Texas, Texas Tech Vote to Join the Big Eight

After saying thanks for the memories, regents of the University of Texas and Texas Tech voted unanimously Friday to join Texas A&M; and Baylor in bolting the Southwest Conference and joining the Big Eight.

The exodus will leave the 80-year-old SWC with only four members--Rice, Southern Methodist, Houston and Texas Christian--when the new “Big 12” begins play in 1996. But SWC officials say they already are talking with potential new members.

Chancellor William Cunningham said the University of Texas system was committed to easing the transition for those schools.

Football

Notre Dame might face NCAA penalties because All-American football players Jeff Burris and Bryant Young resided rent-free in an off-campus apartment owned by an alumnus.

Burris, an offensive and defensive back, and Young, a defensive tackle, have been ordered to pay the university about $250 each and move back on campus.

The Georgia Dome in Atlanta was picked to play host to the Southeastern Conference’s next two championship games.

The sale of the New England Patriots to Boston businessman Robert Kraft was finalized at a figure reported to be $160 million.

Golf

Bruce Devlin shot a seven-under-par 65 at Sarasota, Fla., to lead an international team to a 12-shot lead in the first round of the Chrysler Cup tournament, which features players from the Senior PGA Tour against those from overseas.

The United States was led by George Archer’s 68 and a 69 by Dave Stockton.

Jack Nicklaus, coming off a first-round 69 on a course he designed, ballooned to an 80 and missed the cut at the Andalusian Open at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

Tennis

Second-seeded MaliVai Washington beat Stefano Pescosolido of Italy, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, to reach the semifinals of the Nuveen Championships in Scottsdale, Ariz.

In other matches, Karsten Braasch of Germany beat Jordi Burillo of Spain, 6-3, 7-5, and Luiz Mattar of Brazil beat Chuck Adams 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Fifth-seeded Andre Agassi beat third-seeded Brad Gilbert, 6-1, 6-2.

Unseeded Paul Haarhuis reached the semifinals of the Rotterdam Indoor tennis tournament by beating Alexander Volkov, 7-5, 6-4. Haarhuis will play tournament favorite Michael Stich, who beat Rodolphe Gilbert, 7-5, 6-3.

The other semifinal will be between Goran Ivanisevic, who beat Jonas Svensson, 6-2, 6-4, and Wayne Ferreira, who beat Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Boxing

World Boxing Organization junior welterweight champion Zack Padilla (19-1-1) has signed to fight Dwayne Swift (41-16) in a 10-round non-title bout at the Olympic Auditorium on March 12.

Former lightweight champion Alexis Arguello, 41, who last fought in 1986, is returning to boxing.

Muhammed Ali has left a Hilton Head Island, S.C., clinic after a series of “plasma exchange” treatments for a neurological disorder caused by pesticides, his doctor said.

Miscellany

Geoff Bodine drove his Ford Thunderbird to a record fast lap of 151.716 to win the pole for Sunday’s Goodwrench 500 stock car race at Rockingham, N.C.

Federal officials and the University of Colorado have reached an agreement on compliance with the Title IX education amendments of 1972, a federal law that bans gender discrimination in student athletic programs.

Chicago Blackhawk defenseman Eric Weinrich will sit out at least two weeks because of a broken jaw suffered in a fight in a Thursday game against Winnipeg. . . . Goalie Manon Rheaume, who made hockey history when she played in a a 1992 NHL exhibition, has been traded by the Knoxville (Tenn.) Cherokees to the Nashville (Tenn.) Knights.

Jacinto Vasquez, the 50-year Hall of Fame jockey, will undergo surgery for a knee injury suffered in a post-race accident at Gulfstream Park.

Former Marshall forward Tyrone Phillips was in satisfactory condition in Charleston, W.Va., after being shot in a dispute, police said.