Making the morning rounds.• Agentgate comes full circle. USC is seeking NCAA reinstatement for freshman running back Dillon Baxter, who was declared ineligible by the university Friday and missed Saturday's loss at Oregon State after being spotted riding across campus in a golf cart with a known agent, Teague Egan. Not a high-profile agent, mind you: Egan's "agency," 1st Round Enterprises, appears to have zero clients.
But USC was well aware of Egan before his ride with Baxter, and Egan's website bio boasted that he'd "befriended many athletes on the USC football team" – including former Trojan linebacker Jordan Campbell, the first player to jump ship after the NCAA loosened transfer rules for upperclassmen in the wake of major sanctions against SC this summer. Campbell (who never showed up on the roster at Louisville, his alleged destination) was listed as a 1st Round employee on Saturday, before having his name removed from the site on Sunday. He also scrubbed his Facebook page of any 1st Round references, but not before pictures of current USC players – including running back C.J. Gable and defensive starters Chris Galippo, Shareece Wright and Malcolm Smith – at 1st Round-hosted parties started making the rounds. [Orange County Register, ESPN Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Sports by Brooks]
• Another South Bend tragedy. A 19-year-old St. Mary's (Ind.) College student who died of an apparent overdose of prescription medication in September had accused a Notre Dame player of sexual assault just nine days earlier, a fact that campus authorities withheld from St. Joseph County Police investigating her death, according to the Chicago Tribune. The accused player (not identified by the Tribune) has not been charged with a crime, and has remained with the team. Coach Brian Kelly deflected questions about the Tribune report on Sunday, calling the case "a university matter," but Notre Dame hasn't publicly acknowledged the case or any steps it's taken to resolve it. [Chicago Tribune]
• Another one bites the dust. Kent State head coach Doug Martin handed in his resignation Sunday, a day after his team's 38-3 loss to Western Michigan ensured the Golden Flashes' sixth losing season in seven years on Martin's watch. Martin managed to get Kent to 6-6 in 2006, only its third non-losing season in the last 30 years, but the Flashes still have only one bowl game to their name in school history: The 1972 Tangerine Bowl, featuring future Hall-of-Famer Jack Ham and a young Nick Saban on defense.
Martin's most memorable moment: Threatening to lead a mob to storm and burn NCAA headquarters if running back Eugene Jarvis wasn't granted a sixth year of eligibility. (He was.) Whoever takes his place is a brave, brave man. [Kent Sports Report]
• The kids are alright. USC quarterback Matt Barkley hopes to play against Notre Dame Saturday after X-rays on his sprained ankle showed no broken bones. Barkley went out in the second quarter of the Trojans' 36-7 flop at Oregon State on a scary-looking play, and returned on crutches to watch the debacle unfold under backup Mitch Mustain. On the other side, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o expects to play after suffering a broken nose against Army. [Associated Press]
Miami coach Randy Shannon said Jacory Harris will be the 'Canes' starting quarterback against South Florida, "if he's ready," despite growing fan sentiment for true freshman Stephen Morris, who's played well in three starts since Harris was knocked out with a concussion in an Oct. 30 loss at Virginia. [Miami Herald]
• Tent City, USA. At 5-5, Oregon State's season has not gone as planned, but if you think the Beavers' slide has dampened enthusiasm for the prospect of ruining No. 1 Oregon's championship prospects when the Ducks come to Corvallis in two weeks, you don't know the Civil War:
Those are tents waiting outside the Reser Stadium ticket office for first dibs on seats for the Ducks. When it looks like you're going to be the only thing standing between your rival and a shot at the national championship, the least you can do is make them earn it. [L.A. Daily News]
• Let's make a deal. A delicious, buttery deal. Georgia and Boise State have finalized plans to open the 2011 season in the Georgia Dome as part of the Chick-Fil-A Classic, the first time the four-year-old "Classic" has featured a non-ACC team opposite an SEC opponent. Witness the mighty power of ESPN: Finalizing the Boise-UGA showdown required eight teams to juggle their schedules, including Ole Miss, which pushed its scheduled 2011 opener with Boise in Oxford back to 2014, and replaced the Broncos with BYU on next year's slate. Georgia dropped Louisville, which added North Carolina, which shuffled dates with James Madison to accommodate the Cardinals. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Quickly... Former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti has pulled his name from the Colorado coaching search, to no one's surprise. ... Backup Tennessee quarterback Doak Raulston, a Louisiana Tech transfer, has been suspended indefinitely for a DUI arrest on Saturday morning. ... Greg McElroy is passed over for a Rhodes scholarship. ... Running back Rodney Scott has left Ole Miss, for the time being. ... Houston Nutt "gets" the Egg Bowl now. ... Ronald Powell is hanging in there after a rough freshman campaign at Florida. ... Tennessee's not focusing on the bowl game, because it has to beat Kentucky to get there. ... The post-Thanksgiving kickoff against Michigan is wreaking havoc on some Ohio State fans' traditions. ... And how Tom Osborne nearly became Colorado's head coach.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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