Tulane

Led by sophomore guard Jenna Rubino's 18 points, No. 18-ranked DePaul shot 53% in an 80-50 victory over Tulane in a Conference USA women's basketball game Friday night at New Orleans. Junior forward Khara Smith added 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Blue Demons (14-3, 3-1). Tulane (8-10, 0-5) made only 32.7% of its shots and was outrebounded, 43-23.

There was a time this year when a trip to the postseason looked uncertain for Cal State Fullerton, much less a return trip to the College World Series. The Titans are now looking like the national title contenders they imagined they were all along.

While many would argue there is nothing more American than college football, a leading U.S. Senator doesn't agree. "It looks un-American," Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) said Wednesday. "It really does. It looks unfair. It looks like a rigged deal." Biden's comments came during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the bowl championship series, the controversial mechanism by which college football determines its national-title and major bowl game participants.

Hawaii's high-flying offense never really took off Wednesday, especially after starting quarterback Timmy Chang went to the sideline with an injured thumb in the second quarter. Although Hawaii built a 14-point lead early, Lynaris Elpheage returned one punt for a touchdown and set up the go-ahead score to lead Tulane to a 36-28 victory over Hawaii in the inaugural Hawaii Bowl on Wednesday night at Honolulu.

NEW ORLEANS -- On Christmas Eve, Tulane quarterback J.P. Losman can think of nothing better than to be still playing football. The Green Wave, the team that he now leads, is playing Christmas Day in the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu against the hometown Hawaii Warriors. There is a bit of a twist to all of this. UCLA will be also be playing Wednesday, the Bruins facing New Mexico in the Las Vegas Bowl. For Losman, the scenario works out just right.

Rock Mills and Ed Montague each hit two home runs and Pepperdine collected 20 hits in a 30-21 victory over Tulane, ranked No. 3 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball, in a nonconference game Saturday at Malibu. With Santa Ana winds nearing 30 mph, the Waves (3-3) had five home runs and came within three runs of the school single-game record. Pepperdine defeated Whittier, 33-2, in 1955.

If J.P. Losman had stuck around Westwood, he might have had a good chance to play Saturday with the way UCLA quarterbacks were dropping against Stanford. And had the former Venice High standout stayed--instead of transferring to Tulane in 1999--this is what he might have said after the Bruins' 38-28 loss to the Cardinal: "It was one of the worst games I've ever been involved in. It was so close and everyone tried so hard, but we just came up a little bit short."

Dynamic clutch performances are nothing new for Cal State Fullerton second baseman David Bacani. The senior second baseman has been a fixture in the Titan lineup for four years and has delivered countless important plays. However on Tuesday, Bacani and freshman right-hander Darric Merrell had the biggest games of their careers as Fullerton stayed alive in the College World Series with an 11-2 victory over Tulane before 15,000 at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Dynamic clutch performances are nothing new for Cal State Fullerton second baseman David Bacani. The senior second baseman has been a fixture in the Titan lineup for four years and has delivered countless important plays. However on Tuesday, Bacani and freshman right-hander Darric Merrell had the biggest games of their careers as Fullerton stayed alive in the College World Series with an 11-2 victory over Tulane before 15,000 at Rosenblatt Stadium.