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Fans Can Vote for Texas' Cedric Benson as The Cingular Wireless/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week ATLANTA, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas senior running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Cedric Benson has been selected as a Cingular Wireless/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week finalist for the first time this season. Benson rushed for 142 yards and a school-tying record five touchdowns in the Longhorns' 56-35 come-from-behind win against No. 19 Oklahoma State yesterday to help keep Texas alive for a BCS birth. The Big XII has already had two Cingular Wireless/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week winners this season: Texas Tech quarterback Sonny Cumbie and Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson (twice). Benson is one of four candidates for the All-America Player of the Week, who are selected by a panel of ABC Sports and ESPN college football analysts, led by John Saunders. The other finalists are: Ohio State wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr., who scored three touchdowns on a run, reception and punt return, in the Buckeyes' 32-19 win at Michigan State; Virginia Tech running back Mike Imoh, who totaled 236 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in the Hokies' 27-24 at North Carolina; and Oklahoma quarterback Jason White, who threw for 292 yards and five touchdowns in the Sooners' 45-38 win at Texas A&M. Who will be this week's winner is still undecided and the final decision now rests in the hands of college football fans nationwide. For the first time in college football history, fans can now make the call on who they think deserves to be the All-America Player of the Week with the power and ease of wireless text-messaging. Cingular is making the voting open to other wireless carriers* allowing even more fans to participate. Fans can also vote online at http://www.abcsportsallamerica.com/ or at ESPN.com (keyword: cingular). Longhorn fans can show their support for Benson by voting for him up until 8 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 7. The winner will be announced during that night's 11 p.m. EST broadcast of ESPN "SportsCenter". Here's how fans can vote for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week this week and every week: -- Text "PLAYER" to "64444" on your wireless phones -- Follow the prompt to vote for your All-America selection -- Alternatively, go to http://www.abcsportsallamerica.com/ or log onto http://www.espn.com/ and enter keyword "Cingular" Benson is vying to become the third running back to claim the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week award this season. Previous winners include Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton (twice), Texas Tech quarterback Sonny Cumbie, Georgia quarterback David Greene, Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson (twice), Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell and Michigan running back Michael Hart. Fans who vote on their wireless phones only need to register one time. Then, each week, the four candidates for Player of the Week are automatically sent to their wireless phones. Each time fans vote, they are entered into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the Bowl Championship Series game of their choice or thousands of other instant prizes. Fans can vote as often as they like. On December 1, fans will also get a chance to determine who the best player in the nation is by voting for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Year. Fans will have until December 8 to choose from among five finalists -- voting by either text messaging or online. The selection process will culminate on December 11 at 2 p.m. EST in a one-hour special on ABC Sports when the Cingular Wireless/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Year (selected by fans), and the All-America team (selected by the Football Writers Association of America), will be announced. *Other wireless carriers must opt-in for their subscribers to participate ABOUT CINGULAR WIRELESS Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving more than 46 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth (NYSE:BLS), has the largest digitalvoice and data network in the nation. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/ . Get Cingular Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://www.cingular.com/newsroom. DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Bates Grainger, Career Sports & Entertainment, +1-770-226-5556, +1-770-331-6617, ; Clay Owen, Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-6153, Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://www.abcsportsallamerica.com/ http://www.abcsportsallamerica.com/ http://www.espn.com/

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