LSU JUMPS INTO NO. 1 POSITION IN POLL
The No. 1 vs. No. 2 game between Alabama and LSU in two weeks looks set, though the order of the Crimson Tide and Tigers changed in the AP Top 25 in one of the closet votes ever.
Heading into an off date for both teams, LSU flip-flopped with Alabama on Sunday to become the new No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll presented by Regions Bank. The Tigers received 1,476 points, two more than Alabama, for the closest margin between 1 and 2 since No. 1 Florida State was two points ahead of Auburn on Oct. 5, 2014.
No. 3 Ohio State was not far behind with 1,468 points. Eight points separating first from third is the fewest during a regular-season poll since the current point system went into place in 1978. The previous low was Dec. 3, 1979, when No. 1 Ohio State was 10 points ahead of No. 3 Southern California, with Oklahoma in between, two back of the Buckeyes.
Truex Jr. earned a spot in NASCAR’s championship race for the third consecutive year with a dominating Sunday victory at Martinsville Speedway.
Truex led 464 of the 500 laps in becoming the first driver to claim a spot in the Nov. 17 title-race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It marked the most laps led by a winner since Kyle Petty led 484 laps in 1992 at Rockingham.
Martinsville marked the first of three races in the round of eight of the playoffs, and three more drivers still need to qualify for Homestead.
• Lewis Hamilton overcame Ferrari’s front-row start to win the Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City , moving the Mercedes driver closer to a sixth career Formula One championship.
Vikings’ Kearse arrested.
LIS» Minnesota Vikings MINN E A P O backup safety Jayron Kearse was arrested in Minneapolis on suspicion of driving while impaired and with a loaded gun.
The Minnesota State Patrol said a trooper stopped Kearse just before 4 a.m. Sunday after seeing a Mercedes drive around a barricade onto a closed portion of Interstate 94 and “observed signs of alcohol impairment.”
The patrol said Kearse had a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent, above Minnesota’s legal limit of 0.08 percent, and a loaded firearm in the car.
Henson out with injury.
Cavaliers center John Henson could miss a month with a strained right hamstring, his latest injury.
Henson finally made his debut with Cleveland on Saturday night, getting hurt in the Cavaliers’ 110-99 win over the Indiana Pacers. The 28-year-old didn’t play for the Cavs last season after coming over in a trade with Milwaukee following wrist surgery. He was slowed during training camp and sat out Cleveland’s four preseason games because of ankle and groin injuries.
Federer dominates in win.
» Roger Federer won his hometown Swiss Indoors title for the 10th time by dominating Alex de Minaur in a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Sunday.
The 38-year-old Federer put on a tennis clinic in his first match against the 20-year-old Australian, who was not born when the Swiss great turned professional and first played at Basel in 1998.
Colorado’s Katie Uhlaender and Andrew Blaser won their second consecutive USA Skeleton national team trials races Sunday, strengthening their bids to compete on the World Cup circuit this winter.
The four-race series continues next Saturday and Sunday at Mount Van Hoevenberg. Uhlaender and Blaser are the front-runners to grab two of the four spots on the World Cup team that are available in the team trials.