Enquirer and wire reports

Head coach Mark Dantonio's first University of Cincinnati football team has been picked to finish eighth in the 11-team Conference USA despite the presence of four players on the preseason all-conference team.

The Bearcats, coming off a 5-7 season and a ninth-place C-USA finish, placed offensive lineman Kyle Takavitz, defensive ends Trent Cole and Andre Frazier, and cornerback Daven Holly on the all-conference first team. Only Texas Christian, with five, placed more players on the all-conference team.

Louisville was picked to win the league title, followed by Memphis, defending champion Southern Miss and TCU. The voting was done by the league's coaches.

This is UC's final season in Conference USA before moving to the Big East. The Bearcats report for practice Aug. 10. They open their season Sept. 4 at Ohio State.

Bill Koch

UK: Kentucky cornerback Bo Smith will miss the season because of head injuries suffered in a fight, coach Rich Brooks said.

The junior from Owensboro is recovering from a fractured skull and a broken orbital bone around his left eye. He was hit in the head with a baseball bat during a July 10 fight in Oldham County.

Smith will take a medical redshirt this season, Brooks said Wednesday at the Southeastern Conference media days.

Smith started seven games last season and was sixth on the team in tackles with 57. He missed the last two games due to an injury.

FLORIDA STATE: Coach Bobby Bowden reinstated offensive lineman Bobby Meeks after a county court dropped felony charges stemming from a scuffle outside a nightclub this month.

The 6-foot-4, 290-pound guard was charged with two felony counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and a third felony charge for resisting arrest with violence during a confrontation outside a nightclub in the early hours of July 11.

Those were reduced to misdemeanor charges, and Meeks received a year's probation and 30 days with the Sheriff's Department work camp.

TENNESSEE: Coach Phillip Fulmer said he wanted to be in Alabama talking about football at SEC media days.

Instead, Fulmer stayed in Tennessee and talked about lawsuits through speakerphone to reporters gathered in Hoover, Ala.

"I apologize for any distraction all this has caused," Fulmer said at the beginning of a 10-minute statement. "I think it's very important to understand that a lot of people believe the entire NCAA enforcement process is at stake."

Fulmer announced this week he was heeding the advice of lawyers and wouldn't attend in person because of his involvement in lawsuits stemming from recruiting violations uncovered at Alabama.