Fast Break

College football

McFadden won’t pursue Heisman

Darren McFadden isn’t sticking around for another run at the Heisman Trophy.

The Arkansas All-American announced Monday he’ll skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft.

McFadden was the Heisman runner-up in 2006 and 2007, so his decision to turn pro wasn’t surprising. He ran for 1,830 yards last season, second on the Southeastern Conference’s single-season list. He is also second on the career list with 4,590 yards rushing.

Felix Jones, the Razorbacks’ other talented tailback, said he’ll also enter the draft a year early.

College basketball

Cougars drop to No. 8 in polls

The last of the unbeatens are 1-2-3 in the Top 25 – again.

North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas are the only Division I teams yet to lose this season.

Washington State’s first loss of the season dropped the Cougars four spots to No. 8 in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll.

The Cougars lost 81-74 on Saturday to the new No. 4 UCLA. WSU is also No. 8 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll.

Arizona State moved in at No. 22, the Sun Devils’ first ranking since the final poll of the 1994-95 season.

Arizona State (13-2) moved into the rankings on a nine-game winning streak that includes a 3-0 start in the Pac-10.

Skiing

Ski crowd piles on cheap lift ticket

Skiers taking advantage of Schweitzer’s $15 Sunday half-day lift ticket promotion (non-holiday weekends only) might want to pack a snack for the lift lines, and plan on taking an early shuttle bus up the mountain.

“Halfway up, at the roundabout, resort workers were stopping cars and telling folks the parking lots were full, sending us back down to catch a shuttle bus,” one would-be Sunday afternoon skier said in an e-mail Monday.

The $15 lift ticket is valid most Sundays, 12:30 p.m.-4 p.m. – a screaming deal compared with the usual $55 adult day pass or $50 half-day pass.

“The Sunday Solution is popular,” acknowledged Jennifer Ekstrom, Schweitzer spokeswoman. “We’ve had lots of snow; that means good skiing, but it also shrinks our parking lot.

“We have a sign at the bottom that warns people to take the shuttle bus, but sometime skiers tend to be hopeful and they try to drive up anyway.”