Big East holdovers profit

Big East Conference football schools will get almost all of a $110-million pot in a deal that will allow seven departing basketball schools to keep the name “Big East” and start playing in their own conference next season, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the separation agreement has not yet been finalized. That is likely to happen by the end of the week. The football schools will receive approximately $100 million under the agreement, most of which will go to holdover members Connecticut, South Florida and Cincinnati.

The basketball schools will receive $10 million, the Big East name and the right to play their conference tournament at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The Big East’s stash of cash has built up in recent years through a combination of exit fees, entry fees and money the league’s members earned in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Since 2011, the Big East has lost 16 schools that were either members or dropped out before playing a game.

BASEBALL

China rallies to defeat Brazil

Ray Chang drove in two runs and China rallied with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat Brazil, 5-2, in Group A of the World Baseball Classic at Fukuoka, Japan.

Brazil led 2-0 in the eighth, but China scored its first run on a bases-loaded walk before Chang hit a soft fly ball to left field that scored two and gave the Chinese a 3-2 lead.

Jungho Kang hit a two-run home run with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning to give South Korea a 3-2 victory over Taiwan in a World Baseball Classic Group B game at Taipei, Taiwan, but the South Koreans missed out on a spot in the next round because they lost a tiebreaker against the Netherlands.

Taiwan, South Korea and the Netherlands all finished the group with 2-1 records. But Taiwan and the Netherlands advanced on a run-differential tiebreaker. Australia finished at the bottom of the group with an 0-3 record.

Kang’s home run came against former Dodgers reliever Hong-Chih Kuo, who gave up all three runs in the eighth.

New York Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira strained his right wrist while taking some light swings off a tee in the batting cage in Phoenix, forcing him to withdraw from the WBC.

Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday night in Tampa, Fla., that Teixeira would be out a minimum of 10 days.

ETC.

Packers’ Jennings to be free agent

The Green Bay Packers declined to use their franchise tag on Greg Jennings, meaning the star wide receiver will become an unrestricted free agent next week.

The agent for the 29-year-old Jennings, who ranks in the top 10 on the all-time Packers reception list, can begin speaking with other teams as soon as Saturday, although no deal can be signed until March 12.

The Packers could have kept Jennings out of free agency by applying their franchise tag to him by Monday’s deadline, but then they would have had to offer him a one-year, $10.5-million contract. If Jennings signed the contract he’d be guaranteed the money, and even if the team released him, the salary would count against the team’s cap.

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NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman is calling it “Lights Out” on his career.

The three-time Pro Bowl selection and 2005 NFL defensive rookie of the year said on his website that he intends to file retirement papers.

“I retire today not because I don’t feel I can go out there and still play the game at a very high level,” wrote Merriman, 28. “I am retiring because I want to retire on my own terms and leave while I know I can still physically play the game.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo scored the decisive goal in his return to Old Trafford, rallying Real Madrid over Manchester United, 2-1, and into the Champions League quarterfinals with a 3-2 aggregate victory.