Golden not interested in the Cincinnati job

Temple football coach Al Golden has withdrawn as a candidate for the job at Cincinnati, ESPN and several Web sites reported last night.

Golden and Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw were not available for comment.

The fourth-ranked Bearcats are preparing for the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl against Florida without coach Brian Kelly, who took the job at Notre Dame last week. ESPN reported last night that Cincinnati would name Central Michigan's Butch Jones as coach today.

The 40-year-old Golden guided the Owls to a 9-3 record, their best season since 1979. Temple is preparing to play UCLA (6-6) in the Dec. 29 EagleBank Bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington.

On Saturday at Temple's football banquet, the fourth-year Owls coach said he had not been contacted by Cincinnati.

Golden has two years left on his contract. Temple will lose just 16 seniors from the program's first winning season since 1990.

A bigger Big Ten? Conference commissioner Jim Delany said the Big Ten is going to explore options over the next 12 to 18 months for expanding the league to 12 teams.

The Big Ten said in a statement it also looked at expansion in 1993, 1998, and 2003. Penn State was the last team to join, in 1990, and Notre Dame rejected an offer in 1999. The league said no action on expansion is expected soon.

Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno has said that a 12th team could ease scheduling difficulties and clear the way for a lucrative conference championship football game.

Missouri spokeswoman Mary Jo Banken said the Big Twelve school - frequently mentioned as the potential 12th member - has not been contacted by the Big Ten.

All-Americans. Six players on top-ranked Alabama, including Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, made the Associated Press all-American team.

Ingram was a unanimous choice, as was linebacker Rolando McClain. Defensive tackle Terrence Cody was voted to the team for the second straight season. Cornerback Javier Arenas, guard Michael Johnson, and kicker Leigh Tiffin also were on the squad.

Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, the Heisman runner-up, and Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, fourth in Heisman voting, were also unanimous first-team all-Americans.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was the all-American quarterback, selected to the first team by a panel of 14 AP college football poll voters.

Penn State's Jared Odrick, a defensive tackle, made the second team, while linebacker Navorro Bowman and offensive tackle Dennis Landolt made the third team. Landolt, a senior, is a graduate of Holy Cross High.

Noteworthy. Youngstown State named Eric Wolford, the offensive line coach at South Carolina, as its new head coach.