Former Univ. of Tennessee football coach Philip Fulmer "will be named" the school's next AD at a 4:00pm ET press conference in Knoxville, though it is not clear if the role is "full time or interim" (TWITTER.com, 12/1). Fulmer "was not involved" in the effort to hire Greg Schiano as football coach under former AD John Currie. But he has "been a voice in Tennessee’s search since Monday," and will "have actual authority now" (TWITTER.com, 12/1).

MLB owners "voted unanimously Friday to approve a new posting agreement" with Nippon Professional Baseball that "allowed bidding to start" for coveted P/OF Shohei Ohtani. Following the deal, Ohtani was "put up for bid" by his Pacific League team for the maximum $20M posting fee. That "opened a window" for Ohtani to "reach agreement on a contract with an MLB team until 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 22." Ohtani is "limited to a minor league contract subject to a team’s signing bonus pool." The "maximum bonus he could get is $3,535,000" (AP, 12/1).

Officials from Dover Int'l Speedway on Friday said that the one-mile track and the rest of its facilities "did not appear to suffer any damage from Thursday’s moderate earthquake in the area." A spokesperson in an email wrote, “We did feel some shaking in our office building but there was no visible damage to our offices or the track and grandstand areas." The epicenter of the 4.1-magnitude quake was "approximately 13 miles north of the racetrack" (NBCSPORTS.com, 12/1).

Boston College will extend its policy of "selling beer and wine at basketball and hockey games in select areas of Conte Forum" starting with Friday night’s hockey game against Boston Univ. BC "began offering beer and wine to general admission fans at football games in September as part of a City of Boston approved pilot program" (BOSTON HERALD, 12/1).

Meanwhile, Butler Univ. beginning with Saturday night's men's hoops game at Hinkle Fieldhouse will sell alcohol at "concessions stands and select temporary locations." Beer sales "will begin when the doors open -- 90 minutes before tipoff -- and end at the under 12-minute media timeout of the second half" (INDYSTAR.com, 12/29).

N.Y.-based tart cherry beverage brand Cheribundi has struck a deal with ESPN Events to title sponsor the annual Boca Raton Bowl through the '19 season. The bowl will now be known as the Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The four-year-old bowl game was previously sponsored by clothing brand Marmot in '15 (THE DAILY).

College football's bowl season will soon be upon us, which means participating student-athletes will get more than just a certificate of appreciation. The NCAA allows each bowl committee to provide gift packages worth up to $550 apiece to 125 participants per school. Check out next week's issue of SportsBusiness Journal for our annual rundown of of gifts for all 78 bowl-bound football teams.

Sources said that Tulsa AD Derrick Gragg is a "top candidate" for the same position at Arkansas (ARKANSASONLINE.com, 11/30).

Lagardere Sports' Tim Mickelson will "no longer be representing" golfer Jon Rahm. Lagardere Golf Division President Steve Loy now "will represent Rahm" with a pair of associates -- Jeff Koski in the U.S. and Jamie Evans in Europe -- "handling daily affairs" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 12/1).

NBC Sports Digital on Thursday for the opening round of the Hero World Challenge, which saw the return of Tiger Woods, saw 8.1 million live streaming minutes. That one-day figure alone would rank No. 6 this year among four-day tourney numbers on the NBC platform. A four-day streaming total for the Hero World Challenge is likely to end up above The Players Championship and Presidents Cup, but still below the Open Championship (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

"It was a tough grid. I enjoyed it. I really miss the people in the room, they're really a quality group of people. I'm glad I did it, but it's a relief not being on there" -- Univ. of Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez, on being a member of the CFP selection committee the past three years (THEATHLETIC.com, 12/1).

"I don't have any regrets there" -- Giants coach Ben McAdoo, on the process in which QB Eli Manning was benched (ESPN.com, 12/1).

Players and the league are pushing back strongly on the notion that money for social justice programs will be taken from others like Salute to Service or breast cancer awareness. I'm just passing along.

— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) December 1, 2017

Programs like those cited below - military appreciation and Crucial Catch - will continue. This is a new initiative and supplements those, but does not replace them https://t.co/u1Rzb7M2Kj

— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) December 1, 2017

Happy to announce that @RaysBaseball is allowing me to continue to do what I love! A new multi year deal is done! Thank you to everyone in the #Rays organization for your confidence in me! @RaysRadio

— Dave Wills (@davewills34) December 1, 2017

With the money state schools throw at big-time football coaches, whose money is it? The athletic depts? The taxpayers? Even in a case like Texas (Herman at $5M-plus annual) where ath dept pays for itself, would the dept exist without its tie to big state U?

— Jim Vertuno (@JimVertuno) December 1, 2017

Saturday

Fordham Univ. will host the second annual Women in Charge Forum in N.Y. Among the speakers will be SME VP/Business Development Sophia Kelly.

Sunday

Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo holds his sixth annual Walk-Off For Cancer in Chicago. On-site registration begins at 7:30am CT.

5 -- Number of ballparks that were the "most Instagrammed location" in their respective states in '17. They include SunTrust Park (Ga.), Fenway Park (Mass.), Busch Stadium (Mo.), Wrigley Field (Ill.) and Camden Yards (Md.) (AJC.com, 12/1).