Super NCAA Division Discussed

Eight NCAA Division I-A conference commissioners are considering a plan that could slice the top division of college football schools by a fourth, apparently eliminating those in the Big West and Mid-American conferences.

Represented at the meeting Friday in Dallas were the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Eight, Big Ten, Pacific 10, Southeastern, Southwest and Western Athletic conferences, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The 10-team Big West and Mid-American conferences were not at the meeting and apparently were not invited.

The newspaper said a proposal was discussed that could reduce the number of top football schools from 106 to about 80.

Paring the I-A membership could pave the way for a super football division, known as Division IV, with similar programs competing against each other and legislating their own NCAA rules.

Any possible restructuring would not occur until at least the January of 1995 NCAA convention, unless a special NCAA convention on restructuring were called.

In the 1992 season, the latest for which national comparisons are available, the Mid-American and Big West were the lowest-ranking I-A conferences in attendance, with averages of about 14,300 per game. The Southeastern Conference was highest at 63,737.

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Rick Minter, Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator the last two seasons, became football coach at Cincinnati, replacing Tim Murphy, who left last month to become Harvard’s coach.

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Youngstown State (12-3) scored all of its points in the first quarter of a 17-5 victory over Marshall (12-3) in the final of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs at Huntington, W.Va.

Pro Basketball

Bobby Hurley remained in intensive care, despite doctors’ earlier predictions that the Sacramento King point guard could be released from that unit.

Hurley, the Kings’ No. 1 draft pick and a two-time All-American at Duke, has collapsed lungs, broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade, a compression fracture in the lower back and a soft-tissue back injury. He was thrown from his light truck when it collided with a station wagon near Arco Arena last Sunday after a game against the Clippers.

Emily Avila, a spokeswoman for University Medical Center, said that Hurley, 22, “hasn’t gotten worse or anything like that, but they (doctors) are just trying to be careful.” She said he will probably stay in the intensive care unit “for the next couple of days.”

World Scene

Two-time gold medalist Katarina Witt won the silver medal in the German national figure skating championships at Herne, moving a step closer to qualifying for the 1994 Olympics. Witt, competing in front of judges for the first time since 1988, qualified for the European Championships next month at Copenhagen. If she is among the top two there, Witt, 28, will earn an Olympic berth. Tanja Szewczenko, 16, won the German title.

Patrick Ortlieb of Austria added his first World Cup downhill victory to his 1992 Olympic title, beating Daniel Mahrer of Switzerland by 0.41 seconds at Val Gardena, Italy. . . . Anja Haas led a 1-2 Austrian finish and won her third World Cup downhill at St. Anton.

Team USA fended off a third-period attack and defeated Norway, 4-3, in the Izvestia Cup hockey tournament at Moscow.

Names in the News

Larry Mize held a three-shot lead after 54 holes of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Montego Bay, Jamaica. . . . The Texas Rangers said they expect former Dodger Jay Howell, a free-agent reliever, to accept a contract offer. . . . The agent for pitcher Bruce Hurst said Hurst will not return to the Colorado Rockies next season. Hurst spent most of last season on the disabled list while recovering from shoulder surgery.