Big 12 limits contact practices
DALLAS — Big 12 athletic directors have adopted a new conference rule limiting the number of days of contact to two, including game day, commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced Monday.
Teams will be permitted only one day of contact drills during the week of practice, Bowlsby said on the first day of Big 12 Media Days at the Omni Hotel.
The new conference guidelines are tighter than NCAA rules, which limit the number of hitting days to two practices a week plus game day.
In the preseason, the NCAA mandates that there be no more than four live contact practices per week and a maximum of 12. In just three practices may contact exceed half of practice.
Las Vegas, Quebec City bid for NHL teams
Prospective ownership groups in Las Vegas and Quebec City submitted bids for NHL expansion teams by the deadline Monday.
Quebecor Inc., a media company, said it has submitted its “candidacy for the NHL expansion process in order to bring the Nordiques back to Quebec City.” The Nordiques left in 1995 to become the Colorado Avalanche.
Las Vegas Hockey Vision, a group that includes the Maloof family, applied as “Black Knight Sports and Entertainment LLC,” ESPN reported.
The NHL has said expansion would not occur until 2017 at the earliest.
Nuggets trade Lawson to Rockets
Point guard Ty Lawson has been traded from the Denver Nuggets to Houston Rockets, the NBA teams announced Monday. The trade comes less than a week after Lawson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
The Nuggets sent the point guard to Houston in exchange for four bench players, most notably Greek forward Kostas Papanikolaou.
The Nuggets also receive Houston’s lottery-protected 2016 first-round pick.
Lawson has played six seasons in the NBA, all with Denver. Last season he averaged 15.2 points and a career-high 9.6 assists over the course of 75 games, all starts.
Pats reportedly interested in WR Wayne
Several teams reportedly are showing interest in former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne, who wants to play one more NFL season.
Wayne, who was in Indianapolis on Friday to receive a key to the city, told reporters he plans on playing a 15th season in 2015 and that some teams have been calling him.
Dave Furst of RTV6 in Indianapolis reported that the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers are on the list of teams in touch with Wayne, who made the Pro Bowl six times. However, the Baltimore Sun and ESPN both reported that the Ravens are not expected to pursue Wayne. The Houston Chronicle reported that the Texans also are not making a play for Wayne.
The Colts parted ways with Wayne in March after 14 seasons, making him an unrestricted free agent.
NCAA tweaks tourney seeding process
The NCAA basketball ournament selection committee has been given more flexibility to create the best matchups for the first weekend of the event.
In a minor tweak to the seeding rules for the tournament, the NCAA announced Monday that the selection committee will be allowed to place the final four at-large teams according to overall seeding.
Since the First Four round was institued in 2011, the final four teams voted into the tournament had been locked into the opening round. They always had played the bottom four conference tournament winners.
Now, the last four at-large teams in the committee’s overall seeding will play in the First Four.