UPI NewsTrack Sports

BCS poll unchanged at 1-2

IRVING, Texas, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Alabama and Texas Tech again were 1-2 when the latest BCS college football poll was released Sunday afternoon.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide (10-0) escaped with a 27-21 overtime victory against SEC foe LSU, the reigning national champion, and their victory clinched the SEC West Division.

The Red Raiders (10-0) clocked Oklahoma State 56-20 in a key Big 12 Conference battle.

BCS spots 3-10 were manned by Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Southern California, Utah, Penn State, Boise State and Georgia.

The Nittany Lions fell from third to eighth after their 24-23 upset loss to Big Ten foe Iowa.

Dangers lurk for the top teams, with Alabama scheduled to play archrival Auburn Nov. 29, and Tech facing BCS No. 5 Oklahoma Nov. 22.

After a complicated ratings system, the top two schools play Jan. 8 in Miami for the national title.

Johnson wins Phoenix auto race

PHOENIX, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Jimmie Johnson closed in on a third straight points championship Sunday, winning the Sprint Cup Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Sprint Cup race in Phoenix.

The end of the race was delayed by a late caution flag, but Johnson, the pole-winner, led 217 of 313 laps.

Johnson needs only a 36th place finish at the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead, Fla., to win his third straight points title next Sunday.

His No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet beat Jamie McMurray and a hard-charging Kurt Busch to the checkered flag for his seventh win this season and the 40th of his career.

"That's great ... very, very good," he said in a post-race television interview. "I know we'll have the speed to do it, but we just need things to go our way and not have anything crazy to happen."

In the "Race for the Chase," Johnson holds a 141-point lead over fourth-place finisher Carl Edwards.

Denny Hamlin finished fifth.

Davis Love III claims 20th PGA Tour win

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Davis Love III fired an 8-under-par 64 Sunday to win the Children's Miracle Network Classic in Florida, his 20th victory on the PGA Tour.

Love completed the event -- the last of the season on the tour -- with a score of 263, 25 strokes under par.

The victory earned the veteran player a lifetime exemption on the tour.

Tommy Gainey finished second, a stroke behind Love. Gainey also closed with a 64.

Scott Verplank and Steve Marino both shot 71 and shared third place at 20-under 208.

Love's win was his first in two years.

"I've been out here grinding, trying to get a win," Love said. "I can't believe it happened. I'm excited to get it in."

Players defend Rafael Nadal

SHANGHAI, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Several players defended the decision of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal not to play in the men's season-ending Masters Cup tennis tournament.

The Spaniard announced last week that he would not compete at the event in Shanghai, citing fatigue tendinitis in his right knee.

The event started Sunday.

"The organizers are not happy," Serbia's Novak Djokovic, the third seed, noted, but said Nadal's decision was "totally understandable."

"Rafa has earned every right to pick and choose what he wants to prioritize," agreed American Andy Roddick. "He's also responsible to his teammates and his country."

Spain is to play Argentina in the Davis Cup final starting Nov. 16, but Nadal has not said anything about his playing status for that matchup.