Texas Tech coach Mike Leach blasted members of the Heisman Trophy Trust for leaving quarterback Graham Harrell off the list of finalists invited to New York tomorrow for the Heisman Trophy presentation ceremony.

Harrell, Division I-A's leading passer (4,747 yards), won't be present during the telecast while three finalists -- Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, Texas' Colt McCoy and Florida's Tim Tebow -- await the live announcement of the winner. Tebow won last year.

In a statement released by school officials, Leach said: "If Graham is not invited to the Heisman [ceremony], they ought to quit giving out the award. It is a shameless example of politics ruling over performance. The other guys are deserving, but he has earned a place alongside them."

Heisman organizers generally invite three to five players, based on vote totals.

Harrell, a senior who won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm last night at the college awards ceremony, led No. 8 Tech (11-1) to a berth in the Cotton Bowl by throwing for 41 touchdown passes with only seven interceptions. He was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which went to Sam Bradford of Oklahoma last night in Orlando, Fla. Harrell also was a first-team selection on the 2008 American Football Coaches Association All-America team.

Since Harrell has been shown on Heisman commercials for nearly two weeks, many at Texas Tech assumed his ticket to New York was assured.

Buffalo

Turner Gill interviewed for coaching vacancies at Auburn and Syracuse, raising the possibility he might leave Buffalo after turning around the school's football program in only three seasons.

"Maybe my work is done here, I don't know that," Gill said yesterday at a news conference to promote the International Bowl in Toronto. "There's some things that are probably going to happen, but I don't know when."

Gill's Bulls (8-5) face Connecticut (7-5) Jan. 3 at the Rogers Centre. He confirmed his visits with Syracuse and Auburn, and noted that there are other programs in the mix, though he wouldn't say which ones.

East Carolina

Coach Skip Holtz issued a statement through his athletic department that he has withdrawn his name from consideration to become the new head football coach at Syracuse. He then tried to limit his comments about the matter to that statement, and instead focus on the Pirates' Jan. 2 date against Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl during a news conference promoting the game. But before that could happen, ECU athletic director Terry Holland addressed Holtz and the Auburn coaching vacancy. Holland said there has been "absolutely no contact" from Auburn asking for permission to talk to Holtz about its coaching vacancy.

Auburn

When Tommy Tuberville resigned as coach, Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs agreed to pay the $5.08 million buyout even though he quit. Under the contract, Auburn was required to pay Tuberville millions to purchase the remainder of his time at Auburn if he were fired. The school was under no obligation to pay if he quit. University officials have said Tuberville quit after 10 years; his mother told a newspaper he was fired. Tuberville hasn't publicly explained why he decided to leave.

Cincinnati

Cincinnati and Virginia Tech received 17,500 tickets to sell to their fans and students for the Bowl Championship Series Orange Bowl Jan. 1 in Miami; the Bearcats, who have never been on the BCS stage before, already have sold about 9,000 tickets, coach Brian Kelly said.

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The awards

Highlights from last night's college football awards ceremony:

Maxwell Award

.....Outstanding Player

.....Tim Tebow, Florida

Chuck Bednarik Award

.....Defensive player of the year

.....Rey Maualuga, USC

Walter Camp Award

.....Player of the Year

.....Colt McCoy, Texas

Dick Butkus Award

.....Outstanding linebacker

.....Aaron Curry, Wake Forest

Doak Walker Award

.....National RB Award

.....Shonn Greene, Iowa

Fred Biletnikoff Award

.....Outstanding wide receiver

.....Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech

Outland Trophy

.....Best interior lineman

.....Andre Smith, Alabama

Davey O'Brien Award

.....National QB Award

.....Sam Bradford, Oklahoma

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm

.....Outstanding Sr. QB

.....Graham Harrell, Texas Tech

Jim Thorpe Award

.....Best Defensive back

.....Malcom Jenkins, Ohio St.

John Mackey Award

.....Oustanding tight end

.....Chase Coffman, Missouri

Rimington Trophy

.....Oustanding Center

.....A.Q. Shipley, Penn State