Fast Break

Arena football

Stevens returns to Shock roster

Jerome Stevens has been assigned to the 2007 Spokane Shock roster.

Stevens is the first player from the 2006 ArenaCup Champion roster to re-sign with the Shock for the 2007 season. Last season, Stevens started in all 13 games he played in and tallied 13.5 tackles (9 of them solo) and 2.5 sacks on the season. In the playoffs, he accounted for two more tackles including one for a 10-yard loss.

Stevens missed the af2 championship game last season because it was the same date as his wedding.

The Shock open the 2007 season March 31st at home against the Stockton Lightning.

College football

Spending money for big wins

Rutgers doubled its spending on football from $7 million to $13.2 million since 1998. The Scarlet Knights (9-1, 4-1 Big East), who rose to No. 7 this season, spent more than Michigan ($12.2) in the 2004-05 fiscal year, according to the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Web site.

Among the top 10 teams in the Associated Press poll, Ohio State spent the most on football at $29.6 million in total expenses, followed by Southern California ($21.4), Florida ($19.2), Notre Dame ($17.1) and Wisconsin ($16.6), according to the report.

From that same web site, here is a look at what area football teams spent in the 2005-2006 fiscal year:

Eastern…$2,083,085

Idaho…$2,841,561

Boise St.…$4,513,650

WSU…$7,350,030

Oregon…$12,732,315

Washington…$15,122,759

Online at http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/

Who’s No. 1?

A case for Chadron State

Chadron State poised to win a national championship? Here’s how:

They beat Montana State, which beat Colorado, which beat Texas Tech … Texas A&M … Kansas … Kansas State … Texas … Oklahoma … Washington … Washington State … Oregon State … USC … which will beat Ohio State in the national championship game.

Unfortunately, Chadron is 11-0, so we can’t somehow trace the lineage back to a more pitiful team.