Lsu

Some of the most talented athletes in the collegiate ranks compete annually in the Penn Relays, but rarely does someone like Marquise Goodwin of Texas come to town. Goodwin, a junior, can be found on the Longhorns' 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams this week at Franklin Field and in the long jump, an event in which he won both the 2010 NCAA outdoor championship and the 2011 U.S. championship. Goodwin also stars as a wide receiver on the Texas football team. After initially telling coach Mack Brown that he wanted to sit out last season so he could concentrate on track with an eye to the 2012 London Olympics, he asked Brown after the first game whether he could come back, and the coach approved.

SERANA WILLIAMS capped a week of powerful performances with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Lucie Safarova to win the Family Circle Cup on Sunday in Charleston, S.C. It was Williams' 40th WTA title and first on clay in 4 years since capturing this championship in 2008. Williams didn't expect to show so strongly in her first event of the season on clay. She said the steady stream of interests she deals with off the tennis court helps keep her focused when she's on it. "I'm just trying to keep my mind busy," Williams said.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Maggie Lucas backpedaled with her shooting arm extended as her fourth three-pointer of the first half swished through, then she turned to trot back on defense while holding up three fingers on each hand. Penn State's leading scorer was well on her way to a memorable night, which meant trouble for LSU. Lucas scored 30 points, three short of a career high, and the fourth-seeded Lions moved on to the third round of the women's NCAA tournament with a 90-80 victory over No. 5 seed LSU on Tuesday night.

  Kentucky wasn't just supposed to beat Louisiana State, it was supposed to win comfortably. But the Wildcats (31-1) labored through an 18-turnover performance Friday in which the feisty Tigers led early in the second half before losing, 60-51, in the second-round of the Southeastern Conference tournament in New Orleans. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist helped No. 1 Kentucky overcome its early lethargy, scoring 10 of his 19 points in the opening 20 minutes before his teammates came alive in the second half.

First, it was the colors. "I guess it was something about that purple and yellow," Darrell Bush said. Then, it was the championships. "It seems like every time I was watching them, they were winning titles," Bush said. Bush, a soft-spoken senior at Woodbury High School, said Louisiana State University has been his "dream school" since he was in eighth grade. On Wednesday, Bush's dream became reality when the 5-foot-9, 155-pound speedster signed a letter of intent to attend LSU on a track scholarship.

First, it was the colors. "I guess it was something about that purple and yellow," Darrell Bush said. Then, it was the championships. "It seems like every time I was watching them, they were winning titles," Bush said. Bush, a soft-spoken senior at Woodbury High School, said Louisiana State University has been his "dream school" since he was in eighth grade. On Wednesday, Bush's dream became reality when the 5-foot-9, 155-pound speedster signed a letter of intent to attend LSU on a track scholarship.

NCAA president Mark Emmert reiterated his support Monday for a two-round, four-team BCS championship playoff. Emmert said there are ongoing discussions about what he described as a Final Four model, a scenario that this season would've matched LSU against Stanford, and Alabama vs. Oklahoma State, with the winners advancing to the title game. Alabama beat LSU, 21-0, to avenge its lone loss and win the championship in a criticized rematch. Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien named Jim Bernhardt as special assistant and director of player development, and Craig Fitzgerald , a La Salle High School graduate whose most recent coaching job was at South Carolina, as director of strength and conditioning.

May 2011: J.J. Denman, Pennsbury offensive lineman, gives an oral commitment to Penn State. October: Denman changes his mind and commits to Wisconsin. January: Denman changes his mind, again, and commits to Rutgers. I don't know the young man, so I'll ask: Does J.J. stand for Just Joking? I'll give him some slack, though, for one of the two changes of heart. July 2011: Gunner Kiel, quarterback at Columbus East High in Indiana, commits to Indiana University.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL leaders, including Big Ten commissioner and staunch playoff opponent Jim Delany, are open to considering the idea of turning the Bowl Championship Series into a four-team playoff. The commissioners from the 11 FBS conferences met yesterday at a hotel in New Orleans to exchange ideas about what the system for crowning a national champion will be starting in the 2014 season. BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said 50 to 60 possibilities for various changes were presented.