14 --The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 12, 1999 NCAA ponders payment of& antitrust lawsuit settlement SAN ANTONIO (AP) - The NCAA is trying to distribute the cost among its schools of the more than $67 million it must pay in an antitrust suit regarding coaches' earnings. "The NCAA is healthy and contin- ues to be solvent and will get through this," Graham Spanier, chair of the NCAA Division I board of directors, said yesterday. "But there is no question that the legal fees and the potential settlement cost of this lawsuit poses a signifi- cant challenge for all of us." A U.S. District Court jury in Kansas City, Kan., last May awarded $67 million in damages to about 1,900 entry-level "restricted earnings coaches" in an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA. The court ruled the NCAA acted unlawfully in capping salaries of entry-level coaches at $16,000 annu- Behind sopho- more guard Scoonie Penn, No. 21 Ohio State is ranked in the top 25 for the first time In six years. The Buckeyes are one of seven Big Ten teams currently ranked in the newest AP poll. AP PHOTO ally. Once the' plaintiffs' lawyers' fece were calculated, the NCA A's finan- cial obligation in the lawsuit amount- ed to around $80 million. Even as the NCAA tries to have the damage amount reduced in an appel- late court, it is continuing to negoti- ate an out-of-court settlement with lawyers for the coaches, said associa- tion general counsel Elsa Cole. The last publicly reported settle- ment offer by the NCAA was $44 million in October, which Cole called a "very good offer." The coaches said they wanted $58.5 million. How the ultimate award will be paid has been a source of controversy among NCAA member colleges and was a subject of discussion during a session at the association's annual convention yesterday. Small schools want big schools to shoulder most of the burden, but big schools say the payment should be shared equally because the restricted carnings rule was agreed upon b nearly all 300 Division I schools. A Division I budget subcommittee has been formed to make recommen- dations on payment methods. "The range of settlement numbers that we are talking about is signifi- cant," said Lane Rawlins, chair of the subcommittee. "We need to really budget this. We need to approach this in a budgetary way." In another matter, NCAA delegates were updated on safety concerns about metal baseball bats. One worn is the speed of the ball when hit by such a bat. Because of disagreements among the NCAA divisions on which bat restrictions to establish and when to implement them, the NCAA execu- tive committee is expected to take up the matter again today. Buckeyes break into AP hoops. poll for first time in 6 years Seven Big Ten teams remain in the top 25, most in NCAA The Associated Press Ohio State's return to The Associated Press college bas- ketball poll yesterday after a six-year absence was not met with celebration by Buckeyes coach Jim O'Brien. "It's nice because for no other reason it shows that we've gotten a little bit of respect and it shows we're making a lit- tle bit of progress," O'Brien said. "But that's it."- Ohio State's appearance gave the Big Ten a record-tying seven teams in the rankings. The top six teams - Connecticut, Duke, Cincinnati, Stanford, Maryland and Kentucky - held their spots from last week, but there were some significant moves in the rest of the top 25. Wisconsin, Auburn and Iowa all made a jump of at least five places, while Indiana, Arkansas, Purdue and Clemson all fell at least four spots. Ohio State (13-3) came in at No. 21 and joined fellow Big Ten teams Iowa, Purdue, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Indiana in the top 25. The Big Ten was the first conference to have seven teams in one poll, on Jan. 11, 1993, a number matched by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Dec. 1, 1997, and again the next week. The big difference in the three groups of seven is that Michigan was the highest ranked of the first Big Ten bunch at No. 2, and No. 1 Duke led the ACC group. The highest ranked Big Ten team this week is No. 12 Iowa. "Obviously, our league is very, very good," O'Brien said. "Unlike some other leagues, we don't have a marquee team like Duke or Connecticut. But we've got a conference where nobody can point a finger and say, 'That team is not a good team."' Connecticut (13-0) held the No. I spot for the seventh straight week after beating Boston College and West Virginia. The Huskies received 55 first-place votes and 1,756 points from the media panel. Duke (15-1), which beat Georgia Tech and Virginia by@ combined 87 points, had 13 No. I votes and 1,700 points. Cincinnati (15-0) received the other three first-place votes. The Bearcats won three games last week to remain unbeaten, the last a two-point victory at Southern Mississippi. Stanford was No. 4, followed by Maryland, Kentucky, Arizona, Auburn, North Carolina and UCLA. St. John's dropped one spot to 11th and was followed by Iowa, Purdue, Michigan State, Kansas, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Syracuse, Minnesota, Texas Christian, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Arkansas and Clemson to round out the poll. Ohio State, ranked for two weeks in the 1992-93 season, won two conference games last week against ranked oppo- nents, 78-74 in overtime at Wisconsin and 73-56 over Indiana. The Buckeyes, 8-22 last season under O'Brien, are unbeaten in nine games at their new arena with the losses coming at Vanderbilt, Toledo and Miami. Ohio State puts its ranking and its home streak on the line Tuesday night against Iowa. The Buckeyes replaced California (10-3), which entered the poll for the first time this season last week at No. 25. Golden Bears split their games last week, beating Oreg . State and losing to Stanford. Wisconsin, which beat Michigan State and Purdue last week, made the biggest jump, from 24th to No. 17. Auburn, one of three unbeaten teams in Division I, beat Arkansas and LSU last week to move to No. 8 from 14th. Iowa, which beat Illinois in its only game last week, climbed five spots to 12th. Indiana's losses to Michigan and Ohio State dropped the Hoosiers from 13th to No. 23. Arkansas, which lost to Auburn and Mississippi, fell five spots to 24th. Both No. 13 Purdue and No. 25 Clemson dropped four places. Northwestern football coach denies rumors he BARN ETT Continued from Page 13 to be done in a hurry." For the sake of recruiting, both sides are forced to hus- tle to a decision. The date for prospects to sign national letters of intent is Feb. 3. Neither Barnett nor Northwestern Athletic Director Rick Taylor could be reached for comment Sunday night. And Colorado's take on the rumors? 's leaving post He's definitely been mentioned in every paper. In terms of most mentions, he'd be the guy." Barnett was almost the guy for Texas in December 1997. He flirted with the Longhorns, but in the e decided against leaving. But Texas officials insist they dropped him from con- tention. "My gut feeling was that it wasn't the right thing;to do," Barnett said last year. "Wednesday morning, I got up and said, 'I can't do this.' I'm here and I will be here for +U- - .. f, - .,.A.,.. .c ^47mw nntantThk .ar Pn mirhap~ m