Canes try to make BCS gain
MIAMI, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- If top-ranked Miami hoped to make up ground in the Bowl Championship Series rankings, a win over West Virginia Thursday night will only go so far.
The Hurricanes sought their 16th straight win when they hosted the struggling Mountaineers in a Big East Conference battle of first-year coaches. Miami (5-0, 2-0 Big East) is just fourth in the BCS poll, which sets the pecking order of championship contenders, due to a weak schedule that ranks 92nd out of 117 schools.
The Hurricanes must finish either first or second in the poll to advance to the title game in the Rose Bowl.
"I think the BCS is more for the end of the season than now," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "I think the main thing we have to do is stay focused and do our job and win football games. If we do that, hopefully things will take care of themselves."
West Virginia was 2-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The Mountaineers had allowed 101 points in losing their last three games under coach Rich Rodriguez. Miami has had little trouble under Coker, winning each of its games by at least 22 points.
The Hurricanes last played on Oct. 13 when they stormed to a 49-27 win over Florida State.
Struggling Colts, Chiefs collide
KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The Indianapolis Colts and the Kansas City Chiefs, two struggling teams trying to break three-game losing streaks, sought to get back on track against each other Thursday night.
Colts coach Jim Mora is facing some criticism after his team -- AFC East champions in 1999 and a wild card team in 2000 -- suffered their second embarrasing loss of the season to the New England Patriots last week. The Colts now are 2-3.
The return of Dick Vermeil after a one-year retirement has not been successful for the Chiefs (1-5), who are off to their worst start since they were 1-8-1 under Frank Gansz in 1988.
The game originally was scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but was moved to Thursday night by the NFL, which had to rearrange its schedule so as not to coincide with Game Two of the World Series on Sunday night.
Coleman rejoins Sixers in 3-team deal
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- With a banged-up roster and the regular season quickly approaching, the Philadelphia 76ers are gambling that Derrick Coleman has something left after 11 trying NBA seasons. The 76ers on Thursday re-acquired the enigmatic power forward from the Charlotte Hornets in a blockbuster three-team deal involving seven players.
Coleman spent three turbulent seasons in Philadelphia, never playing more than 59 games because of an assortment of ailments. He eventually became a free agent after the 76ers did not exercise his option following the 1997-98 campaign.
Joining Coleman in Philadelphia will be forward Corie Blount and guard Vonteego Cummings, who come over from the Golden State Warriors.
The 76ers shipped forwards George Lynch, Jerome Moiso and Robert Traylor to the Hornets while dealing forward Cedric Henderson and a conditional first-round draft pick in 2005 to the Warriors.
US withdraws from FedCup finals
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The United States will not take part in the Federation Cup finals next month in Madrid, Spain, due to concerns over the current international crisis, it was announced Thursday.
The United States Tennis Association said the situation created by the recent terrorist attacks made it "inadvisable" for American athletes to compete abroad as a team. The USTA added that the decision to withdraw from the tournament, scheduled for Nov. 7-11, came after input from U.S. captain Billie Jean King, players and government officals.
"We regret that the USTA felt it necessary to withdraw their team from the upcoming Fed Cup World finals," International Tennis Federation president Francesco Ricci Bitti said. "I am certain that the American team is very disappointed that they will not be able to represent their country in this year's Fed Cup World finals but, of course, we respect their concernsSorenstam, Pak advance.
Sorenstam, Pak advance
NARITA, CHIBA, Japan, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Top seeded Annika Sorenstam of Sweden advanced to the second round of the $960,000 World Ladies Match Play Championship Thursday.
Sorenstam, a six-time 2001 LPGA winner, defeated Mineko Nasu from the Japanese LPGA, 3 and 2. Sorenstam will take on Michele Redman in the next round. Redman topped Kasumi Fujii, 2 and 1.
Five-time U.S. LPGA champion Se Ri Pak of Korea held off Michiko Hattori, 2 and 1. Hattori won three straight holes before Pak snapped the tie on No. 12. She faces Janice Moodie, who eased by Japan's Michie Ohba, 4 and 2.
This is the first match-play event in nine years for the LPGA, which called off last week's tournament in Jeju, Korea as a result of the military action taken by the United States and its allies in Afghanistan."
Kournikova continues comeback
LUXEMBOURG, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Anna Kournikova of Russia continued her comeback on a positive note Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals of the $170,000 Seat Open.
Kournikova, seeded fifth, beat Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) for her second straight sets victory. On Tuesday, she posted a 6-4, 7-5 win over Jana Kandaar of Germany.
The wins are the first for Kournikova since returning last month from a left foot stress fracture which sidelined her for most of the season.
Her next opponent will be the winner between top seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium and Italian Rita Grande. Clijsters was a winner here in 1999. She received a first-round bye.
No. 4 seed and 1996 champion Anke Huber of Germany, who announced she will retire after the Australian Open in January, rolled over Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-1, 6-1.
Huber meets American Lisa Raymond in the quarterfinals.
Crew coach gets new contract
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Greg Andrulis, who guided the Columbus Crew to a franchise-record nine-game unbeaten streak during the past season, has agreed to terms on a two-year contract.
After being promoted to coach on May 17, the 43-year-old Andrulis compiled a 12-4-4 record -- including the 7
2 span from July 4-August 19 -- as the Crew earned the No. 4 seed in
the MLS Cup playoffs.
Columbus was knocked from the postseason tournament by San Jose in the quarterfinals
