| Tuesday, October 9, 2018 |
| Mississippi Police: DNA Led to Charges in 1990 Killing, Rape | |
 | Mississippi police say they have charged a man in the Labor Day 1990 killing of one woman and rape of another, using DNA to connect him to the crime scene. Michael Wayne Devaughn, 52, of Rienzi is charged with capital murder in the slaying of 65-year-old Betty Jones and sexual battery in the rape of 81-year-old Kathryn Crigler, Starkville Police Sgt. Bill Lott said at a news conference Monday. Jones and Crigler, who were friends, were attacked at Crigler's Starkville home Sept. 3, 1990. "The science has allowed us to get to where we are today," said Lott. District Attorney Scott Colom said he will prosecute the death penalty case against Devaughn "to the full extent of the law, as fast as we possibly can." |
| Rienzi man charged with 1990 Starkville murder | |
 | Michael Wayne Devaughn was able to allude murder charges for more than 28 years, but he was not able to escape modern technology. Advancements in DNA testing, specifically genetic genealogy, led Starkville police last week straight to Devaughn, who was sitting in the Tishomingo County Jail on an unrelated drug charge. During a Monday morning press conference, Sgt. Bill Lott, the Starkville Police Department cold case detective, formally announced that Devaughn, 51, of County Road 8340, Rienzi, was charged with the capital murder of Betty Jones and the sexual assault of Kathryn Crigler. He is being held on a total bond of $11 million. Devaughn had never been a suspect until genetic genealogy put police on his trail several months ago. Earlier this year, police sent the DNA profile to Parabon, a private genetics company, to compare the suspect's DNA sample to a public genealogy DNA database looking for people with similar DNA profiles who might be kin to the suspect. That eventually led authorities to look at Devaughn. |
| Hurricane Michael gains strength, takes aim at north Florida | |
| Hurricane Michael intensified into a Category 2 over warm Gulf of Mexico waters Tuesday amid fears it would strike Florida on Wednesday as an even stronger hurricane. Mandatory evacuations were issued as beach dwellers rushed to board up homes just ahead of what could be a devastating hit. A hurricane hunter plane that bounced into the swirling eye off the western tip of Cuba found wind speeds rising. By 8 a.m. Tuesday, top winds had reached 100 mph, and it was forecast to strengthen into a "major" hurricane, with winds topping 111 mph. The speed of the storm barreling toward the Florida Panhandle -- Michael was moving north-northwest at 12 mph -- was among the hazards worrying forecasters at the National Hurricane Center on Tuesday morning. |
| Lawsuit Demands Return of More Than $16M from Ponzi Scheme | |
| A lawyer trying to recover money in a collapsed Ponzi scheme is suing three people who sold the investments, demanding they return more than $16 million in sales commissions. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves appointed Allyson Mills to collect assets to repay investors in the $100-million-plus Madison Timber Ponzi scheme. Mills so far has recovered nearly $2.2 million, mostly from Madison Timber and Adams bank accounts, but also from life insurance refunds and a $2,200 refund for lawn services. Mills has also said she will seek to have a University of Mississippi athletic foundation return the $97,000 or more that Adams donated. Adams also owned part of at least six real estate partnerships, including 1,170 acres of farmland in Oktibbeha County, a small beachfront development in the Florida Panhandle, large hunting camps in Humphreys and Sunflower counties and a 2,300-acre real estate development near Oxford. |
| In a Mississippi Restaurant, Two Americas Coexist Side by Side | |
 | Crystal Walls and Lovetta Green have the easy warmth that comes with working together 23 years, Ms. Walls as a waitress and Ms. Green in the kitchen of the restaurant where everyone in town seems to gather. They share a fierce loyalty to Dale's restaurant, its signature chicken and dressing dish, and to the late owner, Dale Graham, who used to slip Ms. Green money to buy her children birthday presents when she was short. But they agree on virtually nothing about politics, side by side in their separate Americas in the city where President Trump lit into Christine Blasey Ford and the #MeToo movement last week, to cheers from the crowd. Ms. Walls, 60, who is white, was there with her 16-year-old grandson, rapt. Ms. Green, 45, who is black, stayed away from a president she dislikes so much that she grabs the remote whenever he appears on television. |
| Jackson airport: Gov. Bryant doesn't want chief of staff testifying | |
