Miami, Tennessee atop BCS poll
MORRISTOWN, N.J., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Miami remained No. 1 and Tennessee moved up into second place in the next-to-last Bowl Championship Series ratings Monday.
As expected, Miami (11-0), which completed its regular season with a 26-24 win over Virginia Tech, stayed atop the poll with 2.50 points.
Following an impressive 34-32 win at Florida on Saturday, Tennessee (10-1) vaulted six spots to second this week with 4.79 points. The Volunteers can secure a date with Miami in the Rose Bowl if they defeat Louisiana State in the Southeastern Conference title game in Atlanta on Saturday night.
The top two teams in the final BCS poll, which will be released Sunday, will play for the national title in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 3.
An LSU victory on Saturday, however, will give critics of the BCS ample fodder.
Nebraska (11-1), which was humiliated by Colorado, 62-36, on Thanksgiving weekend, could earn the trip to Pasadena should Tennessee lose at the Georgia Dome.
The Cornhuskers rose one spot to third with 8.39 points this week and suddenly find themselves in position to go to Pasadena if they get help from LSU this weekend.
The BCS could be left trying to explain how a team that did not even win its league title could play for the national championship.
Oregon (10-1) is third in the coaches' poll and was thought to be in the national title hunt. But the Ducks are just fifth in the latest BCS poll with 10.44 points and seem to have little chance of making up ground this weekend. A 17-14 win over Oregon State last week did not do enough to boost the Ducks in the latest BCS.
Colorado (10-2), which defeated Texas, 39-37, in the Big 12 Conference title game, is fourth in the BCS with 9.88 points.
Florida (9-2), which was second before last week, fell to sixth this week with 14.645 points.
Arlington gets Breeders Cup
CHICAGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Arlington International Racecourse will host the 2002 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, it was announced Monday, marking the first new venue in years for what has been called the Super Bowl of horse racing.
Arlington, perhaps the plushest racing venue in the United States, will have to add thousands of temporary seats to accommodate the 19th running of the eight-race series, scheduled for Oct. 26. The track is about an hour northwest of Chicago in suburban Arlington Heights, Ill.
"Arlington is an outstanding, world-class racing facility renowned for hosting top-flight international competition and providing its fans with an excellent presentation of Thoroughbred racing," said D.G. Van Clief Jr., president of Breeders' Cup Limited and vice chairman of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
The 2002 series, with $13 million in purse money, had been scheduled for Santa Anita in Southern California, but renovations at the track made the site unsuitable for a major event.
The state of Illinois is contributing $1 million to help bring the event to Arlington.
Packers host Jaguars
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Mark Brunell started his pro career watching Brett Favre from the Green Bay sidelines. Monday night, Brunell got his second shot at his old teacher when his Jacksonville Jaguars took on the Packers.
Brunell was drafted in the fifth round of the 1993 NFL draft by the Packers and served as the club's third quarterback for one season before being elevated to Favre's backup the following campaign.
But looking for a cornerstone for their franchise that started play in 1995, the Jaguars acquired Brunell from the Packers prior to their first season for a pair of draft picks.
In the only previous meeting between the teams in 1995, the Packers posted a 24-14 victory. Favre got the best of Brunell, completing 20-of-30 passes for 202 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Brunell was 16-of-29 for 156 yards and two interceptions.
Brunell will have a tough time besting Favre and the Packers in this contest as Jacksonville (3-7) resides in last place in the AFC Central and has lost seven of its last ei;ght games. Favre has the Packers in second place (8-3) in the NFC Central, one game behind the Chicago Bears.
Beefed-up security for U.S. team
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 3 (UPI) --Soccer players from the United States, which has led the global war against terrorism in Afghanistan, will be under the best security available by South Korean police during next year's World Cup finals, officials said Monday.
Police commandos will be deployed at every stadium, with 1,500 personnel and choppers ready to respond to any terrorist attack, officials said.
Members of the U.S. team will be provided with armed police protection as soon as they arrive in South Korea, the National Police Agency said.
The U.S. team will play Portugal on June 5, South Korea on June 10, and Poland on June 14 at South Korean stadiums in the first round following the draw.
South Korea has agreed with the CIA to seek anti-terror cooperation during the tournament, said a senior official at the South Korean World Cup Organizing Committee's security headquarters.
Panthers name Kennan coach
SUNRISE, Fla., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Having failed to win a round in the playoffs since advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996, the Florida Panthers have turned to Mike Keenan to lead them back to prominence.
Keenan is replacing Duane Sutter, who was fired after recording a 22-35-8-7 record since taking over for Terry Murray on Dec. 28, 2000.
The Panthers are off to a 6-15-2-3 start -- just one point better than the lowest total in the NHL. In addition to the firing of Sutter, Bill Torrey lost the titles of president and general manager and will remain only as governor.
Keenan, 52, coaching his seventh NHL team, is ranked fifth in all-time wins with 539 and fifth in games coached with 1,069. He has won three Presidents' Trophies, six division titles and led teams to the Stanley Cup Finals four times.
Richter chosen NHL player of week
NEW YORK, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- New York Rangers goaltender Mike Richter, who recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time in three years, was named NHL Player of the Week Monday.
Richter ended a personal 143-game shutout drought last Thursday with a 5-0 win over Carolina. He followed with his second straight shutout, a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. It marked the first time Richter recorded consecutive shutouts since Oct.27-30, 1998.
Perhaps Richter's most impressive performance of the week came
last Tuesday when he made a season-high 47 saves in a 2-2 tie
with the Buffalo Sabres.
In his 14th season, all with the Rangers, Richter, the likely choice to be named as the starting goaltender on the U.S. Olympic team, has a 13-5-2 record with a 2.41 goals-against average.
Miami turns to Jackson
MIAMI, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Desperate to inject some offense into his reeling team, Pat Riley has turned to Jim Jackson. The Miami Heat on Monday signed Jackson, the veteran swingman who has averaged 16.8 points in his nine-year NBA career.
Terms were not disclosed.
The 31-year-old Jackson will be joining his eighth team. He played for the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers last season and averaged 11.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists, but shot just 38 percent from the field and spent time on the injured list with plantar fasciaitis in his left foot.
The Heat have lost 11 in a row for the first time in more than a decade and averaged just 81 points in the skid. The team hit rock bottom with losses to Chicago and Washington in its last two games.
Miami has hampered by injuries to Alonzo Mourning, Brian Grant and Rod Strickland. Just three players have appeared in all 15 games.
The 6-6, 220-pound Jackson has averaged at least 11.5 points in eight of his nine seasons in a career which has included stops at Dallas (1992-97), New Jersey (1997), Philadelphia (1997-98), Golden State (1998), Portland (1998-99), Atlanta (1999-2001) and Cleveland (2001).
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Stars GM reported stepping down
FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Bob Gainey, who built the Dallas Stars into an elite NHL franchise, apparently will step down as general manager after this season.
Gainey told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Monday's editions that the three-year contract he signed before last season called for him to serve the first two years as general manager and the third as a team consultant.
"At the end of the year, it will be 10 years in this job with this team, and I had planned on at some point making a change or doing something different and it's time," Gainey told the newspaper. "I had planned it this way, so I'm really just following through on the commitment I had with the Stars."
Gainey said a formal announcement is planned for later this week, when the Stars also will reveal Assistant General Manager Doug Armstrong as Gainey's replacement.
In the past five seasons, the Stars have won five consecutive division titles, two Presidents' Trophies and a Stanley Cup in 1999.
