Much ado about nothing?

KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony denied talk on Wednesday that the Jayhawks broke a Big 12 Conference rule by promising to sell a certain amount of tickets above the 17,500 figure allotted to each school for the Orange Bowl.

There are tangible numbers to back up Marchiony’s claim: Orange Bowl Committee member Vance Carlton said Monday that 70,000 tickets already have been sold for the game, which includes the standard 17,500 allotment per school.

Dolphin Stadium holds 72,230 fans. If Carlton is correct, a promise of excess ticket sales by KU would be unnecessary since the game is close to a sellout already.

Marchiony did say that athletic director Lew Perkins assured Orange Bowl officials that the 17,500 tickets allotted to KU would be sold. But that’s within the rules.

“We don’t have access to any more,” Marchiony said.

Big 12 assistant commissioner Bob Burda said the league was not investigating the matter, refuting a report by a Kansas City radio station.

“There is no truth to what that individual is reporting,” Burda said. “It’s really a non-issue.”

Face time

KU football coach Mark Mangino and offensive lineman Anthony Collins will be in Orlando, Fla., today for the College Football Awards Show.

The show will be televised by ESPN (Sunflower Broadband channel 33) starting at 6:30 p.m. today.

Mangino is a finalist for the national coach-of-the-year honor. Collins, meanwhile, is one of three finalists for the Outland Trophy, given annually to the nation’s top interior lineman.

The Football Writers Association of America also will announce its All-America team today.

Another finalist

Mangino, a finalist for pretty much every national coach-of-the-year award, has another one for the list.

KU’s sixth-year coach is one of eight finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award passed out by the FWAA.

The winner will be announced Jan. 4 in New Orleans before the BCS National Championship Game.

No winner

KU defensive coordinator Bill Young was in Little Rock, Ark., on Tuesday at the Broyles Award Luncheon. He was one of five finalists for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach, but lost to Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock.