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It's official: Mobile Alabama Bowl added to post-season slate

© Chuck Bednar

The NCAA has officially certified the Mobile Alabama Bowl for 1999. The contest will become college football's 22nd bowl game. The NCAA also recertified each of the 21 existing bowls, and gave initial certification to the three bowls hoping to be added to the postseason schedule in 2000 - the Houston Bowl in Houston, Texas; the Freedom Bowl in San Francisco; and the Silicon Valley Bowl in San Jose, Calif.

"We did our homework and worked hard," ESPN analyst Mike Gottfried, who spearheaded Mobile's efforts to obtain a bowl game, told reporters. "It's like the chicken or the egg, which came first? Well, we took a chance and opened a bowl office on Feb. 1 not even knowing if we would get the game. We wanted to be prepared."

While issues such as conference partnerships, television rights and sponsorship of the game remain up in the air, indications are that Conference USA will send its second-place team to the bowl in the first year. The other team will likely come from either the Big East, Atlantic Coast Conference or Western Athletic Conference.

FSU player arrested for attempted murder - 22-year-old Bryne Malone, a back-up defensive tackle with the Florida State Seminoles, has been arrested and charged with six counts of attempted first-degree murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. As a result of his arrest, Malone has been dismissed from the team.

According to the police, Witnesses saw Malone and 20-year-old Julian Moore drive up to a house Friday afternoon and fire several shots at the residence. Two people were standing in the front doorway and two others were inside the home, but police report that no one was injured. Campus police arrested the duo, and found more than a dozen .22-caliber bullets in Malone's pocket and two bullets inside their home.

Malone, a 6-foot-7, 263-pound sophomore from Alabama, had 14 tackles and a sack in nine games last season.

Former Arkansas guard killed in wreck - Former Arkansas guard Brandon Burlsworth, a walk-on who became a second team All-American as a Razorback, was killed in a traffic accident last Wednesday while driving home for dinner with his mother. Just three weeks ago, Bulsworth was drafted by the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.

"We are all stunned. Brandon did everything perfectly," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt told the Associated Press on Thursday. "He was the first in the weight room and the last off the field. We tell our players that every day of life is a blessing and never take it for granted. An incident like this brings that message home. We are heartbroken."

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