College football

TCU STALLS IN BCS STANDINGS: TCU's big victory wasn't enough for the Horned Frogs to make a move up the BCS standings.

TCU (10-0) on Sunday remained behind Florida, Alabama and Texas in the race to the national title game.

The Horned Frogs defeated Utah 55-28 on Saturday night in what figured to be the most difficult game left on their schedule. But they remained stuck in fourth place in Bowl Championship Series standings.

TCU, from the Mountain West Conference, last week became the first team from a league without an automatic BCS bid to break into the top five of the standings this late in a season.

If the Horned Frogs can beat Wyoming and New Mexico to finish a perfect regular season, they will earn their first BCS bid and cross off another achievement on the pyramid of goals coach Gary Patterson has on display for his team.

"If we win two games, we have an opportunity to color in a box higher than we've ever colored in in this program, to go to a BCS," he said Sunday. "That's about as far as I take it."

Unless Alabama, Florida or Texas slip up, that's about as far as TCU will be able to take it.

Florida has been in first since the standings were initially released last month. Alabama is second and Texas is third.

The Gators and Crimson Tide meet in the SEC championship on Dec. 5. If they can both reach that game undefeated, a spot in the BCS title game on Jan. 7 would be guaranteed to the winner.

If Texas can win its remaining two regular-season games and the Big 12 championship game, it's a virtual lock to play for the national championship at the Rose Bowl.

Undefeated Cincinnati is in fifth place and unbeaten Boise State is sixth in the latest BCS standings.

Prep football

SEMISTATE TICKETS TO GO ON SALE: Tickets for Friday's Class 5A Northern Semistate game between Merrillville and Carmel will be sold Wednesday in Merrillville High School's athletic office for $7 apiece. Use the school's entrance "A" when purchasing tickets. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Friday. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.

College volleyball

CRUSADERS RECEIVE BYE: Valparaiso University has earned the second seed for the 2009 Horizon League Championship in Cleveland, and receives a bye into the tournament semifinals, as the league officially released the tournament pairings Sunday.

The Crusaders finished the regular season with a 12-4 league record and at 22-9 overall, finishing one game behind regular-season champion Cleveland State. VU will face the higher remaining seed from Friday's quarterfinalists -- No. 3 Milwaukee vs. No. 6 Green Bay and No. 4 Butler vs. No. 5 University of Illinois-Chicago -- at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The championship match will be held at noon Sunday.

VU combined big offensive nights from Tara Diebler and Angie Porche (T.F. South) with a stellar team defensive effort on the back line to earn a 3-1 (25-13, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23) victory at Green Bay in the Horizon League regular-season finale Saturday. The win secured the second spot in the league standings for the Crusaders and assured VU of a bye into the league championship semifinals.

"It was definitely nice to get a win in our final regular-season match going up against a tough Green Bay team," Crusaders coach Carin Avery said. "It's exciting to come out on top despite being shorthanded up front again tonight. I thought Angie and Tara both did an especially good job picking up the slack offensively and coming up with extra kills. They both had very nice matches, and they're getting into a good flow on the offensive end right now, which is what you want from your top hitters coming down the stretch."

Men's swimming

CRUSADERS DROP THREE IN CLEVELAND: Valparaiso University (0-4) dropped all three contests in a quadrangular meet hosted by Cleveland State on Saturday.

The Crusaders fell to the host Vikings 181-40, Niagara 145-83, and Saint Bonaventure 189-32.

Kevin Fedde turned in the school's eighth fastest time ever in the 1,000 freestyle, finishing in a time of 10:26.69. He finished seventh overall in the race. David Sivak (Hobart) and Austin Hunter turned in a pair of sixth-place efforts. Sivak posted his in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:00.38, and Hunter turned in a mark of 2:04.22 in the 200 backstroke.

Women's swimming

VU SUFFERS THREE LOSSES: Valparaiso University dropped each of its three contests in a quadrangular meet hosted by Cleveland State on Saturday.

The Crusaders (0-4) fell 189-41 against host Cleveland State, 176-60 versus Niagara, and 184-46 against Saint Bonaventure.

Rachel Majercik led the way for the Crusaders with a fifth-place finish in the 200 freestyle, turning in a time of 1:59.79. Justine Barnes matched the fifth-place effort in the 200 butterfly, posting a mark of 2:16.79.