Carolina Football
North Carolina will open its football season today but will not have the team that it expected to have when it plays LSU in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at 8 p.m. at the Georgia Dome.
Fifteen players were left behind in Chapel Hill yesterday, and 13 will miss the game. Six of the players were declared ineligible by university officials for violating NCAA or school rules, and seven will be held out because of questions concerning their status.
The decisions were made by university and athletics officials because of two investigations into the football program. The NCAA is looking into improper contact with a sports agent by at least two players, and the university is investigating academic impropriety involving a former tutor and players.
13 Tar Heels will not play in opener
The Winston-Salem Journal
Facing No. 21 LSU tonight in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta never was going to be an easy task for the No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels.
Their job got even more difficult Friday when the school announced that six players are ineligible for the opener and six more will be withheld.
UNC regroups for showdown with LSU
The Durham Herald-Sun
North Carolina's most promising season in years took a major hit Friday when the school announced that 15 players would not travel with the team to Atlanta for today's season opener against No. 21 LSU in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.
Friday night, the school announced that linebackers Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter had been cleared by the NCAA to participate and were to join the team in Atlanta.
13 TAR HEELS STAY HOME
The Durham Herald-Sun
What could have been one of the most important games in North Carolina football history has been reduced to a punch line for any joke about unethical activities in college sports.
Historical opportunity blown by Tar Heels
The Fayetteville Observer
North Carolina football coach Butch Davis threw out a story earlier this week that he said speaks to the challenge facing many of his players.
Davis urges Tar Heels to be ready
The Burlington Times-News
For two teams that haven't played a football game in 24 years, North Carolina and Louisiana State have a lot in common.
Both teams were ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring defense in 2009 but also in the bottom 15 in total offense.
LSU may look familiar to Heels
The Charlotte Observer
Without playing a game yet, the 2010 version of the Tar Heel football program has become an embarrassment to the University of North Carolina and all it stands for.
North Carolina behind before it even kicks off
The Charlotte Observer
There’s a saying in sports you’ll find just about anywhere competition is had, from swimming pools to pool halls, from big-league ballparks to neighborhood sandlots.
To be the best, you have to beat the best.
Say hello to LSU’s 2010 football schedule, a virtual roadmap to the BCS title game — or, potentially, a straight shot to a .500 finish.
Players enjoy the challenge of facing ranked opponents
The Louisiana Advocate
It doesn’t take a lengthy history lesson on LSU football to embrace the notion that expectations leading up to other recent seasons trump the 2010 campaign.
In terms of anticipation, though, the sixth season under Les Miles might be unparalleled.
Tigers looking for answers inside the Georgia Dome
The Louisiana Advocate