BCS dismissive of Cuban's plan to bankroll playoff

Don't expect Mark Cuban's money to break the BCS.

Bowl Championship Series executive director Bill Hancock doubts "financial inducements," such as the one the Dallas Mavericks' outspoken owner is considering, will lead to a major college football playoff.

Cuban told reporters before the Mavs' game Wednesday night that he was "actively interested but in the exploratory stage" of trying to bankroll a 12- or 16-team playoff to replace the often-criticized BCS.

He thinks about $500 million might do the trick.

Hancock responded to Cuban's comments in an e-mail to the Associated Press yesterday, saying, "Given how much support our current system has among university presidents, athletics directors, coaches and athletes, I don't think any amount of financial inducement will make people abandon" the BCS.

Cuban, who has made unsuccessful attempts to buy the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers in recent years, said he's spoken to two athletic directors from conferences with automatic BCS bids who were enthusiastic about his idea. He intends to contact several school presidents and state senators to determine whether the idea is worth pursuing.

"Put $500 million in the bank and go to all the schools and pay them money as an option," Cuban was quoted by ESPNDallas.com. "Say, 'Look, I'm going to give you X amount every 5 years. In exchange, you say if you're picked for the playoff system, you'll go.'"

* The police killing of a Pace University player was "nothing short of intentional murder," a lawyer for the student's family said as he renewed his demand for an independent prosecutor to investigate the off-campus shooting.

Attorney Michael Sussman's charge was an escalation of his previous comments on the Oct. 17 killing of 20-year-old Danroy "D.J." Henry. Witness accounts of the shooting have differed sharply, and a grand jury is investigating.

Henry, of Easton, Mass., was killed when police officers fired through the windshield of his car as he drove from the scene of a bar disturbance in Thornwood, a New York City suburb near the Pace campus, after the school's homecoming game. Sussman said the fatal bullets were fired by Pleasantville Officer Aaron Hess, who has acknowledged shooting at Henry.

A lawyer for Hess, John K. Grant, did not immediately return phone and e-mail messages. He said earlier this month that Henry's car hit Hess and threw him onto the hood, then kept accelerating.

* An Indiana prosecutor said his office won't pursue criminal charges in the case of a St. Mary's College student who reportedly accused a Notre Dame football player of sexual battery.

St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak said in a news release that the decision was based on evidence and the fact that statements by 19-year-old Elizabeth "Lizzy" Seeberg would likely be inadmissible in court because of "evidentiary rules involving hearsay."

Seeberg died of a suspected drug overdose on Sept. 10. Dvorak says Seeberg had accused a student-athlete of touching her breasts on Aug. 31. He did not name the athlete.

* LSU will take away two football scholarships and limit recruiting visits in hopes the NCAA will accept the self-imposed discipline as its mandated punishment for rules violations discovered by the school in 2009.