Daytona 500 put off until Monday night
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Poor weather conditions in Florida led race officials to push the start of the Daytona 500, already delayed by a day, to Monday night.
The race was scheduled for Sunday but persistent rains led to a postponement until noon EST Monday. By midmorning Monday, however, officials decided conditions wouldn't be good until much later.
The race was rescheduled for a 7 p.m. EST start.
"While we're suspending the start from noon to 7 ET, we're not suspending our efforts," NASCAR President Mike Helton said via Twitter. "We'll be working all day."
Carl Edwards will start at the pole position, leading a field of 43 cars.
Trevor Bayne won the 2011 edition of the Daytona 500.
U.S. downhiller Bode Miller out for season
CRANS MONTANA, Switzerland, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- American downhill racer Bode Miller will miss the rest of the World Cup season because of a knee injury, the U.S. Ski Association said Monday.
The five-time Olympic medalist hurt his left knee earlier this month.
Miller had arthroscopic surgery after competing in Bansko, Bulgaria, Feb. 18-19, but it was determined he would require another procedure after experiencing further discomfort during the World Cup races during the weekend at Crans Montana, Switzerland.
"The plan was to come back and race in Crans Montana but I couldn't get the range of motion that I needed out of my knee to be competitive," Miller said.
The U.S. star injured the knee in Sochi, Russia, the week before his surgery.
"We thought if I rested a few more days things would come around, but it didn't happen," he said."
The U.S. Ski Association said in a written statement that Miller would continue training this winter but would not compete in the World Cup.
Miller is 10th in the men's overall cup point standings and fourth in the downhill standings.
Kentucky, Syracuse still 1-2 in poll
MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Kentucky is a unanimous No. 1 and Syracuse is second in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll as college basketball heads into the final week of the regular season.
It is the sixth consecutive week that the Wildcats (28-1) receive all 31 first-place votes in the poll. It is the third straight week the Orange (29-1) got all the votes for the second spot.
Only one other team -- No. 15 Wisconsin -- retains the same position it had in last week's poll but only three teams moved as many as five spots. Missouri drops five places and Florida State six after 0-2 weeks. New Mexico, another 0-2 team last week, falls out of the rankings.
Wichita State rises five rungs this week to 14th while Missouri Valley rival Creighton returns to the rankings after a week out of the Top 25.
Duke (25-4) is in the No. 3 spot, with Kansas (24-5) in fourth Michigan State (24-5) at fifth and North Carolina (25-4) at No. 6. Michigan State's schedule includes Indiana and Ohio State this week and Duke plays at North Carolina Saturday.
Marquette (24-5) is voted in at No. 7 ahead of Missouri (25-4) and Murray State (28-1). Baylor (24-5) comes in at 10th.
Ohio State (23-6) slips to 11th and Georgetown (21-6) is down four to No. 12 ahead of a week in which it plays ranked foes Notre Dame and Marquette. Florida (22-7) is only two poll points ahead of No. 14 Wichita State (26-4) with Wisconsin (21-8) next.
Michigan (21-8) is down three to 16th and Nevada-Las Vegas (24-6) is up three to No. 17. The 18th place belongs to Louisville (22-7) while Notre Dame (20-9) is 19th and Indiana (22-7) takes the 20th place.
St. Mary's (Calif.) (25-5) goes from 23rd to 21st this week and Florida State (19-9) settles in at 22nd. San Diego State (22-6) is 23rd with Creighton (25-5) returning at No. 24 and Temple (22-6) in at 25th.
Mahan cracks golf Top 10
VIRGINIA WATER, England, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Hunter Mahan's match-play victory lifted him into the Top 10 of the men's world golf rankings and kept Rory McIlroy from grabbing the No. 1 spot.
Mahan defeated McIlroy 2-and-1 Sunday in winning the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. It was his fourth PGA title.
It also puts him ninth in the rankings after starting the week ranked No. 22.
His move into the Top 10 shifts Phil Mickelson from ninth to 11th.
Also improving his position was Dustin Johnson, who goes from 10th to No. 7.
But McIlroy remains No. 2. He and world No. 3 Lee Westwood met in the match play semifinal, with both having a chance to take the No. 1 ranking with a win in the finals. Mahan got in the way, however, and Luke Donald is still on top of the rankings.
Donald, who has a ranking average of 9.131, has been No. 1 for 40 weeks. McIlroy's average is 8.598 and Westwood is at 8.170.
Martin Kaymer is fourth with an average of 6.016, with Steve Stricker (5.805) and Webb Simpson (5.135) again in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Johnson has an average of 5.111 and Adam Scott stays in eighth with 5.052, not far ahead of Mahan's 5.030, but Jason Day, down from eighth to 10th, is at 5.012.
