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Texas back to No. 2 behind Florida

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Texas returned to the No. 2 spot in the USA Today Coaches' football poll released Monday, pushing Alabama back to No. 3.

Texas (8-0) was impressive in a win at Oklahoma State and kept its four first-place votes. Alabama (8-0) didn't play last week but saw four of its first-place votes migrate to No. 1 Florida (8-0), switches that allowed Texas to move back to No. 2.

Florida has 50 of the 59 first-place votes while Alabama pulled in five and Texas four. The biggest influence on the poll, however, was Southern Cal's loss to Oregon.

Texas Christian (8-0) improved two places to No. 4, where USC had been. The Horned Frogs leap-frogged No. 5 Boise State (8-0). Iowa (9-0) is also up two places to No. 6 and Cincinnati (8-0) kept its No. 7 ranking. Oregon (7-1) jumped from 12th to eighth, ahead of No. 9 Louisiana State (7-1), which goes against Alabama this week, and 10th-ranked Penn State.

Georgia Tech (8-1) remains No. 11, with Ohio State (7-2) going from 15th to 12th and USC (6-2), down nine spots to 13th. Pittsburgh (7-1) is No. 14 and Houston (7-1) 15th.

Utah (7-1) is placed at No. 16 followed by, in order, Miami (Fla.) (6-2), Oklahoma State (6-2), Arizona (5-2) and No. 20 Oklahoma (5-3).

Notre Dame (6-2) is No. 21 with 22nd-rated Wisconsin (6-2), No. 23 California (6-2), 24th-rated Virginia Tech (5-3) and No. 25 Brigham Young (6-2) completing the poll.

Wisconsin, California and Brigham Young returned to the Top 25 this week while West Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi dropped off.

Serena Williams retakes No. 1 ranking

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Serena Williams, finishing off her most lucrative year in women's tennis with a win at the Sony Ericsson Championships, is again ranked No. 1 in the world.

Williams bested sister Venus Williams 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) Sunday and completed an undefeated run through the championships in Doha, Qatar. That earned her a check for $1.55 million and pushed her 2009 winnings to $6.19 million.

She is the first woman to top $6 million in a year. The previous WTA record was $5.43 million by Justine Henin in 2007.

The win also returned Williams to the No. 1 ranking, displacing Dinara Safina, who narrowly moved to No. 1 last Monday. But Safina was unable to complete, outside of part of one match, at Doha because of a back injury. She'll end the year No. 2.

Svetlana Kuznetsova held onto her No. 3 ranking with the standings of No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki and No. 5 Elena Dementieva also unchanged.

Venus Williams is up one spot to No. 6, switching places with new No. 7 Victoria Azarenka. Jelena Jankovic is ranked eighth ahead of No. 9 Vera Zvonareva and No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska.

Judge approves transfer of Coyotes to NHL

PHOENIX, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A U.S. bankruptcy court judge Monday signed an agreement transferring ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes to the National Hockey League.

The deal, which was approved by Bankruptcy Judge Redfield Baum, opens the door for the Coyotes to emerge from bankruptcy and gives the league until the end of the year to find a buyer who will keep the team in Phoenix, the Arizona Republic reported.

The NHL bought the troubled franchise six months ago for $140 million.

The agreement on the sale process was reached last week but required Baum's formal approval, NHL.com said.

Former Heat center Alan Ogg dead at 42

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Former pro basketball player Alan Ogg has died in Birmingham, Ala., of a staph infection at the age of 42, hospital officials said.

Ogg died Sunday after checking into the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital with the infection, authorities said.

Ogg played three seasons for the Miami Heat, which observed a moment of silence Sunday in Miami before its game against the Chicago Bulls, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Monday.

Ogg also played for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Washington Wizards, averaging 2.2 points and 1.7 rebounds during his career.

He remains the University of Alabama at Birmingham's career leader with 266 shots blocked during four seasons of college play.