Rebels floated like a butterfly, but Hogs stung like a bee

It was a record-setting night in Oxford, Mississippi, earlier this month when it took seven overtimes to determine a winner of the football game between the University of Mississippi and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

The Razorbacks came away victorious, 58-56, in what's being called the longest game in major college football history.

Arkansas and Mississippi combined for 198 total plays, breaking the previous Division I record of 196 plays, set in 1971. They also scored 80 points in overtime, another Division I record.

"The historical significance of the game hasn't sunk in yet, but I know this much: We'll never forget it," said Arkansas coach Houston Nutt. "No one deserved to lose."

The teams ended regulation in a 17-17 tie, and both scored in the first overtime. Neither team scored in the second overtime, and then they matched each other, touchdown for touchdown and conversion for conversion -- until overtime No. 7, when Mississippi failed on its two-point attempt.

"I told our players the only thing I can remember it being like is when Ali and Frazier had those great fights," said Mississippi head coach David Cutcliffe. "One of them would punch and then the other one would punch back. It was a test of wills."

A license to play -- video games

A couple of NCAA-licensed video games have received rave reviews recently.

NCAA College Football 2K2, produced by Sega for the Dreamcast system, received three out of four stars this month by USA Today. In this game, players can choose from seven different game modes: scrimmage, tournament, exhibition, season, legacy or tutorial, permitting players to build a team over time or simply follow one team through the season.

"Solid gameplay and superior artificial intelligence make NCAA 2K2 a winner," wrote USA Today's André Montgomery. "NCAA 2K2 captures the collegiate atmosphere, with fight songs for each of the top teams. You can hear linebackers barking out defensive orders and quarterbacks calling audibles."

NCAA Football 2002, produced by EA Sports for the Playstation 2, also received three out of four stars by USA Today. This video game includes all 117 Division I-A teams and 27 Division I-AA teams, and players can participate in one of 26 bowl games.

"Players will enjoy the Campus Challenge, a reward-based mode that awards players credit points for accomplishing certain goals, such as rushing a runner for 100 yards during a game." Montgomery wrote.

Both of these games are produced by NCAA licensees. The NCAA has three licensees that produce video games -- Sega, EA Sports and Sony. The NCAA approves the ideas and concepts, and the royalties from the games go back to the NCAA and participating schools.

"Our licensed video games have been a great tool to reach the youth market and promote college football," said Mike Bailey, NCAA licensing coordinator.

NCAA announces opportunities

The NCAA is now taking applications for several scholarships and internships. All applications are available online at www.ncaa.org.

The deadline for fall-sport applications for the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship program is December 18. This is a $5,000 scholarship for postgraduate studies.

The deadline for the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship program is February 1, 2002. The internship period is June 2002 to June 2003.

The deadline for the Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Postgraduate Scholarship is February 15, 2002. This is a $6,000 scholarship for students attending their initial graduate studies in an athletics administration field.

For more information, telephone Amy Burk at the NCAA national office at 317/917-6222.

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Looking back

From 1982 until this year, either Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania or Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania had won the Division II Field Hockey Championship.

After Pfeiffer University beat Bentley College in 1981 for the inaugural NCAA title, the two Pennsylvania schools traded blows.

Lock Haven beat Bloomsburg in the 1982 championship game, 4-1, behind a suffocating defense that allowed just one goal throughout the tournament. Bloomsburg, however, exacted revenge a year later, shutting out host Lock Haven, 1-0.

After an eight-year hiatus for the championship, the event returned to the NCAA stage in 1992 when -- who else? -- Bloomsburg and Lock Haven reached the final. Lock Haven emerged with a 3-1 victory.

Bloomsburg won the 1993 championship in the first of only two title game to be decided in overtime. The Huskies had to go through two series of penalty strokes to win their second crown.

Lock Haven was the first to win back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995, both one-goal decisions over Bloomsburg. But the Huskies responded by winning the next four, the longest streak in the series, from 1996 through 1999. Two of those wins were over Lock Haven, one a 4-3 overtime thriller in 1998 when Krista Engle scored a breakaway goal six minutes into the extra session.

A regional alignment decision in 1999, however, ended the championship-game rivalry. The new alignment grouped the two national powers under one regional umbrella, which assured that the Lock Haven-Bloomsburg championship-game matchup would not occur.

But even then, the two teams traded trips to the final. Bloomsburg won in 1999 with a 2-0 win over Bentley, and Lock Haven returned to the top last year also with a 2-0 win over Bentley