In brief: Meyer dispels Notre Dame rumors

Football: Standing behind the same podium where quarterback Tim Tebow delivered his now-famous promise 14 months and 21 wins ago, coach Urban Meyer vowed Monday to be at Florida “as long as they’ll have me.”

With rumors swirling about Charlie Weis’ future at Notre Dame, Meyer squashed any potential speculation about his leaving Gainesville for South Bend, Ind.

“I’m ready to dispel it,” Meyer said. “I’m going to be the coach at Florida as long as they’ll have me. So I want to make that clear.”

Meyer was an assistant at Notre Dame from 1996 to 2000, working under Lou Holtz.

•Northeastern ends program: Northeastern University is ending its football program after 74 seasons because the investment required to make it competitive was too high.

•Spokane, Missoula lose bid: Spokane, Missoula and Little Rock, Ark., have been notified by the NCAA that they are not among the finalists to host the 2010 Football Championship Subdivision title game, set for January 2011.

The finalist cities are Frisco, Texas, and Chattanooga, Tenn.

•Bulger breaks leg: St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger will be sidelined three to six weeks because of a fractured left leg sustained in Sunday’s loss to Arizona.

•Phillips confident in Romo: Tony Romo is feeling better, and Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is confident the quarterback will be ready to play against the Raiders on Thursday.

Alridge, Oden lead Blazers past Bulls

Basketball: Greg Oden tied a career high with 24 points and LaMarcus Aldridge also had 24 to help the Trail Blazers beat the Chicago Bulls 122-98 in Portland.

Oden missed one of his eight shots from the field and added 12 rebounds. Aldridge pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Blazers had five players score in double figures. Brandon Roy had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Andre Miller scored 16 points and Rudy Fernandez added 13.

•Montana whips Ducks: Anthony Johnson scored 20 points and Brian Qvale added 15 points and 10 rebounds as Montana defeated Oregon 68-55.

Michael Taylor also scored 12 for the Big Sky Conference’s Grizzlies (4-0), who beat a Pac-10 team for the first time since an 88-69 win against Stanford in 2005. The Ducks are 3-2.

•Gates leads Bearcats over Commodores: Yancy Gates scored 12 points in an 18-2 first-half run that set the tone for Cincinnati’s 67-58 victory over No. 24 Vanderbilt (2-1) in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii. Gates finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bearcats (3-0), while reserve Dion Dixon added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

•Purdue outlasts Tennessee: E’Twaun Moore scored 22 points to lead No. 6 Purdue (4-0) to a 73-72 victory over No. 9 Tennessee (4-1) in the championship game of the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Crosby helps Pens rally over Panthers

NHL: Sidney Crosby scored on a power play at 3:07 of overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 in Sunrise, Fla.

Pascal Dupuis and Michael Rupp also scored for the Penguins.

Fisher lifts Senators over Capitals: Mike Fisher scored 1:14 into overtime, giving the Senators a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals in Ottawa.

Fisher batted Chris Phillips’ centering pass from the left side out of the air and past Semyon Varlamov for his 10th goal of the season.

•Roloson, Islanders stop Leafs in OT: Dwayne Roloson made 58 saves and Josh Bailey scored in overtime to lift the New York Islanders to a 4-3 win over the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

Griffey could earn $3.9M in 2010

Baseball: According to contract figures obtained by the Associated Press, Ken Griffey Jr.’s deal signed this month to return to Seattle for one more season as a 40-year-old calls for a $2.35 million base salary for 2010 with the chance to earn up to $3.9 million with incentives.

Nordqvist wins LPGA championship

Miscellany: Anna Nordqvist has won the LPGA Tour Championship and Lorena Ochoa finished second to win her fourth consecutive player of the year award by one point over Jiyai Shin.

The 22-year-old Nordqvist shot a final-round 65 in Richmond, Texas, to finish 13 under par. Ochoa was two strokes back and won the top player honor when Shin couldn’t chip in from the front of the 18th hole.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., finished tied for 16th with a 4-under-par 212.