Sports Briefs: Las Vegas game tops TV ratings

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The bowl alliance might have rejected No. 5-ranked Brigham Young, but TV viewers didn't.

The 7.3 overnight rating for the Cougars' 28-25 Western Athletic Conference championship game victory over Wyoming at Las Vegas' Sam Boyd Stadium was the highest of ABC's three conference championship games Saturday.

Other ratings: Texas-Nebraska (Big 12), 6.2; prime time Florida-Alabama (Southeastern), 6.9; CBS' Army-Navy, 5.5.

"BYU fans ought to fax these ratings to the bowl alliance," CBS' Craig James said Monday. "BYU, the school that nobody wants to watch, just kicked the alliance's butt. The bowl alliance is outdated. They ought to give fans the games they want to see."

Twice-beaten No. 7 Penn State (Fiesta Bowl) and No. 6 Nebraska (Orange Bowl) were given the $8.5 million alliance bowl slots, while BYU (13-1) will receive $2 million to play No. 14 Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.

"Nobody wanted BYU to come to their party, and it's not going to change," ESPN's Lee Corso said. "The alliance was set up to get a 1-vs.-2 matchup, and after that, it's strictly a business pecking order."

What the alliance really got was No. 1 (Florida State) against No. 3 (Florida) in the Sugar Bowl, a rematch of their Nov. 30 game.

In other college football news:

* Tarleton State coach Todd Whitten resigned after only one season to become Wyoming's offensive coordinator. He was the Lone Star Conference coach of the year.

* Eddie Robinson, college football's career victory leader, is under pressure from Grambling to quit, ESPN reported. The cable network said Robinson has been told by university president Ray Hicks to either resign or take a vice president's position at the school. The NCAA is investigating allegations of rules violations, and four players were arrested last month and charged with the rape of a 15-year-old girl.

* Sonoma State is dropping its football program a month after students rejected an activities fee hike of $300 needed to support the team. Abandoning the $300,000 football program -- which eats up a quarter of the department's funds and brings in only $7,000 a year in ticket sales -- is expected to allow the school to allot more funding to women's sports.

Ausssie breaks pole vault record

Emma George of Australia twice broke the old mark today in setting a women's indoor pole vault world record of 14 feet, 5 1/2 inches during an exhibition meet at Melbourne. George cleared 14-1 1/4 to better the old mark of 14-0 1/2 set by Sun Caiyun of China, then improved the record by another 4 1/2 inches later in the competition. The 22-year-old university student, who has only been competing in the pole vault for two years, also holds the world outdoor record at 14-7 1/4.

Big Ten to hold tourney

The Big Ten, seeking increased TV exposure and another money maker, adopted a men's postseason basketball tournament. The vote by the Big Ten Council of Presidents-Chancellors was 9-2, with Michigan and Indiana against the proposal. The tournament will begin March 5-8, 1998, at a neutral site the Big Ten hopes to announce in the spring. The winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Robinson returning

David Robinson will be in the San Antonio lineup for the first time this season tonight when the Spurs play Phoenix. Robinson left an Oct. 11 exhibition game because of back pain and missed the Spurs' first 18 games. San Antonio is 3-15 without him.

Dragster honored

John Force, who set numerous drag racing record this season, broke tradition when he was honored as the 1996 Driver of the Year. He is the first driver in the 29 years of the award to come from a series other than NASCAR Winston Cup, CART or Formula One. Force, winner of an unprecedented 13 of 19 NHRA Funny Car events in 1996, drew eight of the 12 votes from a national panel of writers and broadcasters. Terry Labonte, the Winston Cup champion, received the other four votes in the secret ballot. Labonte won his second stock car championship, with 21 top-five finishes and two victories in 31 races.