BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A judge has thrown out the $5 million verdict an Alabama football fan won in his lawsuit accusing the NCAA of slander.

Circuit Judge William Gordon granted the NCAA's request for a new trial and ruled jurors in Scottsboro who sided with timber dealer Ray Keller were swayed by passion or prejudice during the trial last year.

Keller claimed the NCAA slandered and libeled him when it announced penalties against Alabama in 2002 by referring to him and others as "rogue boosters," "parasites" and "pariahs."

The NCAA said it never publicly identified Keller, and it portrayed him as a rabid fan who lost all perspective on the game.