Posted by Tom Fornelli

Following a DUI arrest on campus on February 9, in which he was found to have a blood-alcohol level of .157, Illinois defensive lineman Justin Staples was suspended from winter workouts for two weeks.

If Staples thought that would be the extent of his punishment, he was wrong.

Staples will be allowed to participate in spring practice with the Illini, which starts Wednesday, but he'll be missing some time this fall when the games begin.

New head coach Tim Beckman said that Staples will "miss some game time" but did not go into specifics into how much game time that is exactly. It could be a half, a game, or a number of games.

Staples started only one game as a redshirt junior in 2011, but played in all 13 games, recording 16 tackles and a sack.

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

Wide receiver Michael Harrison had been a candidate to earn a starting job on the Oklahoma State offense in 2012 but was suspended for the season in February. Now it seems that Harrison has decided since he can't play football in 2012, he doesn't want to play football in 2013 or any other year.

Harrison told head coach Mike Gundy he was leaving the Oklahoma State program last week.

“The NCAA suspended him,” Gundy told The Oklahoman. “I never suspended him, and then he chose to not play football. He made that choice himself. My recommendation to him was to finish school, because that's what you have to do. You can't go anywhere at this particular time…and then if he chooses to (leave), that's his call.

“I don't know what he wants to do. I just know that he's decided he does not want to play football anymore.” 

Harrison caught 20 passes for 255 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Cowboys last season.

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

Kentucky linebacker Ridge Wilson was arrested over the weekend in Louisville and charged with trafficking in a controlled substance. A charge that is considered a felony.

Wilson was parked in his car with the lights off when a policeman approached his vehicle to see what Wilson was doing. Inside the car he found a pair of jeans in the back seat with a bag of Xanax in the pocket. Police also found $1,947 in the pants Wilson was wearing.

Police also said that Wilson kept mentioning to them that he was a football player at Kentucky, and seemed nervous the entire time.

Wilson has been suspended by Kentucky following the arrest, though when asked about the suspension, spokesperson Tom Neely would only say that Wilson "broke team rules."

Wilson, who will be a senior in the 2012 season, had 47 tackles in 9 games for Kentucky last season, including 3 for a loss and 2 sacks.

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Posted by Adam Jacobi

The Iowa Hawkeyes announced on Tuesday that Marcus Coker, the sophomore tailback who led the team with 1384 rushing yards and 15 yards and was named second team All-Big Ten in 2011, had been released from his scholarship and would transfer. Coker had been suspended days before the team's Insight Bowl appearance against Oklahoma, which the Sooners won 31-14.

Iowa's announcement said that Coker had originally been suspended after violating the Student Athlete Code of Conduct, and on Tuesday, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta again declined to provide any more specifics. But an open records request by the Iowa City Press-Citizen revealed a sexual assault investigation against Coker dating from an October 28 incident at his residence.

According to that report, a woman reported to police that she was the victim of an assault at Coker’s residence, 618 Iowa Ave. The alleged assault took place sometime between 1:15-1:30 p.m. on Oct. 28.

The circumstances surrounding the assault are not detailed in the report, but it does note that the responding officer was dispatched to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for a sexual assault.

Iowa City Police Lt. Doug Hart said Coker was investigated for assault. However, after conferring with the Johnson County Attorney’s Office, prosecution was not pursued. Hart said the alleged victim also did not want to prosecute.

Nobody involved in the situation has indicated whether the investigation against Coker was what affected his status with the team, though the police department did say that the situation had been relayed to the Iowa athletic department, as per usual procedure.

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Coker left this message on his Facebook page last week: "Everything happens for a reason..cant tell people i did something when i didnt. So hints y i never answered those questions. Anyway thanks everyone for the support especially hawknation and fam. Go hawks..hawk for life."

Freshman running back Mika'il McCall also left the Iowa program last week, so Coker's departure makes it a remarkable 12 straight running backs who have left Iowa before their senior seasons. Damian Sims, who signed with Iowa in 2004, was the last scholarship RB recruit to play four full seasons with the Hawkeyes.

Kirk Ferentz is unavailable for comment, according to the university.

For more breaking news on this situation and the rest of the Iowa Hawkeyes, read the CBSSports.com Iowa RapidReports by Brendan Stiles.

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Posted by Adam Jacobi

Marcus Coker, Iowa's leading rusher on the season, will not be joining the team as it travels to the Insight Bowl to face Oklahoma on December 30. The school announced on Tuesday that Coker had been suspended from the team after violating an unspecified policy in the school's Student-Athlete Code of Conduct.

Coker was the workhorse of the Iowa offense in 2011, rushing 281 times for 1384 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also caught 21 passes for 157 yards. Coker led the Hawkeyes in rushing in each of their last 11 games, and ranked second in the Big Ten in rushing yards (behind Montee Ball) while placing third in rushing touchdowns (behind Ball and Denard Robinson).

Incidentally, it was a teammate's suspension going into the Insight Bowl in 2010 that gave Coker the breakout performance of his freshman year. With starter Adam Robinson suspended after "failing to comply with team policies," Iowa turned to Coker in its game against Missouri, and Coker responded with a scintillating performance: 33 carries, 219 yards, two touchdowns, and several broken tackles.

The Hawkeyes' first option at tailback in Coker's place would have been freshman Mika'il McCall, but McCall was suspended for the team's season finale at Nebraska for a violation of team rules and remains suspended, according to the Iowa athletic department. Additionally, even if McCall had been eligible to participate, he suffered a serious ankle injury in the season opener against Tennessee Tech; since the injury he has seen two carries -- the second of which was a lost fumble.

So without its top two running backs, Iowa has De'Andre Jackson, a redshirt freshman who has rushed for 79 yards on 18 carries in mop-up duty, and the athletic but smallish true freshman Jordan Canzeri, who has nine rushes for 56 yards. Damon Bullock, another true freshman, has rushed for 22 yards on eight carries, but seven of those came against Louisiana-Monroe and he has not seen action at RB since. Iowa may also turn to walk-on junior Jason White, who has split time between safety and running back in his time at Iowa and has three rushes for 12 yards this season. 

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Get all the latest updates on Iowa and Oklahoma at the Insight Bowl Pregame. 

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

Following his arrest on Wednesday night for suspicion of DWI, I wrote that Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel should not allow himself to coach his team against Texas Tech on Saturday. My reasoning for this was that it was only fair that a head coach who had suspended players for two games earlier this season for the same offense he committed be held to the same standards.

Well, according to our Missouri Rapid Reporter Dave Matter, that's exactly what Missouri is going to do.

Matter reports that Pinkel has been suspended for a week, including Saturday's game against Texas Tech, without pay. He'll be allowed to return to coaching on Thursday next week before Missouri's game against Kansas.

Defensive coordinator Dave Steckel will fill in as head coach in Pinkel's absence.

Matter also reports that Pinkel's weekly salary will be donated to the MU Wellness Resource Center, and that he will not receive a bowl bonus or social responsibility bonus this season. His salary will also be frozen for a year.

Athletic director Mike Alden also warned that any other arrests like this could result in Pinkel's termination.

"This has been an isolated incident and we do not expect any further issues such as this with coach Pinkel. But if in fact anything like that would ever happen again in the future, then further disciplinary action would be necessary in the future, up to and including termination," said Alden on Thursday evening.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

I joined Adam Aizer on the CBSSports.com College Football Podcast on Friday afternoon and we talked about all sorts of things going on across the country today. We took a look at the Big 12 at the midseason point, talked about UCLA and Rick Neuheisel, and also went over suspensions at Michigan State and LSU. We even talked some Conference USA action while discussing how embarrassing UCF's loss to UAB on Thursday night was.

So give it a listen below.
Remember, all of the CBSSports.com College Football Podcasts can be downloaded for FREE from the iTunes Store.

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Posted by Tom Fornelli

On Thursday night CBSSports.com's Brett McMurphy reported there was a possibility that the three LSU players who were suspended for failing a drug test, Tyrann Mathieu, Spencer Ware, and Tharold Simon, could all be forced to sit out next week's game against Alabama as well. Which, obviously, would be a very big blow for the Tigers as their game against Alabama might not just settle the SEC West, but a berth in the national championship game as well.

However, according to a report in The Times Picayune on Friday, that will not be the case. Citing an anonymous source close to the situation, the report says that all three players will miss this weekend's game against Auburn but return in time for Alabama.

Which is good news for LSU, as Spencer Ware is the team's leading rusher and Tyrann Mathieu had been garnering some Heisman Trophy attention for his play this season, which this suspension will likely put an end to.

The three players tested positive for synthetic marijuana earlier this week.