 | Gov. Phil Bryant is seeking to block his chief of staff from having to give a deposition in the federal lawsuit over control of the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport. The attorney general's office has filed a petition with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Bryant's behalf to throw out a local federal judge's ruling to compel his chief of staff to give a limited deposition in the case. Attorneys for the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, the city board overseeing the airport, have argued in court papers that the governor and his allies are blocking efforts to release documents and depose key witnesses behind a 2016 state law authorizing a regional authority to oversee the airport. Changing authority over the airport requires the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration, which is responsible for issuing an airport its operating certificate. The FAA said it wouldn't make a decision until all legal issues are resolved. |
| To boost millennial voter turnout, Delta leaders and activists team up | |
 | Arranged in a straight line are Mike Espy for U.S. Senate signs, posted in the window-front of Studio 230, an art gallery in downtown Cleveland. Immediately entering the building to the right, three or four guests stood by the T-shirt booth, eyeballing the shirts for sale, ones with black empowerment slogans such as "I Am My Ancestors Wildest Dreams" and others paying homage to preeminent civil rights leaders, like Fannie Lou Hamer, emulating her 1971 election poster for state Senate seat. Around a quarter till 6 p.m., the crowd here was scattered with less than 20 people in attendance, patiently waiting for the third and final "In The Mix With Millennials" discussion. More people trickled in after the five panelists -- elected officials and community activists -- arrived. |
| Chris McDaniel talks Second Amendment, gun rights in Ellisville | |
 | U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel made a stop in Ellisville at The Hunters Edge outdoor store Monday afternoon. McDaniel spoke about the Second Amendment and the rights of gun owners. "Today I am here to promise you that you have my pledge that I will never attempt to impose a gun ban on the people of this country or the state," said McDaniel. "In fact, in every vote that I cast I will make the Second Amendment something we defend." McDaniel added he is trying a unique strategy to raise money for his campaign: a gun giveaway. "My pledge to you is to always defend the Second Amendment of our constitution to make sure that your gun liberties will always be protected. As part of that pledge, we're holding a gun giveaway," said McDaniel. The gun McDaniel's campaign is giving away is a Remington 700 SPS 270. |
| POLITICO race ratings: The GOP House is crumbling | |
 | The Republican House majority continues to show signs of collapsing, with Democrats steadily gaining ground toward erasing the 23-seat margin and ending eight years of GOP control. A total of 68 seats currently held by Republicans are firmly in play -- rated as "Lean Republican" or worse for the GOP -- presenting a stark contrast to the Democratic side, where only a half-dozen Democratic seats are in similar jeopardy. The political environment has been jolted temporarily by the searing fight over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But prior to that recent battle --- which ended with Kavanaugh's confirmation last week --- Democrats had improved their electoral position since Labor Day, according to more than a dozen operatives and strategists in both parties. With a month to go until Election Day, there are now 209 seats either firmly or leaning in the Democratic column -- only 9 shy of the 218 the party needs to wrest away control of the chamber -- according to the latest update of POLITICO's race ratings. |
| Ryan predicts 'big fight' over Trump's border wall, says he doesn't know how it will be resolved | |
 | House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Monday there will be "a big fight" after the midterm elections over funding President Trump's border wall, but he said he doesn't know how the issue will be resolved. "We intend on having a full-fledged discussion about how to complete this mission of securing our border, and we will have a big fight about that," Ryan (R-Wis.) said at the National Press Club. "We'll figure out how to do it in December," Ryan added. "I can't speak to what the outcomes will be." Ryan's comments came in response to a question after a speech in which he promoted the GOP tax cuts and other agenda items while attacking Democrats, weeks ahead of elections that will decide control of the House. |
| Trump Will Loosen Ethanol Rules, Aiding Anxious Farmers Ahead of Midterm Elections | |
| When President Trump visits Iowa on Tuesday he will unveil a pro-ethanol perk aimed at soothing corn and soybean farmers in the heartland made anxious by his decision to impose tariffs on China, a move that kicked off a trade dispute with a major buyer of American agricultural products. The trip to Council Bluffs, Iowa, which comes on the heels of campaign rallies in Minnesota and Kansas, is part of Mr. Trump's efforts help Midwestern Republicans facing tight midterm election races this November because of a backlash to his trade policies. Lawmakers acknowledged that the plan -- which will include lifting a federal ban on summer sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline, something the industry has long sought -- will be critical to assuaging farmers in Iowa and elsewhere who have grown deeply worried about the falling prices of corn and soybeans. |
