COLLEGE FOOTBALL News

LSU: Les Miles has decided to try to build on the success he’s having at LSU rather than rebuild Michigan, the team for which he once played. “The want and need to stand by my commitment to the team that I coach and the school that I represent really overshadowed any other consideration,” Miles said Tuesday. “The business that we’re doing is affecting people’s lives, playing for championships, encouraging a degree, setting people on a path that will benefit them. I think that happened for me at Michigan and hopefully it’s happening for others at LSU.” Miles told LSU athletic director Joe Alleva of his decision on Tuesday morning before he traveled to Dallas for a previously scheduled speaking engagement at an American Football Coaches Association gathering. A day earlier, Miles had spent several hours meeting with Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon, who flew to Baton Rouge on Monday to talk to discuss the Wolverines’ open head coaching job.

TCU: The Horned Frogs have gone from being a one-win team when Gary Patterson arrived with a new coaching staff to undefeated and No. 2 in the final poll. “We’re excited. ... It’s obviously very gratifying that the writers and our peers in the coaches poll voted us No. 2,” Patterson said Tuesday. “Where we started 13 years ago and where we are today, it’s quite an honor to be a part of all that.” The Horned Frogs (13-0) are No. 2 behind BCS champion Auburn (14-0) in the Associated Press Top 25 that was released Tuesday. TCU completed its first undefeated season since its 1938 national championship with a 21-19 victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. When Patterson arrived as defensive coordinator after the 1997 season, the Frogs were coming off a 1-10 record. He is 98-28 in 10 seasons as head coach, and TCU has won at least 11 games in six of the last eight seasons. Last week, he got a two-year contract extension through the 2018 season.

Tulsa: Todd Graham led Tulsa’s football program to one of the most successful stretches in school history and a finish in the Top 25 this season for the first time since 1991. Now, athletic director Bubba Cunningham must find the right person to build upon that success after Graham departed to become the new coach at Pittsburgh. Graham was 36-17 in four seasons in charge of the Golden Hurricane, including a school-record 11 wins two seasons ago. This year, Tulsa won its final seven games to finish at 10-3 and earn the No. 24 spot in the final Associated Press poll.

Associated Press