LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) Embattled Kansas athletics director Lew Perkins has retired, one year before he planned to step down. Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and Perkins made the announcement jointly in a news release Tuesday. Perkins is 65. He had said in June he would retire in 2011. Sean Lester was named interim athletics director. Perkins’ tenure at Kansas has been marked by both great success and personal embarrassment. Since he arrived from UConn, the Jayhawks have won the NCAA basketball championship and the football team won the Orange Bowl. But there have also been scandals and embarrassments, including a ticket scam allegedly conducted by staff members that cost the school as much as $3 million. Perkins has not been implicated in any wrongdoing in the ticket scandal.

Missouri’s defense will be without starters Luke Lambert and Jasper Simmons this weekend against McNeese State. Coach Gary Pinkel says Lambert is week-to-week after hurting a hamstring. Simmons injured a knee, and Pinkel says he could miss one to two weeks after having surgery scheduled for today. Next up for Mizzou is a home date with McNeese State. Pinkel says he’s aware of the dangers of playing an FCS team, but really the Tigers can only beat themselves. Missouri and McNesse State kick off at 6 pm on Saturday in Columbia.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) Prosecutors have charged suspended Missouri running back Derrick Washington with sexual assault. Assistant Boone County prosecutor Andrea Hayes says a single count of felony deviate sexual assault was filed Monday. She says she will seek $4,500 bond. Washington has led the Tigers in rushing the past two seasons. Coach Gary Pinkel suspended him last week without disclosing details. Boone County court documents show Washington had been served with a protection order in late June and accused of sexual assault by a former Missouri tutor.

The Tigers open the season Saturday against Illinois in St. Louis.

Courtesy K-State Sports Information - Approximately 2,000 members of the K-State family gathered on the playing field of Bill Snyder Family Stadium to meet their favorite Wildcats as Kansas State held its annual Fan Appreciation Day on Saturday.

The evening’s activities, which included an open practice and autograph session, wrapped up the Wildcats’ fall training camp as classes begin at K-State on Monday.

Coach Snyder received a warm introduction from the fans in attendance on Saturday, and following his message to the crowd, he introduced the 2010 senior class, coaching staff and had each captain address the crowd. Snyder then took a seat at the 50-yard line and signed autographs until the last fan was remaining.

“Our fans have made a difference over the years for this football program,” Snyder said. “We have such a wonderful group who genuinely cares about Kansas State University, our student-athletes and our athletics program. This team is working extremely hard and has endured a lot during these last few weeks with the 105-degree weather that we have had. But, I enjoy this group a great deal and am proud of how they have pushed through.”

With the season opener just two weeks away, both those inside and outside of the program are looking forward to the September 4 matchup with UCLA, which will mark the first time under Snyder that K-State will face a BCS opponent in a non-conference season opener at home.

“We have some of the best fans in the nation,” said senior offensive lineman Zach Kendall. “And we are looking forward to playing in front of a full house on September 4 against UCLA.”

Last season, the Wildcats drew a home-opening record crowd of 50,750 for the UMass game and are looking to surpass that figure in 2010. Kickoff for the second annual K-State Family Reunion against the Bruins is set for 2:30 p.m. Tickets for the opener are going fast as approximately 2,000 seats remain available.

To order tickets for the season opener, or any of the six exciting home games in 2010, fans can call the ticket office at 1-800-221-CATS, visit the new and improved k-statesports.com or stop by the ticket office in Bramlage Coliseum, which is now open 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) University of Kansas athletics director Lew Perkins will no longer be in charge of an advisory board that runs its intercollegiate sports programs, university chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said. In light of concerns raised over the past year about questionable actions by Perkins, he will no longer be chairman of the six-member Kansas Athletics Corp. board of directors, Gray-Little told the Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday. The athletic corporation is a non-state entity that manages the university’s sports programs, including hiring coaches, upgrading facilities and coordinating fundraising for construction and athlete scholarships. Gray-Little told the Regents at a meeting in Topeka that a faculty member will hold that post in the future. Perkins has made recent headlines over allegations that he was being blackmailed over home gym equipment he received and the recent disclosure that he billed the university for extensive travel on private planes.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) A newspaper reports that Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins has billed the university more than $150,000 in less than two years for private flights. That’s far more than his counterparts spend on private airplanes, but Perkins says the expenses are just part of doing business. The Kansas City Star reports Sunday that Perkins also spent thousands on ground transportation, paying for car service, rather than renting a vehicle at a fraction of the cost. In 2009 alone Perkins ran up a $107,000 tab for 22 private flights, when he could have saved a big chunk of that by flying commercial. The 65-year-old earned $4.4 million last year and is to retire in September 2011.

(AP) Athletic director Tom Osborne insisted Nebraska wasn’t seeking riches or ducking competition when it decided to bolt the Big 12 for the Big Ten. He said the move was about stability. The Big Ten had it and the Big 12 lacked it, so the Cornhuskers are switching conferences. They’ll start play in the Big Ten next year, one of college football’s traditional powers joining a tradition-rich league that was trying to maintaining its footing in a shaky landscape. “There was a lot of uncertainty in the Big 12,” Osborne said Monday at Big Ten media day. “We felt this was a stable league, that it was going to be here for a long time.” Switching, he said, was “a fairly easy decision for us.” He insisted money wasn’t the big draw, saying Nebraska “won’t see any tremendous financial reward for some time.” Anger toward the Big 12 had nothing to do with it, either, nor did the competition. He said Nebraska simply saw a league on solid footing when it surveyed the Big Ten, with goals “that matched up pretty well.”

