Football focus on Pac-10
By United Press International
With most of the top-ranked college football teams having what appears to be relatively easy going this weekend, the attention is on the West Coast and the Pac-10.
Often maligned for its underachieving teams, the Pac-10 likely will not produce the national champion this year. But, it may be the most competitive conference in the country as five teams are separated by one-half game in the standings.
A clearer picture may emerge after Saturday as four of the contenders go head-to-head.
No. 11 Washington (6-1, 4-1 Pac-10) hosts No. 13 Stanford (5-1, 4-1), while No. 19 Washington State (7-1, 4-1) entertains No. 11 UCLA (6-1, 3-1) in a battle of teams coming off their first losses.
Oregon (7-1, 4-1), the other conference co-leader, hosts Arizona State in its first appearance at Auzten Stadium since having a school-record 23-game home winning streak snapped.
Meanwhile, four of the five teams atop the coaches poll are playing teams that have won but two of seven games and the fifth has an even bigger mismatch. In those four games, No. 1 Miami (6-0) hosts Temple, No. 2 Nebraska (9-0) is at Kansas, third-ranked Florida (6-1) hosts Vanderbilt and fifth-ranked Texas is at Baylor. No. 4 Oklahoma hosts Tulsa, winner of only one game.
Sixth-ranked Michigan (6-1) visits Michigan State (4-2) and while the Wolverines look like the cream of the Big Ten, intense rivalries such as this can defy the odds. Tennessee, 5-1 and ranked seventh, is at Notre Dame, 3-4 this season but always tough. No. 9 Oregon (7-1) takes on Arizona State (4-3).
Series heads back to desert
PHOENIX, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- It would appear the Arizona Diamondbacks are the snakebitten ones in this year's World Series.
The New York Yankees pulled off two miracle finishes Wednesday and Thursday nights to go ahead in the Series three games to two after seemingly being out of it and now need just one more win to capture their fourth straight world championship.
The Series resumes Saturday in Phoenix.
On Thursday night Scott Brosius hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score, just as Tito Martinez had done the night before. Then, in bottom of the 12 th Alfonso Soriano drove in the winning run, just as Derek Jeter did the night before in the 10th.
Capriati loses in Munich
MUNICH, Germany, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Top seeded Jennifer Capriati lost her quarterfinal match Friday at the season-ending Sanex Championships and also may have squandered her opportunity to finish 2001 with the world No. 1 ranking.
Capriati suffered a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 defeat at the hands of Sandrine Testud of France at the $3 million indoor event.
Capriati entered the tournament just 61 points ahead of compatriot Lindsay Davenport in the WTA rankings. Having won three straight tournaments and advanced to the semifinals here, Davenport appears to have an excellent opportunity to grab No. 1 ranking at year's end.
Testud will face another American in Saturday's semifinals. No. 7 Serena Williams outdueled No. 4 Justine Henin of Belgium, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), to reach the final four.
Davenport, the second seed, and Kim Clijsters of Belgium, the third seed, will square off in Saturday's other semifinal.
Testud beat Capriati for the second time in four weeks after collecting just two wins in their previous eight career encounters.
Cubs acquire Bellhorn
Chicago, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The Chicago Cubs acquired infielder Mark Bellhorn from the Oakland Athletics Friday for minor league infielder Adam Morrissey.
A 27-year-old switch-hitter, Bellhorn has played in 126 games over four of the last five seasons with the Athletics, batting .198 with seven homers and 24 RBI. He has played in 56 games at third base, 32 at second base, nine at shortstop and one in right field.
Bellhorn split the 2001 campaign with Oakland and Class AAA Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League, appearing in 81 games overall. In two stints in the majors, he batted .135 (10-for-74) with one homer and four RBI.
Vols' Woodruff dies
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Bob Woodruff, the athletics director at Tennessee from 1963-85 and former football coach at Florida and Baylor died Thursday night at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. He was 85.
Cause of death was not disclosed.
"I am saddened by the loss of a great man from the University of Tennessee," Tennessee athletics director Doug Dickey said. "Bob Woodruff lived a long and wonderful life and was deeply regarded by those in intercollegiate athletics. He was a wonderful friend and mentor to me, beyond any measure I could ever repay him."
A native of Athens, Ga., Woodruff played tackle at Tennessee under Coach Robert R. Neyland from 1936-38 on teams that went 23-5-3. After serving as an assistant coach at Tennessee, Army and Georgia Tech, Woodruff took over the program at Baylor from 1947-49 and compiled a record of 19-10-2.
Woodruff served as coach at Florida for 10 years from 1950-59 and was 54-42-6. He became the athletics director at Tennessee in 1963 and during his 23-year tenure, the Vols all-sports program became one of the nation's best.
Langer seeks to end long drought
HOUSTON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Bernhard Langer, aiming for his firstr PGA Tour victory in eight years, shared the lead with Frank Licklitter going into Friday's second round of the $5 million season-ending Tour Championship.
Langer and Lickliter each carded a 6-under-par 65 on Thursday.
Langer earned a spot in the elite field despite playing in only 16 events. He finished in the top 10 six times and is 24th on the money list with $1,673,696, four spots ahead of Lickliter, who captured his first career win this year at the Kemper Open in May.
World No. 1 Tiger Woods headlines a field that was limited to the top 30 money winners on the PGA Tour this season. He experienced a scare when he grabbed his back and winced in pain after his drive off the second tee.
Woods, who said he hurt his back Wednesday, got through his round in 1-under 70, leaving him five shots behind the leaders.
Funk ahead at Southern Farm
MADISON, Miss., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Fred Funk got off to a good start in the Soutern Farm Bureau Classic despite an injured hand, the result of a June motorcycle accident.
Funk went into Friday's second round one shot ahead of the field with a 7-under-par 65.
Dicky Pride, Mark Brooks and Cameron Beckman were none stroke back.
SAITAMA, Japan, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Annika Sorenstam, a cinch for LPGA player of the year honors, fired a first-round 66 Friday and is tied with Marisa Baena for the lead after the first round at the Mizuno Classic.
Sorenstam, who has won seven tournaments, defeated Se Ri Pak last week in the first match-play event on the LPGA since 1992. She was attempting to become the first woman to win $2 million. The $162,000 top prize would get her within $9,132 of that goal.
