College Sports Notebook

BAYLOR: OL Tyshaun Whitson (broken ankle) is out for the season. WR Robert Quiroga (hamstring) is probable.

SMU: DT Lute Croy is back after missing two games with a knee injury; DT Warrie Birdwell (knee) is probable; OL Thornton Chandler (knee) will play.

TEXAS: DT Stevie Lee is out four to six weeks with a broken bone in his foot; DT Shaun Rogers (ankle), OL Mike Williams (collarbone) and SS Lee Jackson (hamstring), DT Stevie Lee (foot) are questionable. WR Roy Williams (bruised biceps) is probable.

TEXAS A&M: OG Billy Yates (fractured lower leg) and ILB Harold Robertson (sprained ankle) are doubtful; OT Tango McCauley (sprained knee) is questionable.

TCU: Backup FB Allen Lewis tore a knee ligament Saturday and is out for the season. DL Stuart Ashley (shoulder) is probable.

Naismith candidates

Kansas center Eric Chenowith and Iowa State guard Jamaal Tinsley were among 30 preseason candidates for the 2000-01 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award announced Tuesday.

Chenowith, a 7-1 senior, has career averages of 9.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. He has 193 career blocked shots.

Tinsley, a 6-3 senior, averaged 6.59 assists and 2.65 steals while leading the Cyclones to a 32-5 overall record.

– Keith Whitmire

Hall practicing

DENTON – North Texas freshman quarterback Scott Hall, who has displaced cartilage in his right knee, practiced with the first team offense Tuesday but didn't take part in contact drills. UNT coach Darrell Dickey said Hall will play Oct. 5 against Samford if the swelling and pain diminish.

Also, right guard Nick Zuniga rolled his right ankle and will probably be held out of all contact drills until the Samford game, Dickey said.

– Richard Durrett

Guess the play

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Ja'Mar Toombs, Texas A&M's 265-pound fullback, ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring with five touchdowns in the Aggies' first three games.

Toombs says he loves hearing the home crowd bellow his name when the Aggies get close to the goal line. Still, Toombs recalls hearing one A&M assistant coach, Larry Kirksey, voice some concern.

Says Toombs: "He told me, 'I wish they'd be quiet. They're giving the play away.'"

– Al Carter

Big 12 tickets

The remaining 19,200 public tickets for the Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship in Kansas City will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3.

Telephone orders for the Dec. 2 game will be accepted via 1-800-676-5488, through Ticketmaster in Kansas City at 816-931-3330 or at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $45, $50, $55 and $60 each with a limit of eight tickets per order.

Tickets will not be sold through the Big 12 office, at on-site Ticketmaster outlets or at the Arrowhead Stadium box office.

In addition to the public tickets, each team is alloted 8,000 tickets, which will distributed by the schools upon qualifying for the game.

– Keith Whitmire

Calling on youth

Baylor coach Kevin Steele said he is considering bringing freshman defensive end Khari Long out of his redshirt year and making him the 10th true freshman to play for the Bears this season.

Steele said one area his defense must improve upon is generating a consistent pass rush, something Long (6-5, 235) has a knack for and could be used in obvious passing downs. Baylor has only one sack in three games this season.

– Dan Noxon

More playing time

UNIVERSITY PARK – With Johnnie Freeman and Chris Cunningham playing so much on offense and special teams, SMU receivers coach Johnny Ringo said freshmen Trent Joeckel and Marcus Carter will play more.

– Rana L. Cash

Picking them off

AUSTIN – Texas sophomore linebacker O.J. McClintock has two interceptions this season, including one returned for a touchdown. He is showing that four passes he picked off during the pre-season were no fluke.

"O.J. has an absolute knack for finding the ball," UT coach Mack Brown said. "I don't know how he does it."

McClintock says his secret is the fact that he played quarterback in high school (Austin Westwood) and knows how the quarterback is thinking on pass plays.

– Chip Brown

Missing Spike

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum admits he doesn't look at Texas Tech quite the same way now that Spike Dykes isn't coaching the Red Raiders.

