Tuberville done at Auburn; Weis hangs on with Irish

Charlie Weis is still in, but Tommy Tuberville is out.

Tuberville stepped down Wednesday after 10 years as Auburn’s coach, a reign that included a perfect season.

Tuberville was 85-40 in his decade with Auburn, including a 13-0 season in 2004 when the Tigers finished No. 2 in the nation and won the Southeastern Conference title for the first time in 15 years. But Auburn went 5-7 this year and was routed 36-0 at the end by rival and top-ranked Alabama.

It was announced that Weis will return for a fifth year as Notre Dame’s coach despite posting his second straight disappointing season. Weis has seven years left on a 10-year contract.

•Ball State says no to Boise: The Humanitarian Bowl announced that Ball State declined an offer to play Boise State on the Broncos’ home field in Idaho on Dec. 30.

An invitation to the New Year’s Day Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., was extended to the Clemson Tigers (7-5), who likely will be matched up with Nebraska (8-4).

Other bowl invites went out to Conference USA teams Southern Mississippi (New Orleans Bowl) and Rice (Texas Bowl).

NFL

Spencer on IR

Seahawks center Chris Spencer will miss the rest of the season with a herniated disk in his back, but he is hoping he can avoid surgery by resting. Spencer became the 11th Seattle player on injured reserve in this lost season. Converted guard Steve Vallos will make his second career start on Sunday for Seattle (2-10) against New England (7-5).

•Judge blocks suspensions: A Minnesota judge temporarily blocked the NFL’s suspension of Vikings stars Kevin and Pat Williams for violating the league’s anti-doping policy, but the players’ status for Sunday’s game at Detroit remained uncertain.

•Mathis out for season: Jacksonville cornerback Rashean Mathis will miss the rest of the season after injuring his right knee in Monday night’s game at Houston. He leads the team with four interceptions.

•Paralyzed girl gets $26 million: A stadium vendor has settled a lawsuit by the family of an 11-year-old girl paralyzed in a car accident caused by a drunken New York Giants fan for $26 million. The family of Antonia Verni sued Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., Giants Stadium’s concessionaire, claiming that employees continued to serve beer to Daniel Lanzaro of Cresskill, N.J., even though he was visibly intoxicated. Lanzaro had a blood alcohol level of 0.226, more than twice the legal limit at the time, after the 1999 accident. Antonia, then 2, was paralyzed from the neck down.

NBA

Cavs hot at home

LeBron James scored 21 points and then grabbed an early seat on the bench as the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 10-0 on their own floor for the first time in franchise history with their 14th win in 15 games, 118-82 over the New York Knicks.

•Blazers win sixth in row: Brandon Roy took over down the stretch, scoring 12 of his 22 points in the final 8 minutes to help Portland beat the host Washington Wizards 98-92 and extend the Trail Blazers’ winning streak to six games.

•Celtics take 10th consecutive win: Rajon Rondo notched his first career triple-double and Ray Allen scored 31 points, leading the host Boston Celtics over the Indiana Pacers, 114-96 for their 10th straight victory. Rondo scored 16 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and handed out a career-high 17 assists. Kevin Garnett added 26 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, whose most recent 10-game winning streak was from Feb. 24-March 12 last season.

NHL

Pizza Line leads way

Dany Heatley had a goal and two assists and the host Ottawa Senators got first-period goals from each member of the Pizza Line in a 5-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers. Heatley opened the scoring with his 13th goal 1:18 in, and set up goals by linemates Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson later in the period.

The Senators’ top line acquired its nickname from a pizza chain promotion that originally kicked in when Ottawa scored five goals in a game. It was subsequently raised to six goals.

Many spectators in the Scotiabank Place crowd of 17,215 got a shock when they witnessed a man falling about 25 feet from the upper deck during the second intermission. The man was conscious and receiving medical attention from paramedics while police interviewed people sitting in his section.

Senators president and CEO Roy Mlakar said the man was carrying two beers when he stumbled over a purse.

“He was not inebriated,” Mlakar said.

•Avery apologizes: Dallas Stars instigator Sean Avery apologized for comments about his former girlfriends that led to an indefinite NHL suspension. Avery had used a crude term about his former girlfriends dating other hockey players.

The Stars lost at Edmonton 5-2 Wednesday night.

Miscellany

Female bowler qualifies

Liz Johnson bowled her way into a men’s PBA Tour event, averaging nearly 227 in seven games in Cheektowaga, N.Y., to qualify for the Cheetah Championship. Johnson is an alternate on the PBA Women’s Series. Both tours are holding events in the town this week – with the women’s field already full, Johnson decided to try qualifying on the men’s side.

•Wie opens with a 69: Michelle Wie took an important first step toward earning an LPGA Tour card by opening with a 3-under-par 69 in the 90-hole qualifying tournament at Daytona Beach, Fla.

No one imagined she would be at Q-school, not with enough talent to shoot 68 on the PGA Tour at age 14 and contend for LPGA major championships while still in high school in Honolulu. Now Wie, 19, is back to the start, one of 140 players trying to earn a spot on the LPGA Tour.

•UNC women down Ohio State: Jessica Breland scored 29 points and No. 2 North Carolina (9-0) held No. 18 Ohio State (6-2) scoreless for more than 9 minutes of the second half to take a 72-63 basketball win in Columbus, Ohio.