UCF tops Ball State in Beef O'Brady Bowl

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Blake Bortles threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to lead Central Florida to a 38-17 victory over Ball State in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl on Friday night.

Colts ready to face improved Buccaneers

TAMPA, Fla. | The Colts are finding it every bit as difficult to win without Peyton Manning as they suspected it might be.

St. Louis gives Lightning shootout win over Hawks

TAMPA, Fla. | On a night when Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 42nd goal, the Tampa Bay Lightning broke out of a puzzling offensive funk before finishing off the Blackhawks with a little pizazz.

Florida's Meyer exits with win in Outback Bowl

TAMPA, Fla. | Urban Meyer walked away from Florida with a win against Joe Paterno, who insists Penn State's disappointing season won't be his last.

Former C-UA rivals meet in Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | As friends and former colleagues, Southern Mississippi's Larry Fedora and Louisville's Charlie Strong have admired one another's work for years.

Harangody's 36 points lead Irish to win at South Florida

TAMPA, Fla. | With the game on the line, Notre Dame didn't take any chances. The Fighting Irish put the ball in Andrean grad Luke Harangody's hands and let their big power forward go to work.

Northwestern football team still fueled by deceased coach

TAMPA, Fla. | More than three years after the death of coach Randy Walker, the Northwestern Wildcats are still drawing inspiration from him.

Tiger Woods expected to talk to police Sunday

WINDERMERE, Fla. | Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin, are expected to talk to police for the first time Sunday, breaking a two-day silence that has only fueled speculation about his early morning accident, why he left the house at that hour, where he was going and whether an argument preceded t…

Police: Woods, wife unavailable for interview

WINDERMERE, Fla. | The Florida Highway Patrol says Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin, are not available to be interviewed by state troopers and asked police to return Sunday to try to clear up questions about how he crashed his SUV into a neighbor's tree.

Tampa Bay Bucs excited about H-F grad Fulton

TAMPA, Fla. | Three months into their tenure as coach and general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik are confident they have the franchise headed in the right direction.

Zobrist's grand slam gives Rays win over White Sox

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | The Tampa Bay Rays insisted there was nothing wrong with their offense that some timely hitting wouldn't solve.

White Sox survive Rays' rally

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Ozzie Guillen doesn't know what it is about Tropicana Field. His White Sox just don't seem to be able to score a lot of runs in the domed stadium.

Vazquez lets down Sox again in loss to Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Evan Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays appeared perfectly at home in the playoffs with a Game 1 victory over the White Sox.

Sox lose to Rays, trail series 2-0

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | The young, resilient Rays are one win from breezing into the American League championship series.

Cubs lose another close call against Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting is a winning combination the surprising Tampa Bay Rays rarely put together when they were managed by Lou Piniella.

Bullpen does job again in Rays' victory over Cubs

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting is a winning combination the surprising Tampa Bay Rays rarely put together when they were managed by Lou Piniella.

Rays, Longoria able to beat Cubs

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Thornwood grad Cliff Floyd and Evan Longoria hit solo home runs Tuesday night, helping the Tampa Bay Rays spoil Lou Piniella's return to Tropicana Field with a 3-2 victory over the Cubs.

Kazmir crushes White Sox

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | For a guy who insists he's still trying to regain his form, Scott Kazmir sure is pitching well.

Floyd's ninth-inning homer lifts Rays over White Sox

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Cliff Floyd rounded third and headed for home plate, where the rest of the Tampa Bay Rays had already begun the celebration.

White Sox sting Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | While the Tampa Bay Rays have been the hottest team in baseball, the White Sox haven't exactly been slouches.

Harangody scores 21, No. 19 Notre Dame beats USF 67-60

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Giants depending on Eli to deliver

TAMPA, Fla. | One team hasn't won a playoff game in seven years, the other has gone through hard times since winning the Super Bowl five seasons ago.

Ainge leads Tennessee past Wisconsin 21-17 in Outback Bowl

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Buehrle, White Sox win again

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Garland, homers carry Sox to victory

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Sox end 5-game slide

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | The struggling White Sox fanned 15 times, yet still gave themselves a reason to feel good about the way they swung the bats.

Dukes out of lineup after newspaper report he threatened wife

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Tampa Bay rookie Elijah Dukes was held out of the lineup Wednesday night against Seattle following a published report that his estranged wife sought a restraining order after being threatened by the 22-year-old outfielder.

A-Rod hits two more homers in loss

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | Two more homers by Alex Rodriguez couldn't pull the New York Yankees out of a tailspin.

Ohio State survives OT scare from Xavier

LEXINGTON, Ky. | Ohio State thought Greg Oden was its best shot at a national championship. Turns out it was Ron Lewis, and in the nick of time. Lewis hit a long-range 3-pointer with two seconds left to force overtime, and the top-seeded Buckeyes rallied from a late 11-point deficit to beat …

Bucs rookie to start against Bears

TAMPA, Fla. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden insists he's not concerned about the possibility that missing the playoffs for the third time in four seasons could cost him his job.