Sports Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
AUBURN STUCK AT NO. 3 IN BCS POLL The Auburn Tigers are still stuck behind no. 1 USC and no. 2 Oklahoma in the BCS standings released yesterday. If USC (11-0) wins at UCLA on Saturday and Oklahoma (11-0) beats Colorado in the Big XII title game, the Trojans and Sooners will likely play for the BCS championship in the Orange Bowl on January 4.That would leave Auburn (11-0) out, no matter what it does against Tennessee in the SEC title game in Atlanta.
Utah (11-0), which finished its season two weeks ago, remained sixth in the latest standings and is positioned to become the first team from outside the BCS conferences to play in one of the four big-dollar bowl games.
California (.8431) barely held on to the fourth spot, ahead of Texas (.8418), after the Longhorns ended their season with a 26-13 victory over Texas A &M last week. The Golden Bears will lock up an at-large spot in the BCS by beating Southern Mississippi on Saturday. Texas is again on the verge of being left out of the BCS, despite being ranked among the top teams.
Boise State (.6510) dropped from seventh to eighth in the BCS standings. The Broncos (11-0), from the Western Athletic Conference, are trying to join Utah in the top six and grab a spot in one of the four bowl games worth more than $14 million.
SYRACUSE’S FERRI IS OFFENSIVE, DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK Syracuse strong safety Diamond Ferri made Big East history yesterday, becoming the first player in conference history to be named both top offensive and defensive player in the same week.
Ferri led the Orange (6-5) to the stunning 43-17 upset Saturday over then-No. 17 Boston College (8-3) that gave Syracuse a share of the Big East title at 4-2. Ferri replaced injured teammate Damien Rhodes at tailback in the first quarter. On offense, he rushed for 141 yards on 28 carries and scored two touchdowns. Defensively, he made six tackles and returned an interception 44 yards for another score.
BOWDEN TO FACE FORMER TEAM IN GATOR BOWL Florida State coach Bobby Bowden will face his former team for the first time in more than two decades when the 16th-ranked Seminoles play West Virginia in the Gator Bowl. The Mountaineers (8-3) accepted an invitation to the January 1 bowl yesterday, and bowl officials said Florida State (8-3) would be named the opponent today.
Bowden coached at West Virginia from 1970 -75. He took over at Florida State in January 1976 and now has the most coaching victories (350) in Division I-A history.
West Virginia will be making a second straight trip to the Gator Bowl. The Mountaineers were the front-runners to earn the Big East’s guaranteed BCS bid before their 36-17 loss to Boston College two weeks ago. West Virginia ended the regular season with 16-13 loss to Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving night.
STANFORD FIRES TEEVENS Stanford football coach Buddy Teevens was fired yesterday after three straight losing seasons. The Cardinal finished 4-7 for the second straight year. Stanford lost 41-6 to archrival California in the Big Game last weekend for its fifth straight defeat, ending a season that began 4-2 with hopes of a bowl game. The 48-year-old Teevens finished with a 10-23 record in three seasons after taking over the program when Tyrone Willingham left for Notre Dame following the 2001 season.
ACC ISSUES SUSPENSIONS FOR BRAWL Six Clemson players and six South Carolina players were suspended one game by their conferences yesterday for brawling during a game between the in-state rivals November 20. Both schools declined bowl invitations last week as punishment for their teams.
Clemson’s Duane Coleman, Nathan Bennett, Brandon Cannon, Roman Fry, Maurice Nelson, and Anthony Waters were suspended. Four other Clemson players will receive letters of reprimand: Cory Groover, Tommy Sharpe, Nick Watkins, and Bobby Williamson.
PRO FOOTBALL
GIANTS’ WILEY DONE FOR SEASON Giants defensive end Chuck Wiley will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Wiley, who was signed earlier this month after Michael Strahan and Keith Washington were lost for the season with injuries, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia.
Defensive tackle Norman Hand had an MRI yesterday to examine the extent of a groin injury he suffered on Sunday. Coach Tom Coughlin said the Giants would probably have to sign another lineman for this weekend’s game at Washington.
BEARS SIGN GEORGE TO ONE-YEAR PACT Jeff George signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears yesterday, returning to the NFL after a three-year absence. George will be the backup to Chad Hutchinson, who will make his first start in two years against Minnesota on Sunday.
George developed a reputation as spoiled and petulant, and his problems with coaches have overshadowed his considerable talent. He was the no. 1 pick in the 1990 NFL draft, and has one of the strongest arms in the game. But he’s 46-78 as a starter, and has played for six teams, not lasting longer than four years with any one of them. George hasn’t played since 2001, when he was cut after two games with the Redskins.
CRUMPLER SIGNS EXTENSION WITH FALCONS The Atlanta Falcons agreed to a six-year contract extension for tight end Alge Crumpler yesterday, one day after he caught the winning touchdown pass in a victory over New Orleans.
Except for Michael Vick, no one is more vital to the Falcons’ offense than Crumpler, who leads the team with 43 receptions for 709 yards and six touchdowns. Terms of the contract were not immediately released.
BASEBALL
METS REPORTEDLY TOP RED SOX’ OFFER TO MARTINEZ The Mets have offered Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez a three-year guaranteed contract worth approximately $38 million with an option for a fourth year, the New York Times reported yesterday. The offer is more lucrative than the two-year guaranteed contract worth $25.5 million that the Red Sox offered their longtime ace.
STRAWBERRY, BOGGS AMONG HALL NOMINEES Five-time AL batting champion Wade Boggs, eight-time All-Star Darryl Strawberry, and two-time NL batting champion Willie McGee are among 12 players who will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. Also among the newcomers are Chili Davis, Jack McDowell, Jeff Montgomery, and Mark Langston. Ryne Sandberg, Bruce Sutter, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson, and Rich Gossage head the returning players on the ballots.
YANKEES CLOSE TO DEAL WITH FLAHERT Y Backup catcher John Flaherty is close to an agreement with the Yankees in what is likely to be the team’s first free agent signing of the off-season. Second baseman Miguel Cairo also wants to return to the Yankees. His negotiations, however, have not progressed as far.
Flaherty hit .252 in 127 at-bats with six homers and 16 RBI. He made $775,000 and his new deal was likely to be for a salary between that and $1 million.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
ACC TIES RECORD WITH SEVEN RANKED TEAMS Virginia moved into the Associated Press’s college basketball Top 25 yesterday, giving the Atlantic Coast Conference a record-tying seven teams in the poll.
Wake Forest extended its lead at no. 1, the Cavaliers were no. 24, and there were five other conference schools in between, matching the feat accomplished twice by the Big Ten and once by the ACC.
The other ranked ACC teams are no. 4 Georgia Tech, no. 9 North Carolina, no. 10 Duke, no. 12 Maryland, and no. 16 North Carolina State. Gonzaga and Memphis dropped out of the Top 25.
HODGE LEADS N.C. STATE OVER PURDUE Julius Hodge had 22 points to offset some horrible shooting by his teammates, leading no. 16 North Carolina State to a 60-53 victory over Purdue last night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Hodge added eight rebounds and five assists, while Ilian Evtimov scored 12 points and Cameron Bennerman had 11 for N.C. State.
In other Top 25 action last night, no. 18 Texas beat Coppin State 86-50, no. 6 Oklahoma State topped SMU 76-57, and no. 2 Kansas routed Nevada 85-52.
– Associated Press