in jail as of Tuesday morning.
Stone has been a starter on the defensive line and Trosin is a backup receiver for the Red Wolves (9-3), who face Louisiana Tech on Dec. 19 in the New Orleans Bowl.
