Men's basketball
HOOSIERS NO. 1 IN FIRST POLL: Indiana received 21 first-place votes in the preseason USA Today-ESPN poll to gain the No. 1 ranking with 761 points.
Louisville was runner-up with 738 points, and defending national champion Kentucky was third with 718 points.
Notre Dame is ranked 23rd with 122 points. Butler isn't ranked but received six votes.
Pro football
BEARS ADD TACKLE TO PRACTICE SQUAD: The Bears signed undrafted tackle Cory Brandon to the practice squad Wednesday.
The 6-foot-7, 324-pound offensive lineman spent the 2012 preseason with Chicago after entering the NFL as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Oklahoma in 2011.
Pro baseball
BRENLY LEAVING CUBS' BOOTH: Cubs broadcaster Bob Brenly says he won't return to the team next season.
WGN-TV and Brenly released a joint statement Wednesday announcing his departure from the Cubs. Brenly says he's looking for another baseball broadcasting position and leaves the team after eight years and a 101-game losing season.
CUBS LOWERING PRICES A BIT NEXT SEASON: After losing 101 games this season, the Cubs say they are lowering the cost for season ticket holders by an average of 2 percent.
Tickets for the bleachers and the reserved seats in the upper deck will also be cut by an average of 10 percent.
BELTRAN SUB HELPS CARDS TAKE 2-1 LEAD: Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer after subbing for an injured Carlos Beltran, and the St. Louis Cardinals chased Matt Cain before a 3½ hour rain delay in the seventh inning of a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants for a 2-1 series lead Wednesday night.
Kyle Lohse worked around a season-worst five walks in 5 2/3 innings. Mitchell Boggs struck out Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt with two on to end the seventh and Jason Motte earned the first two-inning save of his career to reward what remained of a sellout crowd of 45,850, perhaps a third, that stuck around.
Giants second baseman Marco Scutaro had two hits and a clean game in the field, two days after Matt Holliday rammed him breaking up a double-play ball. Manager Bruce Bochy had said there would be no retaliation, and Game 3 was collision-free.
Pro basketball
N.D. MAN SELLS MCJORDAN BARBECUE SAUCE FOR $10,000: A man who used to own McDonald's restaurants in North Dakota is about $10,000 richer after selling a 20-year-old container of McJordan barbecue sauce to a buyer in Chicago.
The sauce was used on McJordan Burgers, named for basketball icon Michael Jordan. The promotional item was sold in limited markets for a short time in the 1990s, when Jordan led the Bulls to six NBA championships.
Mort Bank, of Bismarck, saved the gallon jug of sauce after selling his McDonald's restaurants in Bismarck-Mandan and Minot in 1996.
Bank advertised the sauce on eBay, saying: "A once in a lifetime chance to own the rarest of rare Michael Jordan and McDonald's collectible!" It sold for $9,995 Monday night to a buyer from Chicago whom Bank has not identified.
CHARLES, CATCHINGS LEAD ALL-WNBA SELECTIONS: Connecticut's Tina Charles was the leading vote-getter for the All-WNBA team, and the Fever's Tamika Catchings earned her seventh first-team selection.
Catchings, a first-team pick for the fourth straight season, tied Seattle's Lauren Jackson and Phoenix's Diana Taurasi for second place on the career list with seven selections to the first team. Former Los Angeles star Lisa Leslie is the leader with eight.
Joining Charles and Catchings on the first team were the Sparks' Candace Parker, New York's Cappie Pondexter and Minnesota's Seimone Augustus. The Sky's Sylvia Fowles was selected to the second team.
Men's soccer
VU'S ZOBECK A FINALIST FOR SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Valparaiso University fifth-year senior goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck has been named one of 10 nationwide finalists for the 2012 men's soccer Senior Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. Fans can vote for Zobeck at www.seniorclassaward.com/vote.
College swimming
VU'S CASTRO DIAZ NAMED HORIZON LEAGUE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK: Valparaiso University freshman Gonzalo Castro Diaz has been named the Horizon League's Male Swimmer of the Week. Castro Diaz won the 200-meter individual medley and 500 free, and he also swam a leg on the victorious 200 free relay in Saturday's meet at Monmouth.
Around the horn
Due to severe weather Wednesday, the Valparaiso University women's soccer match with Horizon League foe Loyola has been moved to 3 p.m. Monday at Eastgate Field. ... Game 4 of the AL championship series between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers was postponed until 3:07 p.m. today because of inclement weather. ... Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson has been cleared by doctors to practice after he sustained a concussion in the Stanford game. ... The Minnesota Timberwolves will begin the first month of the season without Kevin Love after the two-time All-Star broke his right hand Wednesday and will miss six to eight weeks. ... The Blackhawks' Jimmy Hayes will sign autographs and pose for photos with fans from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today at Bridges Scoreboard Restaurant and Sports Bar in Griffith. Call (219) 924-2206 for details. ... Valparaiso University fifth-year senior goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck has been named one of 10 nationwide finalists for the 2012 men's soccer Senior Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School Award.
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