Florida State

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden yesterday summed up the national interest in his program's once-anticipated rivalry game against Miami with two little poignant words: "Who cares?" When Florida State (4-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) hosts Miami (4-3, 1-2) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, it will be the first time in 30 years the storied programs have met while unranked. Both teams are coming off losses and are in the lower half of their respective division standings. "It's all based on what you're doing this year," Bowden said.

As one of the nation's top high school football recruits, Jonathan Ogden had the luxury of being selective. For each college coach who came to visit, Ogden would test the school's level of commitment by making one request. "My thing was when people came to recruit me for football, I always said, `If I'm going to come and play football at your school, I also want to do track and field. And if you're not going to let me do track and field, I'm not coming to your school,'" said Ogden, who won an NCAA indoor title in the shot put as a senior at UCLA.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- After he lit up dark, dank Leon County Civic Center with a career-high 32 points and a celebratory technical foul, Laron Profit was asked what motivated No. 5 Maryland against Florida State, the sinking ship of the Atlantic Coast Conference."

COLLEGE PARK -- Hollywood scriptwriters might not even try to pull off a story like this one.It just seems to be too much of a stretch. Almost fairy-tale like.But 19-year-old freshman Maryland quarterback Latrez Harrison seems undaunted by the task he is facing tomorrow in Tallahassee, Fla. He even says, "What more could you ask for?"So here it goes for the youngster who is considered by many the Terps' quarterback of the future. He reportedly has thrown the football as far as 76 yards.Harrison, replacing the injured Calvin McCall (medial collateral ligament tear)

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Ann Bowden couldn't have drawn it up any better. Her husband won a game last night, keeping Florida State's title hopes alive. Her son won respect, pushing around the Seminoles for a half.But Clemson just couldn't finish. The Tigers missed a 41-yard field goal with two minutes left and went scoreless in the second half of a 17-14 Atlantic Coast Conference loss in front of a record 86,200 fans at Death Valley.This was the first father-son coaching matchup in major-college football.

TennisWoodforde, Woodbridge win doubles to give Aussies 2-1 Davis leadMark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge staged a brilliant comeback to beat France's Fabrice Santoro and Olivier Delaitre yesterday in Nice, France, and take Australia to within one victory of a Davis Cup final triumph.The 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory silenced French fans and gave Australia a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five final.Australia, playing its 44th final, goes for its 27th Cup championship today when Mark Philippoussis plays Cedric Pioline and Lleyton Hewitt faces Sebastien Grosjean.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- This is not a good time for Maryland to be challenging the No. 1 collegiate football machine on its home turf.Unbeaten Florida State looks like a team that is ready to erupt, while the Terps seem to be reverting to their old chaos in the secondary.The Maryland defense has been kicked around so much in three of the past four games that coach Ron Vanderlinden held a five-hour meeting this week in an attempt to solve some of the problems.Maryland (5-4) also has lost starting quarterback Calvin McCall for the rest of the season with a torn medial collateral ligament, and inside linebacker Kevin Bishop is out for six months with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Mike Ziegler, an All-Metro pitcher at Old Mill in 1997 who is 12-1 at Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College, has committed orally to attend Florida State University, which has the nation's top-ranked college baseball team.Ziegler, a 6-foot-3, 229-pound right-hander, told veteran Seminoles' coach Mike Martin on Monday that he was accepting a scholarship offer over a host of others from Division I schools.Ziegler leads Florida junior-college pitchers with his 12-1 record, 0.90 ERA, 110 strikeouts, 20 walks in 101 innings.

Men's tournamentsLocallyAmerica EastAt Newark, Del.Tomorrow's championshipDelaware vs. Drexel, 11: 30 a.m.Atlantic CoastAt Charlotte, N.C.Yesterday's first roundFlorida State 87, Clemson 85, OTDuke 104, Virginia 67Today's quarterfinalsWake Forest vs. N.C. State, noonMaryland vs. Florida State, 2: 30 p.m.North Carolina vs. Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.Tomorrow's semifinalsDuke vs. Wake Forst-N.C. State winner, 1: 30 p.m.Maryland-FSU winner vs. UNC-GT winner, 4 p.m.Sunday's championshipSemifinal winners, 1 p.m.Mid-Eastern AthleticAt Richmond, Va.Monday's first roundFlorida A&M 66, Howard 46Tuesday's first roundUMES 90, Delaware State 75Wednesday's quarterfinalsSouth Carolina State 61, UMES 56Florida A&M 80, Coppin State 69Yesterday's quarterfinalsMorgan State 67, Hampton 66North Carolina A&T 61, Bethune-Cookman 50Today's semifinals S.C. State vs. North Carolina A&T, 2 p.m.Morgan State vs. Florida A&M, 9 p.m.Tomorrow's championshipSemifinal winners, 7 p.m.PatriotAt West Point, N.Y.Today's championshipBucknell vs. Lafayette, 4: 30 p.m.ElsewhereAtlantic 10At PhiladelphiaWednesday's first roundVirginia Tech 74, Fordham 63Massachusetts 80, Duquesne 70Dayton 70, St. Bonaventure 69, OTLa Salle 81, St. Joseph's 54Yesterday's quarterfinalsTemple 64, Virginia Tech 51Xavier 72, Massachusetts 68George Washington 100, Dayton 90Rhode Island 83, La Salle 58Today's semifinalsTemple vs. Xavier, 7 p.m.George Washington vs. Rhode Island, 9: 30 p.m.Tomorrow's championshipSemifinal winners, 6 p.m.Big EastAt...

