Game moving because of NFL lockout: Not wanting to wait any longer on the NFL labor situation to be resolved, the Allstate Sugar Bowl has moved the date for this season’s game to Jan. 3, a day later than originally scheduled. “We already were dealing with the Saints being at home on the 1st, and if the season is pushed back, there is the chance of a Monday night game that week,” Sugar Bowl Chief Executive Officer Paul Hoolahan told The Times-Picayune. The BCS championship game, also to take place at the Superdome, remains scheduled for Monday, Jan. 9, but Hoolahan says it could be moved to Jan. 10, though Jan. 7 is an outside possibility. That decision is not expected until the NFL lockout is settled. The move of the Sugar Bowl means the Orange Bowl will be played Jan. 4 and the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 5. The Rose Bowl, with its afternoon start, will remain on Jan. 2.
Hamilton leaving after 8 years: A spokeswoman for the University of Tennessee chancellor says athletic director Mike Hamilton is planning to step down. Margie Nichols, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Jimmy Cheek, says a press conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. today. Hamilton has been increasingly criticized for the coaches he hired and fired during the past three seasons and for NCAA violations committed by those coaches that resulted in a major investigation into recruiting. Former men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl was fired in March, after he admitted he lied to the NCAA about infractions. Violations also occurred when Lane Kiffin was coaching the Volunteers football team. Tennessee is scheduled to go before the NCAA’s committee on infractions on Saturday.
