NASHVILLE, Dec. 28 -- West Virginia claims Music City Bowl Brad Lewis threw five touchdowns passes today and West Virginia survived a 22-point fourth-quarter by Mississippi to down the Rebels in the Music City Bowl, 49-38.
The Music City Bowl was one of four post-season contests on today's schedule and West Virginia ran away with it, opening a 49-9 lead before Mississippi put on a late flurry.
In Boise, Bart Hendricks accounted for four touchdowns to help coach Dirk Koetter end his tenure at Boise State with a victory as the Broncos downed Texas-El Paso in the Humanitarian Bowl, 38-23.
Koetter, who will take over at Arizona State next year, produced a 26-10 record in three seasons at the helm of Boise State (10-2), including last year's 34-31 Humanitarian Bowl victory over Louisville.
The Miners, who were seeking their first bowl win in 33 years, finished at 8-4.
Also being played tonight are the Insight.com Bowl between Iowa State and Pittsburgh and the Micronpc.com Bowl between North Carolina State and Minnesota.
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Panthers fire coach, GM With one win in their last 15 games and an abysmal 6-18-7-5 record, the Florida Panthers today fired long-time general manager Bryan Murray and coach Terry Murray.
Team president Bill Torrey will take over as general manager and he named Duane Sutter as coach.
Sutter, 40, was in his third season as a scout with the Panthers. He is one of six Sutter brothers to play in the NHL and becomes the third to coach. Darryl Sutter is the coach of the San Jose Sharks and Brian Sutter was fired as coach of the Calgary Flames after the 1999-2000 season.
Florida's total of six wins is four fewer than any other team. The Panthers are tied with the Montreal Canadiens with a league-worst 24 points and are 1-11-3 since Nov. 29 and winless in their last six at 0-5-1.
Since Florida opened the season with an 0-5-3 record, fans have been clamoring for the dismissal of the Murray brothers. On Wednesday night, the boos continued to cascade down on the Panthers during a 5-2 loss to Philadelphia, dropping their home record to 2-12-3.
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Red Wings re-acquire Larionov Less than six months after losing Igor Larionov to free agency, the Detroit Red Wings today re-acquired the 40-year-old Russian center from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Yan Golubovsky.
Larionov spent the last five seasons with the Red Wings, helping them win Stanley Cup championships in 1997 and 1998. But he bolted Detroit to sign a two-year, $3.8 million contract with the Panthers on July 1, reuniting him with superstar countryman Pavel Bure after the two played for the Vancouver Canucks in the early 1990s.
Injuries forced Larionov to miss 10 games for the Panthers and his short tenure in the Sunshine State ended in disappointment. He recorded just five goals and six assists in 26 games as the team's season total of six wins in 31 games forced today's firing of coach Terry Murray and general manager Bryan Murray.
With his return to Detroit, Larionov will provide depth at center behind countryman Sergei Fedorov, who is ninth in the league in scoring with 42 points, and captain Steve Yzerman, who missed the season's first 25 games with a knee injury.
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Players scrap on Bourbon Street Players from the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators reportedly became involved in a fight in the French Quarter late Wednesday night.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, numerous players from Miami and Florida scuffled and two were briefly detained by police on the first night both teams were in town preparing for their Sugar Bowl showdown.
No charges or reports were filed and coaches Butch Davis of Miami and Steve Spurrier of Florida downplayed the incident today at their media briefings.
According to the Sentinel, an unidentified Miami player dumped a drink on Gators receiver Reche Caldwell. That caused about 40 players to engage in a scuffle before a police car scattered the players and sealed off a portion of Bourbon Street.
However, a short time later, the players converged again and another confrontation ensued at the corner of Bourbon and Conti, in front of and inside a pizzeria.
Second-ranked Miami (10-1) will play No. 7 Florida (10-2) in the Sugar Bowl on January 2. It is the first meeting between the state rivals since 1987.
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Wizards suspend Rod Strickland Washington Wizards point guard Rod Strickland has not liked what club president Michael Jordan has been saying about the floundering franchise. But that did not give him an excuse to miss the better part of two practices.
Jordan, who has been outspoken of late during the Wizards' franchise-worst 5-24 start, today suspended Strickland for Friday's game at Miami for arriving late for practice on Tuesday and failing to show up at all today.
"Prior to the season, I told our players that they would be held accountable for their actions and that they would have very specific rules to follow," Jordan said. "Rod Strickland has violated those rules and he has therefore been suspended for Friday's game."
Strickland, 34, did not start in Wednesday's 89-82 loss to the Knicks because he arrived late to practice on Tuesday. He finished with five points in 18 minutes.
0- the slumping Utah Jazz, who have dropped three straight at home, will be without starting guard John Starks tonight when they host the Portland Trail Blazers.
Starks, Utah's fourth-leading scorer at 9.9 points per game, was suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules.
A Utah spokesman would not elaborate on the reason for the suspension but indicated that Starks would return for Friday's game against the Golden State Warriors.
Starks, 35, signed a two-year contract with the Jazz in the offseason.
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Coyotes sale delayed agani An extension agreement has been reached for the oft-delayed sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to a group headed by Steve Ellman and Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky.
Ellman, a Phoenix-area real estate developer, reached an agreement to purchase the team from owner Richard Burke for $87 million some eight months ago, but the sale was delayed until Ellman secured a $60 million loan.
Approval was granted unanimously, pending the closing of the transaction.
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Rangers trade for Gusarov The New York Rangers, who have allowed more goals than any team in the NHL, today made a move to shore up their defense by acquiring veteran Alexei Gusarov from the Colorado Avalanche for a fifth-round pick in the 2001 draft.
Gusarov, who has spent his entire 10-year career with the Quebec/Colorado organization and was a member of the Avalanche's 1995-1996 Stanley Cup championship team, has registered a plus or even in eight of his 10 seasons with an overall plus-57 rating.
"Alexei is a proven, veteran defenseman who adds depth and experience to our defense," Rangers general manager Glen Sather said. "He skates and moves the puck well and is a valuable addition for us on the blue line."
Sather has been shopping for a defenseman since free agent addition Vladimir Malakhov suffered a season-ending torn ACL in October.
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Chargers zero in on Butler Chances appear to have improved that former Buffalo Bills general manager John Butler will join the San Diego Chargers in a similar capacity.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that a meeting Wednesday night in Denver between Butler and Chargers president Dean Spanos went well.
"I thought it was very positive, a very good meeting," Spanos said. "We talked about a lot of things; there were a lot of things I heard that I liked."
Butler, who worked for the Chargers in the 1980s as a scout, was the Bills player personnel director from 1988-1993.
If hired by San Diego, he would replace the retired Bobby Beathard.
