Sports in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Gator chomp! Florida likely headed to title game

ATLANTA—Florida appears headed back to the national championship game. Alabama picked the worst possible time for its first loss of the season.

Tim Tebow threw three touchdown passes — including the decisive score with just under 3 minutes remaining — to lead the No. 2 Gators to a 31-20 victory over No. 1 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Saturday. That should be enough to give Florida a spot in the BCS title game for the second time in three years.

Showing it could win a close game in a season of routs, Florida (12-1) went into the fourth quarter trailing 20-17. But Jeff Demps, helping fill in for injured Percy Harvin, scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 2-yard run with 9:21 remaining.

Tebow finished the scoring, hitting Riley Cooper on a 5-yard scoring pass with 2:50 left. Alabama (12-1) will likely have to settle for a spot in the Sugar Bowl, ruining its hopes of a seventh national championship in school history.

Instead, mark down a spot for Florida, which won the title during the 2006 season with a rout of Ohio State in the title game. The Gators came into the game ranked fourth in the BCS standings, but the impressive win over unbeaten and top-ranked Alabama will surely be enough to move them into one of the top spots.

Pacquiao batters ‘Golden Boy’ in lopsided bout

LAS VEGAS—Manny Pacquiao fought a lot bigger than he looked. Oscar De La Hoya simply looked old.

Pacquiao dominated his bigger and more famous opponent from the opening bell Saturday night, giving De La Hoya a beating and closing his left eye before De La Hoya declined to come out of his corner after the eighth round.

The fight was so lopsided and De La Hoya looked so inept that it could spell the end for boxing’s richest and most marketable star.

Sooners lower boom on Mizzou 62-21

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Sam Bradford and Oklahoma wanted to drive home one point: They belong in the BCS championship game.

The No. 4 Sooners did that with a 62-21 blowout of No. 19 Missouri for the Big 12 title Saturday night.

Taking advantage of an opportunity many felt it didn’t deserve, the highest-scoring team in major college football history romped to a third straight conference crown and became the first to reach 60 points in five consecutive games.

If all goes accordingly Sunday, Oklahoma (12-1) will be in the top two of the Bowl Championship Series standings, looking at a title game matchup against No. 2 Florida on Jan. 8 in Miami.

Va Tech wins 2nd straight ACC title

TAMPA, Fla.—A pair of Virginia Tech fans in the South end zone seats held a sign above their heads, summing up the Hokies’ jubilation and Boston College’s disappointment.

“History Repeats Itself,” the message began. “VT over BC when it counts.”

Tyrod Taylor scored two first-half touchdowns and Darren Evans ran for 114 yards and one TD in less than half-full Raymond James Stadium on Saturday, helping Tech become the first two-time winner of the ACC championship game with a 30-12 victory.

It was the fourth meeting in the past 14 months between the one-time Big East rivals. BC (9-4) won during the regular season this year and last, but the Hokies (9-4) prevailed for the second straight time with league’s BCS spot and a trip to the Orange Bowl on the line.

The Hokies are just that when it come to collecting ACC titles. They’ve won three in the five years they’ve been in the conference.

Giant killer: Michigan beats No. 4 Duke

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Michigan’s basketball program has been hibernating for a decade.

It looks like the Wolverines are finally waking up.

DeShawn Sims scored a career-high 28 points to leading Michigan to an 81-73 victory over Duke on Saturday, its second win over a No. 4-ranked team in two weeks.

The Wolverines (6-2) beat then-No. 4 UCLA before losing 71-56 to Duke in the 2K Sports Classic final.

Michigan — which hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1998 — has beaten two top five teams in the regular season for the first time since 1986-87, the year after its last Big Ten title.

Duke (8-1) made just three of 27 3-point attempts before connecting on four in a row to pull within four points in the final minute. The Blue Devils finished 7-of-33 for one of their worst performances beyond the arc in more than a decade.

Barber doesn’t make trip to Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH—Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber did not make the team’s trip to Pittsburgh for Sunday’s game against the Steelers, meaning rookie Tashard Choice will make his first NFL start.

Barber dislocated his right little toe in the first half against Seattle on Nov. 27 and did not practice all week. Choice, from Georgia Tech, replaced him against Seattle and rushed for a career-high 57 yards on 11 carries, giving him 147 yards on 30 carries this season.

Dallas (8-4) was already without backup running back Felix Jones due to a season-ending torn ligament in his left big toe — an injury that occurred while he was rehabilitating a left hamstring injury.

Losing the 225-pound Barber is a major setback for the Cowboys, who may need to win at least three of their final four games to reach the playoffs. The Steelers (9-3) lead the NFL in rushing defense with 71.2 yards per game average, the lowest by any team since the 1970 NFL merger, and have not allowed an opposing back to gain even 80 yards.

OJ faces spartan prison during appeal

LAS VEGAS—In the harsh light of the morning after his sentencing, O.J. Simpson’s future was clear Saturday. His new home will be a prison cell in the Nevada desert with his door to freedom hinging on an appeal of a trial that his lawyers say was filled with errors.

“This is not a frivolous appeal,” Yale Galanter, Simpson’s lawyer, said. “There were some grave errors made by Judge (Jackie) Glass, and we think they are strong enough to overturn the conviction. We also think we have a shot at bail.”

Galanter has cited six initial issues for appeal. The most significant concern could be the exclusion of blacks from the jury selection. The defense also will protest the judge allowing comments about Simpson’s 1994 Los Angeles murder case in which he was acquitted of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.

On Saturday, Simpson remained at the Clark County jail where he has been housed since his conviction on Oct. 3, along with co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart. The two men were found guilty of 12 criminal charges, including kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Simpson was sentenced Friday to 9 to 33 years in prison. Stewart got 7 to 27 years.