SPORTS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018
1B
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College Football
Oregon AD Mullens new playoff selection committee chairman
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Assocaited Press
Oregon athletic director
Rob Mullens will become
the new chairman of the
College Football Playoff
selection committee starting
next season, and three new
Power Five ADs will join the
13-member panel.
Mullens will be the third
chairman, replacing Texas
Tech AD Kirby Hocutt.
Hocutt replaced Jeff Long,
who held the position for
the fi rst two seasons of the
playoff. Mullens will serve a
two-year term.
College Football Playoff
also announced the addi-
tion of six new committee
members, replacing those
whose terms ended. Joining
the committee in 2018 will be
Florida athletic director Scott
Stricklin, Georgia Tech AD
Todd Stansbury, Oklahoma
AD Joe Castiglione, former
Clemson and Rice coach Ken
Hatfi eld; former Southern
California star and Pro Foot-
ball Hall of Famer Ronnie
Lott and former Arizona
Republic sports columnist
Paola Boivin.
New
members
will
serve three-year terms. The
committee is made up of
sitting athletic directors,
former players, coaches and
administrators and former
media members who have
covered college sports.
Cycling off the committee
were Hocutt, Long, Clemson
AD Dan Radakovich, former
Notre Dame, Stanford and
Washington coach Tyrone
Willingham, former NCAA
executive vice president Tom
Jernstedt and former USA
Today college sports reporter
Steve Wieberg.
Mullens has been athletic
director of Oregon since
2010 and is entering his third
season on the committee. As
chairman, Mullens will run
the weekly meetings of the
committee that produce rank-
ings over the fi nal six weeks
of the season, concluding
with the selection of the four
teams in the playoff. Mullens
also becomes the face of the
committee, appearing on
ESPN’s weekly rankings
show to answer questions
about the committee’s deci-
sions.
The other holdovers on
the committee are: former
Virginia Tech coach Frank
Beamer; former Southern
Mississippi coach Jeff
Bower; former Central
Michigan coach Herb
Deromedi; Robert Morris
University President and
former Air Force football
player
Chris
Howard;
former Vanderbilt head
coach Bobby Johnson; and
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via AP
Ohio State athletic director In this Nov. 29, 2016, fi le photo, Oregon athletic direc-
Gene Smith.
tor Rob Mullens talks to the media in Eugene, Ore.,
after the fi ring NCAA college football head coach Mark
Helfrich.
Prep Wrestling
Quarterback’s death permeates Bucks
NCAA convention discussions sweep
Eagles
On the road,
Pendleton picks
up two victories at
dual meet
East Oregonian
quarterback Ryan Leaf, who said he
couldn’t stop crying.
More than 2,000 miles away
in Indianapolis, Hilinski’s name
repeatedly came up during a previ-
ously scheduled panel discussion
on student well-being. The session
on suicide prevention was full of
emotion and concern.
“Last night it was 11 p.m. and I
was going to work out when my best
friend from UCF texted me pictures
of the tweets,” Student Athlete
Advisory Committee representative
Enna Selmanovic said, referring to
the reaction about Hilinski. “And
she said, ‘When is this going to
end?’”
HOOD RIVER — On
Wednesday, Pendleton faced
a familiar Columbia River
Conference foe for a dual
meet. The Buckaroos trav-
eled to Hood River to face
the Eagles, and handed them
two losses — the second by
over 12 points.
First, 16 Bucks and
Eagles were pitted against
each other. Only three of
Hood River’s wrestlers were
able to win their bouts, as
Pendleton went on to win the
match 24-18.
Josh Whaley (160) of
Pendleton pinned Hood
River’s Joseph Kahler in just
47 seconds. John Swaggart
(170) and again Whaley,
this time wrestling in the
170-pound weight class, won
by fall over Benjamin Griggs
(5:13) and Andrew McCreery
(2:18), respectively.
Two Bucks won by deci-
sion: Matthew Robertson
(138) against Victor Ortigoza
(6-4) and Morgan Verdin
(145) over Michael Virgen
(15-8).
For Hood River, Cody
Durham (285) trapped
Pendleton’s Jordan DeGeer
in 1:29. Ortigoza, who
also wrestling again at 138
pounds, got revenge on the
Bucks and won by fall over
Danner Hamilton in 5:50.
In the second match of the
night, the Bucks had an easier
time defeating the Eagles as
six of the 13 total bouts were
won by forfeit.
