Sports 2000

Alabama clinched the Southeastern Conference’s West Division crown Saturday by scoring 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally past LSU, 24-15, in Tuscaloosa. Third-ranked Alabama improved to 9-0, 6-0 in conference play while #9 LSU dropped to 7-2, 4-2. Notre Dame lost at home to Navy for the second consecutive time as the #22 Fighting Irish (6-3) were stunned, 23-21, by the Midshipmen (7-3).

Iowa’s perfect record was shockingly ended when the #4 Hawkeyes (9-1, 5-1 in the Big Ten) were upset at home by Northwestern (6-4, 3-3), 17-10. Sixteenth-rated Ohio State (8-2, 5-1) is tied with Iowa atop the Big Ten after winning at Penn State (8-2, 4-2), 24-7. Eighth-ranked Oregon (7-2, 5-1) dropped its first Pac-10 game, 51-42, at Stanford (6-3, 4-2). Twentieth-rated California (6-3, 3-3) couldn’t keep pace in the conference, losing 31-14, at home against Oregon State (6-3, 4-2).

Phil Mickelson won the WGC Champions in Shanghai. Mickelson claimed his second Champions in three years by one shot over Ernie Els, who fired a 63 Sunday. Tiger Woods managed only an even-par 72 in the final round to finish five strokes behind Mickelson.

Bo Bae Song won the LPGA tournament in Japan. Lorena Ochoa, Brittany Lang and Hee Young Park tied for second, three strokes behind Song. Chicago defeated visiting New England, 2-0, in the second leg of its MLS Eastern Conference semifinal and won the aggregate, 3-2.

Kyle Busch won the Nationwide Series race in Fort Worth today, one day after he also won the truck series race. Fedor Emelianenko (31-1) knocked out Brett Rogers (10-1) in the second round of their Strikeforce heavyweight bout Saturday.

David Haye (23-1, 21 knockouts) won the WBA heavyweight championship by majority decision over champion Nikolai Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) in Germany tonight. One judge scored the bout even, 114-114. The other two judges awarded the fight to Haye, 116-112, who was in his third heavyweight fight after a career as a cruiserweight.

Saskatchewan routed visiting Calgary, 30-14, in a CFL game. Both teams finished the regular season 10-7-1 and tied atop the Western Division. However, Saskatchewan’s 2-0-1 record against Calgary this year means the Rough Riders are the division’s number-one seed. Meanwhile, Montreal (15-3) hammered host Toronto (3-15).

Texas Christian crushed Brigham Young, 35-13, in today’s only game pitting two top-20 college football teams. The #8 Horned Frogs (7-0, 3-0) took control of the Mountain West Conference by dismantling the #16 Cougars (6-2, 3-1) in Provo. TCU also hopes to earn a BCS bid by remaining undefeated.

Saturday’s biggest upset was Clemson (4-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) outlasting host #10 Miami (5-2, 2-2), 40-37, in overtime. Kansas lost its second straight Big 12 contest as the #25 Jayhawks (5-2, 1-2) were humbled in Lawrence by Oklahoma (4-3, 2-1), 35-13. No other top 25 team lost today.

Rain postponed Game 6 of the American League Championship Series between New York and Los Angeles. The game at Yankee Stadium has been rescheduled for Sunday.

Michael Jonzon leads after 54 holes of the Castello Masters. Troy Matteson fired consecutive rounds of 61 to claim a two-stroke advantage at the PGA Tour stop in Scottsdale. Matteson’s combined 122 for yesterday and today is the lowest-ever 36 hole score in a PGA Tour event.

Andy Bean and Russ Cochran share the lead entering the final round of the Champions Tour event in San Antonio. Cochran was also a first-round co-leader. The other Friday co-leader, Keith Clearwater, struggled to a three-over par 74 Saturday. Clearwater fell into a tie for 17th place.

Saskatchewan (9-6-1) earned a CFL playoff berth by edging British Columbia (8-8), 33-30, in Regina Saturday. Winnipeg (7-9) upset visiting Montreal (13-3), 41-24.

Brad Keselowski won the Nationwide Series race in Martinsville. Lyoto Machida successfully defended his UFC light-heavyweight belt with a unanimous decision over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Machida won the five-round fight on all three judges’ cards, 48-47. Many onlookers thought Rua won the match. In the co-main event, Cain Velasquez maintained his perfect mixed martial arts record by knocking out Ben Rothwell 58 seconds into the second round of their heavyweight match.

Florida will remain number one in college football after surviving at LSU, 13-3. Tim Tebow wasn’t quite himself in his first action since suffering a concussion two weeks ago. However, Tiger quarterback Jeremy Jefferson was constantly pressured. LSU was never able to generate a sustained offensive attack.

Florida’s SEC rival, #3 Alabama, remained unbeaten after dismanting #20 Mississippi’s vaunted offense, featuring quarterback Jevan Snead, en route to a 22-3 triumph in Oxford. The biggest upset of the day was #17 Auburn’s humbling loss at Arkansas, 44-23.

The United States will take a 12.5-9.5 lead into the heads-up matches Sunday. The U.S. won Saturday morning’s foursome matches, 3.5-1.5. The International team managed to split the afternoon fourball contests, 2.5-2.5, but couldn’t trim its deficit. There will be 12 one-on-one games tomorrow.

Los Angeles defeated St. Louis, 5-1, to sweep its National League Division Series. The Dodgers scored four runs in four innings off Cardinal starter Joel Pineiro. Los Angeles starter Vicente Padilla pitched seven scoreless innings to get the win. The Philadelphia-Colorado game was postponed to Sunday due to snow in Denver.

British Columbia (7-7) won at Edmonton (6-8), 34-31, and Saskatchewan (8-6) defeated visiting Toronto (3-11), 32-22, in CFL games this weekend. Florida crushed New York, 35-13, in Orlando at the second-ever United Football League game. Las Vegas beat guest California, 30-17, Thursday.

Ross McGowan fired a 60 to take a commanding seven-shot lead into the final round of the Madrid Masters. Joey Logano won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Fontana tonight.

Dario Franchitti won the IndyCar season-ending race in Homestead to earn his second series title in three years. Franchitti skipped the IRL in 2008 to pursue an ill-fated NASCAR career. Scott Dixon started the day in the lead but finished the race in third and came second overall. Ryan Briscoe, the event runner-up, was third in the season points standings.