| Kavanaugh Debuts On Supreme Court, Pledging To Be A 'Team Player' | |
 | The Supreme Court welcomes its newest justice Tuesday as Brett Kavanaugh takes the bench for his first arguments since a contentious Senate voted narrowly to confirm him, cementing a decades-long campaign by conservatives to reshape the nation's highest court. On Monday evening, Kavanaugh, 53, joined family members, friends and President Trump at the White House for a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony, where the new justice tried to ease the partisan wounds from his confirmation process. "The Supreme Court is an institution of law. It is not a partisan or political institution," Kavanaugh said. "The justices do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle. We do not caucus in separate rooms. The Supreme Court is a team of nine, and I will always be a team player on the team of nine." Chief Justice John Roberts has made keeping the court above the partisan fray a priority in his tenure. |
| Famed music manager will be grand marshal of Jackson State homecoming parade | |
| JSU alum and prominent music manager Cortez "Tez" Bryant will be the grand marshal for the Jackson State University homecoming parade. Bryant, of Maverick Music Management, became one of the entertainment industry's pre-eminent managers by identifying and igniting the potential of game-changing music outliers Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, G-Eazy and others. Bryant's longest client, five-time Grammy Award-winning multiplatinum icon Lil Wayne, headlined last year's homecoming concert. The two grew up together as best friends in New Orleans. Bryant would shuttle back and forth between shows on the weekend and classes at JSU during the week as Wayne's star began to rise. By the time of his college graduation, the JSU alum had formally stepped into the role of Wayne's manager. In 2012, Bryant created a $500,000 music endowment at JSU. The parade kicks off Saturday, October 13 from 8-10 a.m. on campus. |
| U. of Alabama engineering professors create sensor to prevent hot-car deaths | |
 | A pair of University of Alabama professors has devised a monitor meant to help prevent accidental hot-car deaths and injuries among children left in vehicles. "The idea is that if there is someone or anything that breathes that is left in the car unattended, that the driver or the owner of the vehicle would get a notification when the sensor picks up that somebody is in there," said Tim Haskew, head of the department of electrical and computer engineering. Haskew said he began considering a technological solution to the problem of hot-car deaths a few years ago after a news report about an infant's death. "I don't know why the particular news story hit me as hard as it did, but it did and I felt like there was a way to eliminate it," Haskew said. UA's Office of Technology Transfer is exploring possibilities to bring it to market. |
| Auburn University testing new safety app | |
| Auburn University is testing a new app that could help keep students safe. Auburn's Campus Safety and Security is currently trying out the AuburnSafety app. The app is designed to allow students to assign a friend or family member to walk with them virtually using GPS. The app will send a text message or an email to a friend and ask that you watch them for the duration of your walk. Your friend will then be able to monitor you as you make your way to the location you mark in the app. |
| U. of Tennessee fraternity under investigation for hazing, targeting Asian students | |
 | A fraternity at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is under investigation for hazing surrounding a scavenger hunt which specifically involved photographing Asian students. The fraternity, which has not been named, is currently under investigation by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, and has also been reported to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. The incident involved an individual member of a fraternity who told recruits to approach Asian students and ask to take a photo of them, according to Jonathan Thomas. Thomas is a member and leader of several Asian-American student organizations on campus, including the campus ministry Asian American InterVarsity, and said this is at least the third year in a row where something like this has happened. |
| Blinn, A&M see record enrollment for fall 2018 semester | |
 | Blinn College and Texas A&M University saw an increase in enrollment for the fall 2018 semester, including 1,500 students on the new RELLIS campus. Blinn College reported a preliminary fall 2018 enrollment of 19,581 across its five campuses, an increase of 650 students, or 3.4 percent, from last year's fall semester. Texas A&M reported a 1.2 percent increase in enrollment across its College Station, Health Science Center and Galveston locations to bring enrollment to 68,367 students. The preliminary enrollment numbers were reported to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on the official reporting day, the 12th class day of the semester. Last fall, Texas A&M reported an enrollment of 67,579 students in its College Station, Health Science Center and Galveston locations. Of the 788 new students this year, 678 were undergraduates. |
