North Carolina fired football coach Butch Davis yesterday. The school issued a statement announcing Davis’s dismissal nine days before the start of preseason practice. Chancellor Holden Thorp said the decision was not prompted by any changes in the ongoing NCAA investigation into possible improper benefits and academic misconduct in the football program. Rather, Thorp says he “lost confidence in our ability to come through this without harming the way people think of this institution.’’ . . . The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its preseason all-conference squad and two Boston College players - running back Montel Harris and linebacker Luke Kuechly - were the top-vote getters as they were named on 49 of the 51 ballots cast. Of the 25-member squad, Florida State and Miami placed four players each . . . UMass announced it will play its first home football game at Gillette Stadium against a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent Sept. 8, 2012 when the Minutemen host Big Ten foe Indiana . . . The NCAA plans to use instant replay on an experimental basis to review certain calls at the College World Series next year. Reviewable plays would be limited to deciding if an apparent home run is fair or foul, whether a batted ball left the playing field for a home run or a ground-rule double, or whether there is fan interference on apparent home runs. The rule must be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel.