Oklahoma in talks with Notre Dame

The University of Oklahoma and Notre Dame are planning for two football games, one in Norman, Okla., in 2012 and one in South Bend, Ind., in 2013.

Kenny Mossman, Oklahoma’s sports information director, said the two schools are in discussions but have not signed a contract, while Notre Dame sports information director John Heisler said his school "has reached a deal with OU" to play the two contests.

Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin White previously announced that Oklahoma would replace Michigan for two years after the current contract between Notre Dame and Michigan expires in 2011.

White said the goal was to play in different parts of the country in an attempt to return Notre Dame to its independent roots.

Heisler said his school has wanted to play the Sooners again ever since the two teams met in 1999 in South Bend. Notre Dame won that game 34-30. It was the first time the two schools had played in 31 years.

Big Ten seeks 12th school

Big Ten officials will likely discuss expanding to 12 schools to accommodate the new Big Ten Network, Commissioner Jim Delany said.

The network, which is scheduled to launch Aug. 30, would benefit from an additional big-name university in a large television market, Delany said.

"I think we need to look at it in the next year," he told the Des Moines, Iowa, Register. He offered no specific candidates.

"The broader" the network "is distributed, the more value" expansion "has. We have eight states. With expansion, you could have nine," he said.

In football, a 12th school could mean two divisions and a postseason playoff. That’s an appealing concept to the startup network.

"Any television executive would do whatever they could to be able to air a game like the Big Ten championship," said Mark Silverman, Big Ten Network president. "It would be worth a considerable amount of value."

House seeks answers from WWE

The murder-suicide deaths of wrestler Chris Benoit and his family led a House committee yesterday to ask World Wrestling Entertainment to turn over any information it has on steroid and drug abuse in pro wrestling.

The deaths "have raised questions about reports of widespread use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by professional wrestlers," a letter released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said.

The committee’s leaders, chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and ranking Republican Tom Davis of Virginia, want a response by Aug. 24.

"The media has provided us with a copy of a letter from the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform," WWE officials said yesterday. "We are reviewing this letter and will respond accordingly."

Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son, Daniel, placed Bibles next to their bodies and then hanged himself on the cable of a weight machine, authorities said. The three were found dead in their Atlanta-area home June 25.

After the slayings, prescription anabolic steroids were found in the family’s home, raising questions about whether the drugs played a role in the killings.

Congress has been investigating steroid use in sports for years.

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