UPI NewsTrack Sports

It'll be Sabathia vs. Lee in Series opener

NEW YORK, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- CC Sabathia starts for the New York Yankees and former teammate Cliff Lee starts for Philadelphia Wednesday in the opening game of the 2009 World Series.

The first two games of the best-of-seven set will be in Yankee Stadium.

Sabathia and Lee, lefthanders, were once teammates with the Cleveland Indians and both won the American League Cy Young Award.

The Yankees reached the series by winning the American League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Angels 4-2. The defending series champion Phillies knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 in the NLCS.

Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-50s, and the conditions could be wet for the first two contests, with more rain in the picture when the series moves to Philadelphia for Game 3.

The Yankees have 26 World Series titles, Philadelphia has two.

The two clubs met for a three-game inter-league series in May with Philadelphia winning .

twice.

Sabathia won the Cy Young Award in 2007 and Lee won it in 2008.

Texas narrows gap at top of rankings

MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Texas received additional first-place votes this week but couldn't displace top-rated Florida and Alabama in the USA Today Coaches' football poll.

The Longhorns (7-0) were impressive in a 41-7 win at Missouri and pulled in four first-place votes in the poll released Monday. Previously Texas had one first-place vote.

Texas remained ranked No. 3, however, with 1,390 points, narrowing the gap with No. 1 Florida (7-0), which got 46 first-place votes and 1,459 points, and No. 2 Alabama (8-0), which was first on nine ballots and has 1,399 points.

Southern California (6-1) remained ranked No. 4 with Boise State (7-0) keeping the No. 5 spot.

Texas Christian (7-0) is sixth, switching places with Cincinnati (7-0), which dropped to seventh. Iowa (8-0) is again No. 8 ahead of Louisiana (6-1) and Penn State (7-1).

Georgia Tech (7-1) and Oregon (6-1) each improved two slots to Nos. 11 and 12, respectively, and are ahead of No. 13 Oklahoma State (6-1) as Virginia Tech (5-2) is 14th and Ohio State (6-2) is 15th.

Houston (6-1) moved up to 16th and Pittsburgh (7-1) is No. 17. Miami (Fla.), (5-2) which lost to Clemson, dropped from ninth to 18th. Utah (6-1) and West Virginia (6-1) complete the Top 20.

South Carolina (6-2) is ranked No. 21 ahead of, in order, Mississippi (5-2), Oklahoma (4-3), Arizona (5-2) and Notre Dame (5-2).

Oklahoma, Arizona and Notre Dame weren't ranked last week while Brigham Young, Kansas and Texas Tech dropped out of the Top 25.

Safina returns to No. 1 world ranking

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Dinara Safina regained the world No. 1 women's tennis ranking and the Williams sisters both saw their ratings slip.

The WTA women's Top 10 underwent major changes -- only three players are ranked the same as they were last week -- with the tour starting its $4.6 million Sony Ericsson Championships Monday in Doha, Qatar.

Safina has been in a slump in which she has lost four of her last seven matches. That cost her the No. 1 ranking about a month ago but Monday she moved back ahead of Serena Williams, now at No. 2, by 155 ratings points.

Svetlana Kuznetsova retained the world No. 3 ranking but Caroline Wozniacki jumped two spots to a career-best No. 4. Elena Dementieva is again ranked No. 5.

Victoria Azarenka also improved two places and is ranked sixth in the world, which is a career mark for her. Venus Williams, with losses in two of her three matches since the U.S. Open, fell from fourth to seventh.

Jelena Jankovic, who sewed up the final spot at Doha last week, went from ninth to eighth with No. 9-ranked Vera Zvonareva just missing an invitation to Doha by five rankings points. Agnieszka Radwanska remained ranked No. 10 this week.

College player critically hurt in shooting

HAMPTON, Va., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Hampton University basketball player Theo Smalling is in critical condition after an accidental shooting in Hampton, Va., the university said.

Hampton University confirmed on its Web site the 22-year-old senior was hurt in an accident last weekend, the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press said Monday

Hampton Police Department spokeswoman Paula Ensley said 21-year-old Dominique Devon Smith is facing charges for reckless handling of a firearm in connection with Saturday's shooting.

The Daily Press said Hampton University men's basketball Coach Ed Joyner offered a statement regarding the "unfortunate" incident that left his team captain critically injured.

"Theo is a wonderful young man and the leader of his team. Please continue to pray for him, his family and the team. He is a strong young man and fighting for his life," Joyner said. "It is unfortunate that this has happened to such a great young man."

Additional information regarding the shooting and Smalling's injuries was not reported.