Cardinals pick Matheny to replace legend

Baseball: The St. Louis Cardinals are replacing a manager who’s third on the career victory list with a man who’ll be writing his first lineup card on opening day.

Mike Matheny, a former catcher with the Cardinals who had been a minor league instructor, will be introduced as Tony La Russa’s successor at a news conference today.

“I think he’s going to be a great leader,” Jim Edmonds, a teammate of Matheny’s with the Cardinals, said Sunday. “If he goes out there and does what he’s capable of doing and they put the players around him, he could be the manager for the next 20 years.”

The 40-year-old Matheny played for St. Louis from 2000-04 and won three of his four Gold Gloves.

LSU unanimous choice for No. 1

Football: LSU is a unanimous No. 1 in the AP college football poll, marking the first time since 2008 a team has received all the first-place votes during the regular season.

The Tigers (10-0), who have been No. 1 since Sept. 25, received all 60 first-place votes. The last unanimous top-ranked team in the regular season was Texas on Oct. 26, 2008.

Oklahoma State (10-0) is No. 2 for the second straight week, while Alabama moved up to No. 3, Oregon jumped two spots to No. 4 and Oklahoma moved to No. 5.

LSU, Oklahoma State, Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma make up the BCS top five.

• Scott arrested for rape: Charles Scott Jr., a former running back for LSU and the Arizona Cardinals, was arrested and charged with rape after an incident at his home near Baton Rouge, La.

Scott, 23, was booked at the Ascension Parish Jail, the sheriff’s office said. Bond had not been set.

Police said Scott’s arrest was the result of “an 18-year-old alleging she was raped by Charles Edward Scott Jr.” No further details were available.

Baylor’s Mulkey gets 300th career win

Basketball: Brittney Griner scored 19 points and helped give coach Kim Mulkey her 300th career win as the top-ranked Baylor (2-0) women rolled to a 91-31 win over Chattanooga (1-1) in Waco, Texas, in the second round of the preseason WNIT.

Kylie Lambert and Taylor Hall scored 10 points each in Chattanooga’s lowest scoring game in the 37-year history of the program.

• Notre Dame crushes Indiana State: Kayla McBride scored 16 points and No. 2 Notre Dame (2-0) placed six players in double figures in a 99-34 victory over Indiana State in South Bend, Ind., in the preseason WNIT.

Notre Dame had 25 steals and converted Indiana State’s 36 turnovers into 51 points.

• Vanderbilt men upset: D’Aundray Brown scored 18 points, and Cleveland State opened the season by upsetting No. 7 Vanderbilt 71-58 in Nashville, Tenn., in a regional game of the Legends Classic.

John Jenkins topped Vanderbilt (1-1) with 17 points.

• Zeller sparks No. 1 North Carolina: Tyler Zeller scored 27 points to help North Carolina fight off UNC Asheville 91-75 in the debut of the Bulldogs’ new Kimmel Arena in Asheville, N.C.

The Tar Heels (2-0) shot 59 percent from the field to win a rare in-state, nonconference game in coach Roy Williams’ hometown.

J.P. Prim scored 23 points to lead Asheville (0-2) in front of a sellout crowd of 3,200.

• Arizona beats Ball State: Kyle Fogg scored 21 points, Solomon Hill added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 16 Arizona (3-0) pulled away late to beat Ball State 73-63 in Tucson, Ariz.

Jarrod Jones matched his career high with 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Cardinals (0-1), who dominated the game until the Wildcats clamped on a tight defense in the second half.

Another Howe in the Hockey Hall of Fame

Hockey: Mark Howe has earned the right to join his father in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The son of Gordie Howe will be inducted tonight in Toronto with Ed Belfour, in his first year of eligibility, Doug Gilmour and Joe Nieuwendyk.

Detroit Red Wings analyst Mickey Redmond and Edmonton Sun columnist Terry Jones will be honored today at a luncheon.

• Flyers edge Panthers: Danny Briere, Braydon Coburn and Matt Read scored and Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla.

• Wild ride fast start to victory: Matt Cullen and former Spokane Chief Jared Spurgeon scored 3:21 apart in the first period, Kyle Brodziak also found the net and Nicklas Backstrom made 32 saves as the Minnesota Wild edged the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in Anaheim, Calif.

• Blackhawks double up Oilers: Jonathan Toews and Steve Montador each scored twice to help the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-3 in Chicago for their third straight victory.

Federer wins Paris Masters for first time

Miscellany: Roger Federer beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 (3) to win the Paris Masters for the first time and clinch the 69th title of his career.

• Hamilton wins F1 race: Lewis Hamilton won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, after Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel retired on the first lap because of a puncture of his right rear tire.

• Worsham, Hagan grab first titles: Del Worsham (Top Fuel) and Matt Hagan (Funny Car) raced to their first NHRA season championships with race victories in the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.

• Two injured in powerboat race: A single-boat accident blemished the final day of racing at the Key West (Fla.) World Championship, but injuries to two New Jersey racers are not believed to be serious. The final race of three was staged despite three deaths in races last week.