| Gallup survey finds falling confidence in higher education | |
 | Just under half (48 percent) of American adults have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in higher education, according to an analysis being released today by Gallup. That figure is down from 57 percent in 2015 and represents a larger than typical decline in confidence in an American institution in a relatively short time period, according to Gallup. (Note: Gallup conducts some surveys for Inside Higher Ed, but this publication played no role in the results being released today.) The largest confidence drops were found among Republicans. Gallup asks Americans about their confidence in a wide range of American institutions. And based on this year's responses, higher education enjoys more confidence than do many other institutions (including the presidency, Congress, newspapers and public schools). Only the military, small business and police enjoy more confidence than does higher education. |
| Do Universities Value Public Engagement? Not Much, Their Policies Suggest | |
 | Scholarly work that serves the public is the kind of thing that, theoretically, universities want faculty members to pursue. But a new study of the language used by more than 100 colleges in their tenure-and-promotion criteria shows little evidence that such scholarship is valued in a way that advances faculty careers. And because of that, faculty members are given incentives mostly to pursue research that fits in an established framework. "There's a very entrenched culture that exists around how we review successful academics," said Juan P. Alperin, the lead author of a report on the study and an assistant professor in the publishing program at Simon Fraser University, in Canada, who studies scholarly communications. "We want this kind of work to be valued on par with the other quantifiable research outputs that are dominant." |
| Informed communities are the best communities | |
| Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: Newspapers are businesses like no other. While other employers contribute to community life, newspapers, when operating at their best, are centers for community conversation and drive the quality of community life. Newspapers may never again have the volume of advertising that sustained them through most of the last century. Times have been and continue to be tough for the printed press, but the larger risk is to the communities they serve. The newspaper business model has always been, in a word, atypical. ...In Mississippi, many community newspapers remain dedicated to fulfilling their public purpose. Here's a prediction: As long as people of those towns are well-served with ample and accurate news, they will live in prosperous, progressive communities. The other view is, well, disaster. |
SPORTS
| How Joe Moorhead coached Mississippi State to a win over Auburn | |
| Joe Moorhead ended his post-game press conference the same way he started it. "Thanks mom," he joked. Mississippi State's head coach wasn't thanking his mother for saying a prayer so that her son's offense would come back to life against No. 9 Auburn on Saturday night. Though if that's the reason it did, then Moorhead owes his mom 100 more thank you's. He said it because MSU allows Moorhead's family and friends into the media room during press conferences at Davis Wade Stadium. And when Moorhead started and finished his presser after State's 23-9 victory over the Tigers, he received a healthy heaping of applause. He deserved it. After totaling 403 combined yards in losses to Kentucky and Florida, Moorhead's offense almost reached that total on the ground against what was previously a top-10 rushing defense in the country. The Dogs racked up 349 rushing yards. |
| Mississippi State's Fitzgerald, Sweat earn SEC weekly honors | |
| Following Mississippi State's upset over Auburn, senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald and senior defensive end Montez Sweat were both recognized by the Southeastern Conference. Fitzgerald won SEC Offensive Player of the Week after rushing 28 times for 195 yards and two touchdowns and completing 9 of 17 passes for 69 yards and an interception. He also set the league's all-time career rushing record by a quarterback with 2,999 yards, surpassing Florida's Tim Tebow. Sweat sacked Auburn signal caller Jarrett Stidham three times to earn SEC Defensive Lineman of the week. It was the most sacks in a single game by an MSU player since 2005. He also forced a fumble and was credited with two quarterback hurries. |
| Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald, Montez Sweat win SEC Player of the Week honors | |
| Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald and Montez Sweat earned SEC weekly honors Monday for their play in the Bulldogs' 23-9 victory over Auburn Saturday. Fitzgerald was named the league's Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for 264 yards total offense and two touchdowns. He broke Fitzgerald Tim Tebow's SEC career record for rushing yards by a quarterback, rushing for 195 yards and scoring both of the Bulldogs' TDs. His 195 rushing yards were the most by an FBS quarterback vs. a Power 5 team this year. Sweat won Defensive Lineman of the Week. He had a career-best three sacks for a loss of 27 yards, forcing one fumble and adding two quarterback hurries that forced incompletions. He was only the third Bulldog in the last 20 years to achieve the feat and the first in an SEC game since Ed Smith vs. Arkansas on Nov. 21, 1998. |
| The sky isn't falling in Starkville | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Logan Lowery writes: For the past two weeks, Mississippi State fans voiced their opinions on the Bulldogs' offense via social media, message boards and even my e-mail inbox. They needed avenues to vent their frustrations and there was certainly plenty to gripe about. At that point, MSU had generated very little on that side of the ball, producing only one touchdown in back-to-back losses to Kentucky and Florida to start SEC play. ...I had to chuckle, sitting in Moorhead's press conference Saturday night following the 23-9 win over then eighth-ranked Auburn, when he quipped "I took my coaching pills this week. I'd forgotten them the past two weeks." Moorhead has been the National Offensive Coordinator of the Year for the past two seasons for a reason. The man can coach offense and call plays. He didn't suddenly gain or lose that ability from one week to the next. However, Moorhead admitted that he had to tweak his scheme to match his personnel instead of the other way around. |
| Mississippi State win was well-timed for Joe Moorhead | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Ron Higgins writes: First-year Mississippi State football coach Joe Moorhead picked an excellent time for his team to gets its first SEC victory of the season. Saturday's 23-9 win over then-No. 9 Auburn, in which the Bulldogs had 359 yards rushing on more than three times as many running plays as MSU passing attempts, leads into this week's open date. Which means there's actual time to heal injuries, self-scout and savor a win that came after opening league play with a 28-7 loss at Kentucky followed by a 13-6 home defeat at the hands of Florida and former MSU coach Dan Mullen. But Saturday's victory also made Moorhead's Monday full of speaking engagements and recruiting considerably easier. That's why it was easy to laugh when Moorhead popped a one-liner leading off his noontime appearance at the Jackson Touchdown Club. |
| Mississippi State-LSU set for another evening kickoff | |
| Mississippi State's game at LSU on Oct. 20 has been slated for a 6 p.m. start on ESPN. It is the sixth time in seven games this season that the Bulldogs have had a kickoff at 5 p.m. or later. The Tigers own a 73-35-3 advantage in the series against MSU, including a 48-19-1 mark in Baton Rouge. The Bulldogs won last year's meeting 37-7 in Starkville producing 465 yards on offense and holding LSU to only 270. Nick Fitzgerald completed 15 of 23 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns in that game while also adding 88 yards rushing and two more scores. Aeris Williams also ran for 146 yards and Keith Mixon caught six passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. |
| Mississippi State-LSU set for nighttime kickoff in Tiger Stadium, SEC announces | |
 | LSU fans clamoring for another night game in Tiger Stadium got their wish. On Monday, the Southeastern Conference announced that the Oct. 20 game against Mississippi State will kick off at 6 p.m. and be televised on ESPN. But first, No. 13 LSU faces No. 2 Georgia at 2:30 p.m. on CBS on Saturday in a matchup of top-15 teams. No. 24 Mississippi State has a bye this week after defeating then-top 10 Auburn at home last weekend. Though not announced yet, it's likely two weeks later on Nov. 3 that CBS will use its sole primetime TV slot to broadcast Alabama vs. LSU. |
| Will NCAA penalize Alabama after latest Collin Sexton news? | |
 | It's uncertain what punishment -- if any -- Alabama could face after it was revealed last week in federal court documents that an alleged payment of $5,000 was made to former star player Collin Sexton by an aspiring sports agent. But one former university athletics compliance director believes the Crimson Tide will be in the crosshairs of the NCAA. "Taking the rules as they are now, and if this indeed did happen, and you have to believe some of it is probably true...then there will likely will be some NCAA sanctions, right?" said David Ridpath, an Ohio University professor who oversaw athletics compliance at both Weber State and Marshall. "What those could be could range from the typical scholarship reductions, recruiting restrictions, probation -- all of the above could happen." Sexton has been linked to an FBI probe into college basketball corruption before he even played a regular-season game at Alabama. |
