Nebraska, Penn State Still 1-2

Nebraska and Penn State remained 1-2 in the Associated Press college football poll Sunday, while Alabama moved from fourth to third after defeating previously unbeaten Auburn.

Nebraska (11-0), which can clinch an Orange Bowl berth Friday by beating Oklahoma, received 39 first-place votes and 1,526 points from a nationwide media panel. The Cornhuskers were idle Saturday.

Penn State (10-0) got 22 first-place votes and 1,507 points after beating Northwestern, 45-17. The Nittany Lions end the regular season against Michigan State before playing Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

Alabama (11-0) received one first-place vote and 1,411 points after a 21-14 victory over Auburn. The Crimson Tide plays No. 4 Florida in the Southeastern Conference championship game Dec. 3, with the winner going to the Sugar Bowl and the loser to the Citrus.

Nebraska, Penn State and Alabama also were the top three teams in the USA Today-CNN coaches’ poll, where the first-place vote totals were identical to the AP poll.

USC is 17th in both polls.

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Gerry Faust, whose Akron football team finished 1-10 this season, was reassigned to a fund-raising position, becoming assistant vice president for university development.

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Utah, runner-up in the Western Athletic Conference, will play Arizona or Washington State in the Freedom Bowl on Dec. 27 at Anaheim Stadium. . . . Cory Wedel kicked a 20-yard field goal with 12 seconds to play, lifting Wyoming (6-6, 4-4) to a 13-10 WAC victory over Hawaii (3-7, 0-7) on Saturday night at Honolulu. . . . Alcorn State (8-2-1), led by quarterback Steve McNair, was extended one of 16 bids to the Division I-AA football playoffs and will play top-ranked Youngstown State (10-0-1) in the first round.

Golf

Jumbo Ozaki birdied the final hole for his third victory in three weeks, a one-shot triumph over Tom Watson in the rain-shortened Dunlop Phoenix golf tournament at Miyazaki, Japan.

Robert Gamez shot a one-under 71 at Pebble Beach and cruised to a six-stroke victory in the Pebble Beach Invitational. . . . Chris Perry shot a six-under 66 at Mexico City to win the Mexican Open by one stroke over Bob Tway.

Miscellany

Baltimore and the British Columbia Lions reached the Grey Cup, the Lions winning the Western Division final by defeating the host Calgary Stampeders, 37-36, and Baltimore advancing with a 14-12 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Eastern Division final at Winnipeg, Canada. Baltimore and the Lions will meet for the CFL championship Sunday at Vancouver.

Eric Wynalda, a forward for the U.S. World Cup soccer team, will be sidelined for eight weeks because of a broken leg suffered during a match Saturday in Germany’s first division.

The U.S. women finished second to Romania in the Gymnastics World Team Championships at Dortmund, Germany.

Senior midfielder Tisha Venturini scored two goals to help North Carolina (25-1-1) claim a ninth consecutive NCAA women’s soccer championship with a 5-0 victory over top-ranked Notre Dame (23-1-1) at Portland, Ore.

James Madison (20-3-1) won the field hockey national championship with a 2-1 victory in overtime against North Carolina (21-2) in Brookline, Mass.

Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey set two world records and won three gold medals in the World Weightlifting Championships at Istanbul.