Geiger, Tressel Say Program Is Clean

Ohio State Athletic Director Andy Geiger and Coach Jim Tressel defended the program Tuesday against charges that players were paid by boosters and coddled academically.

Geiger had harsh words for former tailback Maurice Clarett and ESPN, which he said has led an attack against the program by providing a forum for Clarett’s allegations.

An NCAA investigator was on campus Monday to look into accusations that Tressel helped Clarett get a loaner car and that he and other players were paid for bogus summer jobs and received improper help in class.

“I’m not concerned at all,” Geiger said of the investigation. “I think Jim runs an honest program and tells me the truth.”

Mark Shapiro, executive vice president of programming and production at ESPN, said Geiger’s attacks on the network “are blatantly misguided.”

Said Tressel: “I understand the rules of the game, the rules of the NCAA very, very well and have great confidence that we follow them to the T.”

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Adam Merritt, an Oklahoma student hospitalized after an incident with a Nebraska player before Saturday’s game, plans to press charges.

Merritt, a member of the spirit group OU Ruf/Neks, lost two teeth and was knocked unconscious from his encounter with 6-foot-5, 315-pound offensive lineman Darren DeLone. Merritt required the insertion of a metal rod into his mouth and he is scheduled for oral surgery.

Witnesses claimed DeLone charged Merritt, rammed his helmet into Merritt’s face and then shoved the freshman into a brick wall.

This is the second time in 13 months that a Nebraska player has been accused of an on-field altercation. Kellen Houston served a one-game suspension and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disturbance of the peace after hitting Missouri fan Matthew Scott after a game in Columbia, Mo., last October.

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Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said poll voters should be aware that ESPN has a contract with the Southeastern Conference when they consider the network’s analysis that Auburn should be the nation’s No. 2 team and not the Sooners. But Stoops stopped short of accusing the network of bias.

“I’m not saying that,” Stoops said. “I’m saying I’m aware of what their contracts are with. Whether people are directed in certain ways, I’m not going to say that.”

ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said the network’s rights holders understand ESPN would not compromise journalistic integrity because of business arrangements.

“The direction we provide our commentators is to be fair, to be objective and to give their opinions,” Krulewitz said.

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Despite calls to make their picks public, the 61 coaches who vote in the USA Today/ESPN poll decided not to release their choices in the final vote before the Orange Bowl.

The coaches poll and Associated Press media poll each count for one-third of a team’s bowl championship series ranking. An average of six computer rankings makes up the other third. Ballots of Associated Press voters are made available when warranted.

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Add Louisiana State Coach Nick Saban to those in opposition to this year’s BCS formula.

“They can change it however they want,” Saban said. “But until they create a system that includes more than two teams, they won’t be able to handle three teams at the top.”

Saban, who votes in the coaches poll, said he believed Auburn should have a shot at the title.

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The Silicon Valley Bowl is close to finalizing a deal to bring a team from the Mid-American Conference to the game in place of a Pacific 10 team.

With the Pac-10 unable to fill all seven of its bowl bids, the conference gave the bowl permission to begin negotiating with other conferences to fill its slot for a team to face an opponent from the Western Athletic Conference. Five MAC teams are currently eligible for a bowl. The Mac has contracts for only two bowls.

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New Mexico gave Coach Rocky Long, a former UCLA defensive coordinator, a contract extension through 2009.... Weber State Coach Jerry Graybeal resigned after a 1-10 season.... Michigan’s Braylon Edwards, Purdue’s Taylor Stubblefield and Ball State’s Dante Ridgeway are finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the best receiver.... Complaints from neighbors of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium will prompt the school to monitor the noise level outside the stadium Saturday when the Utes play rival Brigham Young. Stadium managers will measure noise levels from homes and areas north of the stadium.