(AP) Oklahoma State junior defensive end Jamie Blatnick has been cited for felony aggravated assault and battery after a fight with a former OSU offensive lineman at a Stillwater bar. Police say witnesses told them Blatnick started the fight early Saturday by hitting Stephen Denning in the face with a beer bottle. Police say Denning was treated at a hospital for a fractured orbital socket. He was cited for misdemeanor assault. No one had been charged as of early Monday. School spokesman Kevin Klintworth says the university is still gathering information and had no comment. Denning last played for the Cowboys in 2008.

(AP) Colorado enters preseason workouts without a starting quarterback for the third year in a row. For the second straight year, the contenders are Cody Hawkins, coach Dan Hawkins’ son, and Tyler Hansen. Hawkins started the first five games last year but was replaced during the Buffs’ worst offensive game of the year a 38-14 loss at Texas. Hansen started the remaining seven games. Dan Hawkins said the coaching staff planned to decide about two weeks before the Sept. 4 opener against Colorado State in Denver. If last year’s stats are any indication, it could be a split decision. Colorado was 1-4 with Hawkins as the starter, 2-5 under Hansen. Hawkins, a senior this year, threw for 1,277 yards with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Hansen, now a junior, had 1,440 yards with eight TDs and seven interceptions, including three in a season-ending loss to Nebraska. The Buffs were last in the Big 12 in total offense and 10th in scoring in 2009.
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(AP) Mack Brown figures defenses are starting to catch up to the spread offense. He’s noticed how much his defense has struggled against powerful, traditional running games in bowl games. And with a young quarterback replacing Colt McCoy, the Longhorns probably shouldn’t throw as much as they have in recent years anyway. With so many things pointing them in the same direction, Texas coaches have made the easy decision to spruce up their running game this season. Brown half-jokingly said Wednesday at Big 12 media day that there was no incentive to run when McCoy was completing seven of every 10 throws.
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(AP) Turner Gill wanted to get to know his new Kansas team and wanted to make sure they knew each other. So he asked questions like who was the most influential person in their lives and why, then had every player and coach stand up and answer. Will that matter on fourth-and-goal from the 1 in the closing seconds of a tight game? It can’t hurt, Gill figures. Gill’s soft approach could be just what the Jayhawks need after eight years under Mark Mangino. Mangino turned Kansas football into the kind of program the basketball team could be proud of. But things came crashing down late last season. Mangino was accused of physically and verbally abusing players and others around the program. He denied everything, then resigned in December.
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(AP) Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray finally made it through a season without getting hurt last year. Now he wants to do something no Sooner not even his friend, Adrian Peterson has done: rush for 2,000 yards. Murray scored five touchdowns in his first college game in 2007, which must have looked familiar to OU fans who watched Peterson set an OU record with 1,925 yards when the Minnesota Vikings star was a freshman three years earlier. But injuries shortened Murray’s first two seasons, and he’s still chasing the man he followed around as a wide-eyed redshirt. Murray hasn’t threatened Peterson’s rushing record yet. He had 764 yards when he dislocated a kneecap late in the 2007 season. He said his lowest point came a year later when he injured a hamstring on the opening kickoff of the Big 12 championship game, spoiling his only 1,000-yard season (1,002) and costing him a chance to play in the BCS title game loss to Florida.

(AP) Tommy Tuberville wore a suit with a red and black striped tie and a Texas Tech lapel to Big 12 media day. That alone showed how much things have changed at Texas Tech. Mike Leach is gone and so are his casual, wacky ways on and off the field. Tuberville plans to keep a passing offense, but there’s going to be more running. More of an emphasis on defense, too. He’s also bringing together the guys from both sides of the ball more often to encourage team unity. Tuberville seemingly stole one page from Leach’s playbook by speaking out against the conference office, drawing a public reprimand. He joked Tuesday that it was a remnant from being encouraged to speak his mind as a TV analyst the last few years.
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Missouri’s streak of five consecutive winning seasons is the school’s longest in nearly 30 years, and coach Gary Pinkel has a chance for the most sustained success since the Dan Devine era in the 1960s. The Tigers slipped to 8-5 last year after winning at least 10 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. But Pinkel didn’t see that as a huge step back. He figured the young 2009 team was capable of winning nine games, which would have happened if Missouri hadn’t lost to Navy 35-13 in the Texas Bowl. A year ago, Pinkel was trying to ease the pressure on quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who was replacing Columbia cult hero Chase Daniel. Gabbert held his own as a sophomore, throwing for more yards than Colt McCoy (3,593) with 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Now, Gabbert’s a year older and senior running back Derrick Washington (865 yards, 10 touchdowns) brings experience as well. Missouri’s high point under Pinkel (12-2 in 2007) still fell short of a conference title, something Devine did twice during a stretch of 12 consecutive winning seasons. But Pinkel is still around, getting ready for his 10th season.
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There are many things Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden has experienced that most college football players haven’t. Like talking to late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The former pro baseball player was New York’s first pick in the 2002 draft, a pitcher taken in the second round. He said Steinbrenner called after Weeden signed out of high school for a $565,000 bonus. Weeden remembered playing rookie ball in Tampa, Steinbrenner’s hometown, and being around “The Boss” when the big league club was in the midst of a long losing streak. Weeden was later traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ organization before abandoning baseball in 2007 and joining the Cowboys.