Pendleton’s
Caleb
Tremper (113), Blake Davis
(145), Isaac Urbina (152),
Ian Bannister (160), Aiden
Henderson (195) and Max
See HILINSKI/2B
See WRESTLING/3B
AP Photo/Young Kwak
In this Sept. 17, 2016 fi le photo, Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski (3) runs onto the fi eld with his teammates before an NCAA
college football game against Idaho in Pullman, Wash. Hilinski has died from an apparent self-infl icted gunshot wound. The 21-year-old
Hilinski was discovered in his apartment after he didn’t show up for practice Tuesday.
Police also looking for answers, interviewing friends of Hilinski
By MICHAEL MAROT
Assocaited Press
When Dr. Brian Hainline learned
about the apparent suicide of another
college athlete, it hit hard. Again.
No, he didn’t know Washington
State quarterback Tyler Hilinski.
But he’s heard such stories far too
often.
The NCAA’s fi rst chief medical
offi cer has coped with friends,
patients and other college students
who took their own lives and when-
ever it happens, the same emotions
and questions come racing back. So
Hainline has put together recom-
mendations that may help college
athletic departments understand
how to help players.
“What we’re trying to do is get
every single campus to operation-
alize this,” Hainline told The Asso-
ciated Press on Wednesday, the fi rst
day of the NCAA’s annual conven-
tion. “The same problems regular
students have with mental health are
the same problems student-athletes
have. They think they’re unique and
they’re not.”
The 21-year-old Hilinski was
found in his Pullman, Washington,
apartment on Tuesday after he didn’t
show up for practice, dead from
an apparent self-infl icted gunshot
wound. Police also found a rifl e and
a suicide note.
Police Chief Gary Jenkins
declined to reveal the contents of
the note.
Police were interviewing Hilins-
ki’s friends and people who knew
him to try to learn why the Cougars’
presumptive starting quarterback
apparently took his life. “The
missing piece here is why,” Jenkins
said.
Hilinski’s family in California
issued a statement saying they were
in “complete shock and disarray”
over his death.
They weren’t the only ones
grieving.
A makeshift memorial sprouted
near the football stadium on the
Pullman campus, next to a bronze
statue of the team’s mascot.
Social media were also fi lled with
comments, including one from
former Washington State star
Sports shorts
Timbers acquire winger Andy
Polo from Liga MX club
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Portland
Timbers have acquired winger Andy Polo on
loan from Liga MX club Monarcas Morelia for
the upcoming season.
The 23-year-old native of Peru
played in 25 matches last year for
Morelia and made six starts with
two goals.
He’s also World Cup-bound,
having appeared in Peru’s
two-legged playoff against New
Zealand in November. Peru
Polo
won 2-0 on aggregate. Overall,
he’s appeared with the Peruvian
national team 15 times since his senior debut in
2016.
The Timbers used targeted allocation money
and have a purchase option. Polo’s arrival is
pending a physical and receipt of a visa.
He will occupy an international roster spot.
“I literally was walking
out on the court at the
beginning of the game
and turned to the trainer
and said, `Can (Roach)
play or not?’ And he
winked at me. That’s
how I found out.”
— Shaka Smart
The Texas Longhorns head coach
said in regards to guard Kerwin
Roach, who had already missed
two games with a fractured left
hand and was supposed to be on
the bench for at least one more.
Instead, he scored 20 as Texas
beats No. 8 Texas Tech 67-58 on
Wednesday.
Football’s divisional round
viewership down 16 percent
NEW YORK (AP) — Critics of the
National Football League have some new
ammunition, with viewership of
its four divisional round playoff
games down 16 percent from last
year. But there are a couple of
compelling explanations.
The Nielsen company said
the weekend’s games averaged
30.43 million viewers. Last
year’s comparable games averaged 36.22
million.
Last year had a game between popular
rivals Green Bay and Dallas that drew more
than 48 million, far more than any divisional
round game this year. Two of last year’s
games were also in prime time, compared to
one this year.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1976 — Pittsburgh wins
the Super Bowl for the second
straight year. Terry Bradshaw’s
64-yard touchdown pass
to Lynn Swann and Glen
Edwards’ interception on the
last play of the game gives the
Steelers a 21-17 win over the
Dallas Cowboys. Swann, with
four receptions for 161 yards,
is the game’s MVP.
2003 — Michelle Kwan
wins her sixth straight title,
and seventh overall, at the
U.S. Figure Skating Cham-
pionships. Michael Weiss,
despite splattering on his
quad lutz, two-footing a quad
toe and not doing a triple axel
the entire competition, gets
his third U.S. men’s title.
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