| Razorbacks Report: Arkansas wants Little Rock to be rocking | |
| First-year University of Arkansas Coach Chad Morris sounded elated to be heading to Little Rock on Saturday for his first game at War Memorial Stadium. The Razorbacks host Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network. "I cannot wait to go down to our home stadium at War Memorial there in Little Rock on a Saturday night," Morris said. "I think it's the first time since 1999 that there will be a night SEC game. We're extremely excited about this. I know we're expecting the atmosphere to be incredible. The tailgating will be outstanding. The weather will be fabulous. But we need you in the stands for kickoff. We need you loud, we need you excited and we need this place to be rocking on Saturday night at 6:30." |
| Vanderbilt stadium survey: Fans embarrassed, uncomfortable and attending fewer games | |
 | Many Vanderbilt football fans are embarrassed by the current state of their stadium, according to an anonymous online survey conducted by The Tennessean. They especially want comfortable seats in a renovated stadium. They think Vanderbilt is able to raise funds for it. And some said they have quit attending games until they see progress. "It is an embarrassment, but the lack of Vanderbilt administration's concern for its fan base is even more embarrassing and troubling," one survey respondent wrote. Other Vanderbilt fans -- about 10 percent of the 901 survey respondents -- said those who complain about the stadium are whiny or missing the point of an academic institution. Vanderbilt has averaged 26,110 in home attendance in four home games this season with three remaining, including Saturday's game (11 a.m., ESPN) against No. 16 Florida. Its win over MTSU on Sept. 1 drew the smallest crowd for a home opener since before Vanderbilt Stadium was last renovated in 1981. |
| In bid for athletics dollars, U. of Memphis shut out of beer and burger money | |
| When the University of Memphis hosted its annual Memphis Madness basketball event last week, it saw a sell-out crowd at the FedExForum. And with new coach Penny Hardaway, the school is banking on higher revenue for the upcoming season. But it won't make it on popcorn, hot dogs, hamburgers or beer. The U of M doesn't earn any revenue from concessions, either at the FedExForum or the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, where the football team plays home games. Since the Tigers do not own those facilities, the athletic department only makes money off ticket sales at games. "To have a program at this level be sustainably successful when you don't own the stadium you play in and you don't own the arena you play in -- you literally take revenue that every other institution you compete against has access to and you cut your revenues into one single revenue stream, and that's ticketing," said Tom Bowen, athletic director for the University of Memphis in a recent interview with the Memphis Business Journal. |
| U. of Maryland confirms officials were told about alleged football abuse two years ago | |
| When the graphic accusations against the University of Maryland, College Park, football program emerged -- as ESPN reported, that players were berated and pushed to the point of vomiting or passing out -- Maryland's president, Wallace Loh, denied he knew anything about the allegations. Pleading ignorance still didn't cast the institution in a particularly positive light considering that offensive lineman Jordan McNair had just died of heatstroke (an investigation subsequently revealed College Park athletics staffers had failed to treat McNair properly at a practice in May -- a fatal error). But new accounts reveal that institution officials were warned of the alleged ongoing abuse in the program nearly two years ago, and some commentators have questioned whether Loh and others can keep their jobs after this revelation. The Washington Post first reported that the mother of a former player had an anonymous warning hand-delivered and emailed to Loh's office, to then athletics director Kevin Anderson and others in December 2016, long before Maryland football made headlines. |
| CFP board of managers adds Washington State president Kirk Schulz | |
| Washington State University president Kirk Schulz will serve as the Pac-12 representative to the College Football Playoff Board of Managers, the CFP announced on Monday. The Pac-12 appointed Schulz to replace former USC president C.L. Max Nikias, who resigned from his position at USC in August. Not to be confused with the 13-member selection committee, which chooses the four teams in the playoff, the CFP's board of managers works behind the scenes and "has authority of all aspects" of how the playoff operates. Schulz has long had strong national connections to collegiate athletics. While at Kansas State, he served as chairman of the NCAA Board of Governors, the organization's highest-ranking committee, from 2014-2016. Earlier, he had been part of the subcommittee that redesigned the Division I governance model. |
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