No. 1 Tennessee (12-0) vs. No. 2 Florida State (11-1)When: Tonight, 8.Where: Tempe, Ariz.TV: Chs. 2, 7.Line: Florida State by 5 1/2.Series record: Florida State leads 1-0.Last meeting: 1958, Florida State, 10-0.Bowl records: Tennessee 21-17; Florida State 16-8-2.Last bowl appearance: Tennessee lost to Nebraska, 42-17, in 1998 Orange Bowl; Florida State beat Ohio State, 31-14, in 1998 Sugar Bowl.Common opponents: Tennessee beat Florida, 20-17, in OT; Florida State beat Florida, 23-12.Coaches: Phillip Fulmer, seventh season at Tennessee (66-11)

Soccer U.S. routed 2nd time in row at Confederations Cup, 3-0 If this was a dress rehearsal for next year's World Cup, the United States showed it's far from ready. The U.S. was hammered for the second time in a four-day span at the Confederations Cup in Pretoria, South Africa, with Brazil outplaying the Americans, 3-0, Thursday. Felipe Melo scored off Maicon's free kick in the seventh minute and Robinho made it 2-0 in the 20th, completing a counterattack that began when DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan failed to combine on a short corner kick.

Presidential news conference 8 p.m. [various channels] Here's hoping someone asks the bracket-picker-in-chief about how we're supposed to trust our economy to someone who had Florida State in the Sweet 16.

Prosecutor suggests probation for Tejada baseball A federal prosecutor yesterday recommended that shortstop Miguel Tejada, a former Oriole, get probation and no prison time for misleading Congress about the use of performance-enhancing drugs. U.S. attorney Jeffrey Taylor said in a memo to Federal Magistrate Judge Alan Kay that Tejada deserves that reduced sentence because he has admitted wrongdoing, accepted responsibility and has no criminal record. Tejada is to be sentenced Thursday.

Fla. St. to appeal NCAA's punishment colleges Florida State will appeal part of an NCAA punishment that would strip the school of victories in 10 sports, including as many as 14 in football. The university president called the penalty "excessive and inappropriate." Football coach Bobby Bowden has 382 career wins - one fewer than Penn State's Joe Paterno, the major college leader. "The coaches had no involvement," Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said yesterday. "To hold them responsible in this case is simply wrong."

Gerald Henderson scored the go-ahead basket with 34.8 seconds remaining and No. 9 Duke held on for a 66-65 Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals victory over Boston College last night in Atlanta. Rakim Sanders missed a last-second three-pointer for Boston College (22-11). Duke (26-6) will play Maryland today. No. 1 North Carolina 79, Virginia Tech 76: : Tyler Hansbrough scored 28 and made a disputed defensive stop in the final seconds as the Tar Heels (28-3) avoided an upset against the Hokies (18-14)

Weyinmi Efejuku scored 16 and Providence upset No. 1 Pittsburgh 81-73 last night for its first win over a top-ranked team in 33 years. Sharaud Curry added 15 points for the host Friars (17-11, 9-7 Big East), who picked up a big victory for their NCAA tournament hopes. DeJuan Blair fouled out on a moving pick with 46 seconds left as Pittsburgh (25-3, 12-3) tried to rally. Blair, the reigning Big East player of the week, averaged 21 points and 20.5 rebounds in wins over No. 1 Connecticut and DePaul that elevated the Panthers to the top spot on Monday.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Maryland's two-game swing through the Atlantic Coast Conference's Southern outpost was played out over four days and nearly 500 miles. The games followed much different scripts but ended with the same disappointing outcome for the Terrapins. After blowing a 17-point second-half lead to lose a two-point heartbreaker at Miami on Wednesday night, the Terps overcame an 11-point second-half deficit here to force overtime yesterday against Florida State, only to lose, 76-73, at the Tucker Center.

Phillip Livas returned a kickoff 97 yards, Daniel Porter rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown, and Louisiana Tech won the Independence Bowl by beating Northern Illinois, 17-10, yesterday in Shreveport, La. It was Louisiana Tech's first postseason win since the 1977 Independence Bowl and the Bulldogs' seventh come-from-behind win of the season in what was essentially a home game. The Bulldogs (8-5), from nearby Ruston, hadn't won eight games since 1999. The victory over Northern Illinois (6-7)

The initial news from the Bowl Championship Series standings looked good for Texas. The long-range forecast, however, favors Oklahoma. The Longhorns stayed ahead of the Sooners yesterday - but not by much - and moved into the coveted second spot in the standings, thanks to a better computer rating. The Sooners surged in the standings on the strength of a 65-21 victory against Texas Tech, which dropped to seventh place. Alabama remained on top of the standings, a comfortable No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll and Harris poll, and best according to the computers.

COLLEGE PARK - When it was over, Maryland players, who punctuate victories by leaping into the student section, walked slowly to the tunnel. By then, the student section had emptied out. Maryland and its 30 seniors - the largest senior class under coach Ralph Friedgen - had won all six home games this season. Playing their last game at Byrd Stadium, the seniors could hardly imagine losing this one, the one that might have mattered most. But, with a chance to keep alive their season-long hopes of advancing to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, the No. 22 Terps were overwhelmed by Florida State, 37-3, last night and eliminated from contention for the Atlantic Division title with one week left in the regular season.