"I always respected the job that he did," Slocum said of Dykes, who retired after last season. "His teams were always well-prepared, and they played hard. Plus, he's a good guy. He's always been a sportsman about things, never arrogant and always complimentary about our program."

– Al Carter

Slow starts

AUSTIN – The Texas offense hasn't scored a point in the first quarter of six straight games. But the Longhorns' first quarter against Houston on Saturday was the worst first quarter the UT offense has had, coach Mack Brown said.

UT had just 1 yard of offense in the first quarter against UH. "The players are trying to talk about it instead of pointing fingers," Brown said.

– Chip Brown

Picky, picky

TCU coach Dennis Franchione can't be too displeased with any area of his team, considering the Horned Frogs are off to a 3-0 start and have outscored opponents, 134-27. But even in reviewing TCU's 52-3 victory over Arkansas State last weekend, Franchione sheepishly suggested his team could be better.

"Maybe I'm just being a head coach,'' he said. "It's like we did a lot of things very good, but certain plays can be much better. And we missed 14 tackles in that game, which is the most we've had this season.''

– Dan Noxon

Tech ticket sales

LUBBOCK – Texas Tech, which has struggled at the football gate this season, says ticket sales are brisk for home games against Nebraska (Oct. 14) and Texas (Nov. 4).

Most of those sales, though, have come to fans of the Cornhuskers and Longhorns, which worries some Tech officials that 50,500-seat Jones SBC Stadium will be dominated by supporters of the opposing team.

– Bart Hubbuch

Missouri boots receiver

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Travis Garvin, Missouri's top wide receiver last season, was dismissed from the team after a disagreement with the Tigers' coaching staff about the severity of a knee injury sustained in practice last week. Garvin was suspended from the team's first game this year against Western Illinois for reportedly failing a drug test. – Associated Press

Penn State support

Penn State coach Joe Paterno thanked Ohio State's coaches and players for their support for Adam Taliaferro, the Nittany Lions defensive back who remains in a Columbus hospital after undergoing spinal fusion surgery for an injury sustained Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

Buckeye coach John Cooper has visited the 18-year-old freshman twice and spoke to his parents. Several Buckeye players also have dropped by to offer encouragement.

Taliaferro remains in serious condition and may be moved to a spinal rehabilitation center nearer to his home in Vorhees, N.J., by the end of the week.

– Chicago Tribune

Around the nation

BOWLING GREEN: Football coach Gary Blackney, the third-winningest coach in school history, will resign at the end of this season, citing "a need for change, both for myself and the program."

LOUISIANA TECH: Louisiana Tech sophomore forward Catrina Frierson, expected to be a key starter for the women's basketball team, tore two ligaments in her left knee during an intrasquad game and is out for the season.

MICHIGAN: Sophomore Justin Fargas, rated as the nation's No. 1 high school running back by many recruiting services in 1997, has asked coach Lloyd Carr for permission to switch to free safety. Fargas missed last season with a broken leg and hasn't gotten much playing time behind Anthony Thomas.

Briefly ...

SMU goalkeeper Byron Foss was named Missouri Valley Conference defensive player of the week. Foss helped SMU shut out Midwestern State, 6-0, and Drury, 7-0, last week. He has a season goals-against average of 1.12. ...Freshman volleyball player Stevie Nicholas attempts to continue her school-record streak of at least 10 kills in 12 consecutive matches to begin her career when Baylor plays host to Kansas at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Baylor, meanwhile, will be attempting to end its first three-match losing streak since 1998. ... The Texas A&M women are No. 18 in the latest women's cross country poll. From the Big 12, Kansas State is No. 3 and Colorado is No. 4. ... Missouri's Ann Marie Brooks and Texas Tech's Gezachw Yossef were named Big 12 Women's and Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week by the Big 12. ... Texas Tech middle blocker Janelle Jones earned the Big 12 Volleyball Athlete of the Week after wins over Kansas State and Texas.