TULSA — Tulsa football coach Todd Graham has agreed to a new 10-year contract that could keep him with the Golden Hurricane through the 2018 season.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed by the private university.
Graham, who has coached Tulsa to its first back-to-back 10-win seasons in school history, agreed to the extension only two days after offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn left Tulsa to take the same position at Auburn.
The Golden Hurricane (10-3) will face Ball State (12-1) in the GMAC Bowl on Tuesday.
• Terry Bowden, who took over a limping Auburn program hammered by NCAA sanctions and down-and-out teams at Salem College and Samford and engineered turnarounds, was formally introduced as the new coach at Division II power North Alabama.
• Cal coach Jeff Tedford has agreed to a two-year contract extension that takes him through the 2015 season.
The Golden Bears completed a 9-4 season Saturday by beating Miami 24-17 in the Emerald Bowl. It was Cal’s fifth victory in a school-record six consecutive bowl appearances under Tedford.
• Ohio State star Chris Wells said he’s still deciding whether he’ll enter the NFL draft after Monday’s Fiesta Bowl.
• Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman is expected to announce that he’s skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft.
Dakar Rally begins today
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Moved from Africa because of the threat of terrorism, the Dakar Rally starts today with a symbolic drive in Argentina’s capital before heading out on an adventure that will cover nearly 6,000 miles.
The rally crosses the Pampas, heads into Patagonia, arrives at the Andes on Thursday, drives into Chile the following day, cruises alongside the Pacific Ocean for five days and finally heads back to Buenos Aires on Jan. 18.
Dakar’s South American version will include an unofficial 530 vehicles, including 82 trucks, 188 cars, 30 quad bikes and 230 motorcycles, nearly all of them shipped from Europe.
The race will cover 14 stages and 5,949 miles.
Footnotes.
Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Tanguay will miss six weeks after injuring his left shoulder Tuesday. Tanguay has scored 10 goals this year and is third on the team with 26 points.
• The Phoenix Coyotes sent goalie Josh Tordjman back to the minor leagues, just a day after calling him up from the San Antonio Rampage.
• Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria earned his first World Cup victory, winning the second leg of the Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Overall World Cup leader Simon Ammann of Switzerland was second. Harri Olli of Finland was third.
• Petter Northug of Norway won the men’s sprint and Arianna Follis of Italy won the women’s race in the fifth leg of the World Cup’s annual Tour de Ski series in Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech Republic.
The Associated Press
