The University of Illinois will drop its 81-year-old American Indian mascot, Chief Illiniwek, after the final men's basketball home game of the season on Wednesday, officials said.

The move makes the school eligible to play host to postseason NCAA championship events, but it angered many Illini fans who say the chief honors American Indians.

The NCAA in 2005 deemed Illiniwek -- portrayed by buckskin-clad students who dance at home football and basketball games and other athletic events -- an offensive use of American Indian imagery and barred the university from hosting postseason events.

American Indian groups and others have complained for years that the mascot, used since 1926, is demeaning.

Illinois still will be able to use the name Illini because it's short for Illinois and the school can use the term Fighting Illini, because it's considered a reference to the team's competitive spirit, school officials said. It is unclear if the school will get a new mascot.

Yesterday in Urbana, a Champaign County Circuit Court judge rejected a request by the two students who portray the chief for a court order to ban the university from "capitulating to the NCAA by announcing the retirement of Chief Illiniwek."

More colleges

Longtime Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles, 82, is expected to announce his retirement sometime this weekend. Broyles has been football coach, athletic director or both at Arkansas since December 1957.

Allegheny announced the retirement of swimming and diving coach Tom Erdos.

Baseball

Pitt (0-1) dropped its season opener to Costal Carolina (5-0), 12-5, in the Coastal Carolina tournament in Conway, S.C. The Panthers rallied in the eighth inning to score four, but could not climb out of an 11-run deficit.

Hockey

Jean-Francois Jacques had four goals as the host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins routed the Binghamton Senators, 7-0, in the AHL.

Jordan Cameron and Joe Guenther gave the visiting Wheeling Nailers a lead heading into the third period but the Trenton Titans rallied for a 3-2 win in the ECHL.

Track and field

Sprinter Justin Gatlin has asked for an arbitration hearing on doping charges against him, hoping to get his potential eight-year ban from track and field reduced. Gatlin, the 100-meter gold medalist at the Athens Olympics, tested positive for testosterone and other steroids at the Kansas Relays in April. He shares the 100-meter world record of 9.77 seconds, though that would be erased if his doping penalty becomes official.

Pro basketball

Spanish star Marta Fernandez, 25, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. She was the most valuable player in the Women's Spanish League last year.

Horse racing

Queen Elizabeth II might attend the Kentucky Derby. The U.S. Secret Service is preparing for a "probable" visit from the queen around the first weekend in May. The Derby is May 5.

The British government already has announced the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are planning to visit the United States in May to mark the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown, Va.

Elsewhere

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady testified in Boston that he watched his mentor Charlie Weis move in and out of consciousness after the Notre Dame coach's gastric bypass surgery. Brady testified during Weis' medical malpractice lawsuit against two Massachusetts General surgeons.

Weis, the Patriots' former offensive coordinator, claims in the lawsuit that his physicians acted negligently by failing to recognize life-threatening internal bleeding and infection after the June 2002 surgery. He still suffers from nerve damage in his feet.

Sports announcer Jim Lampley, 47, was charged with violating a temporary restraining order filed by a former beauty queen in San Diego. Lampley faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.