Alabama, Texas to vie for national title
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The Alabama Crimson Tide will play the Texas Longhorns in college football's BCS national championship game Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif.
The title matchup was announced Sunday after the final BCS standings were released.
Alabama and Texas were 1-2 in the final BCS standings, released Sunday, the day after winning their conference titles. They will clash for the first time since the 1982 Cotton Bowl.
"This will be a challenging game for us," Alabama Coach Nick Saban said from Birmingham in a Fox Sports television interview.
Alabama (13-0) topped 2009 national champion Florida 32-13 Saturday in the SEC title contest and Texas (13-0) won the Big 12 Conference title, beating Nebraska 13-12 with a 46-yard Hunter Lawrence field goal on the game's final play.
The Longhorns, behind quarterback Vince Young, defeated Southern California 41-38 at the Rose Bowl to win the 2005 national title.
Alabama has not played for college football's top prize since defeating Miami 34-13 in the 1993 Sugar Bowl. That victory gave Alabama the national championship.
Spots 3-10 in the BCS poll were occupied by Cincinnati (12-0), TCU (12-0), Florida (12-1), Boise State (13-0), Oregon (10-2), Ohio State (10-2), Georgia Tech (11-2) and Iowa (10-2).
Other BCS bowl matchups:
-- Oregon (10-2) vs. Ohio State (10-2) in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1 in Pasadena.
-- Florida (12-1) vs Cincinnati (12-0) in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 in New Orleans.
-- Boise State (13-0) vs. TCU (12-0) in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 4 in Glendale, Ariz.
-- Georgia Tech (11-2) vs Iowa (10-2) in the Orange Bowl Jan. 5 in Miami.
Additional bowl games include Oklahoma-Stanford at the Sun Bowl; Nebraska-Arizona at the Holiday Bowl; Virginia Tech-Tennessee at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl; Northwestern-Auburn at the Outback Bowl; LSU-Penn State at the Capital One Bowl; Florida State-West Virginia at the Gator Bowl; Arkansas-East Carolina at the Liberty Bowl; and Oklahoma State-Ole Miss at the Cotton Bowl.
Spain finishes 5-0 Davis Cup victory
BARCELONA, Spain, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Wins by Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer Sunday capped a 5-0 Spain sweep of the Czech Republic, finishing its second straight Davis Cup title.
Spain is the first repeat Davis Cup victor since Sweden in 1998.
Nadal topped Jan Hajek 6-3, 6-4 and Ferrer downed Lukas Dlouhy 6-4, 6-2, making Spain the first nation to win a Davis Cup Final 5-0 since 1997.
The results Sunday had no impact on Spain's victory because the title was wrapped up when Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco won their doubles match over Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek on Saturday, securing the Spaniards' fourth Davis Cup title in 10 years.
"I'm feeling very happy," Spain captain Albert Costa said. "I'm so happy for the whole team. We did an incredible job the whole year."
Nadal, a former World No. 1, missed last year's Davis Cup final win over Argentina with a knee injury.
Knee injury ends Greg Oden's season
PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Injury-prone Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden will miss the rest of the season because of a left-knee injury, General Manager Kevin Pritchard said.
Oden had surgery on the knee Sunday in Vancouver, Wash., the GM said.
The 7-footer suffered a fractured patella (broken kneecap) in the first period of a 90-89 win Saturday over the Houston Rockets and was carted off the floor at Portland's Rose Garden on a gurney.
Oden, after trying to block a shot by Houston's Aaron Brooks, fell and writhed in obvious pain, clutching the knee for several minutes.
"I'm obviously disappointed having worked so hard to get to where I was," Oden said in a statement released by the team. "This is a setback, but I'll be back. It's in God's hands now."
Oden, a first-round pick by the Trail Blazers in the 2007 NBA draft out of Ohio State, missed the 2007-08 season after microfracture surgery on his right knee. He also missed chunks of last season with a foot injury and a fractured left kneecap. In 2006, he had surgery on his right wrist.
Allenby is playoff winner in South Africa
SUN CITY, South Africa, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Robert Allenby won the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, South Africa, Sunday with a two-putt par on the third hole of a playoff with Henrik Stenson.
Allenby shot a 71 and Stenson 69 to tie at 11-under-par 71 in regulation play.
Each parred the first two holes of the playoff. On the third extra hole, Allenby hit his approach shot within 5 feet of the pin and won with two putts after Stenson missed a 30-foot par attempt.
"The only thing in my mind (on the third playoff hole) was hitting my 6-iron straight at the pin, and I hit it absolutely perfectly," Allenby said.
Tim Clark (69) and Ross Fisher (70) tied for third place at 278 and Retief Goosen, who led after three rounds, slipped to a 75 and finished fifth at 279.
