New York, NY  - Georgia will start the 2008 college football season as the top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll.

The Bulldogs finished last year as the No. 2 team in the country, behind only Southeastern Conference rival LSU, after capping an 11-2 season with a 41-10 rout of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl.

This year's Georgia squad returns numerous starters from both sides of the ball, including quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno, who became the first Bulldog freshman to rush for 1,000 yards since Herschel Walker in 1980.

Georgia, which opens its schedule on August 30 against Georgia Southern, last won a national championship in 1980 and is ranked No. 1 by the AP to start a season for the first time in school history.

The Bulldogs received 22 first-place votes and a total of 1,528 points from a nationwide media panel to edge Ohio State for the top spot. The Buckeyes, who lost in the national championship game for the second year in a row, earned 21 first-place votes and 1,506 points.

Southern California, Oklahoma and Florida round out the top five. USC garnered 12 first-place votes, while Oklahoma nabbed four and Florida six.

Missouri, LSU, West Virginia, Clemson and Auburn complete the top 10.

The second 10 consists of Texas, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Kansas, Arizona State, BYU, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, South Florida and Illinois.

Oregon, Penn State, Wake Forest, Alabama and Pittsburgh are the last five teams ranked.

The SEC has the most teams in the poll with six, including four in the top 10, while the Big 12 has five teams ranked.

Wake Forest will be the first top-25 team to take the field this season, opening its schedule on August 28 at Baylor.

While many of the top teams will face lesser opposition the first weekend, a pair of games feature ranked teams against each other. Clemson will open at home against Alabama and Illinois will visit Missouri.

 

Beijing, China  - Dawn Harper claimed gold for the United States in the women's 100 meter hurdles Tuesday at the Beijing Olympics, while a mistake cost fellow American Lolo Jones a medal.

Harper won the race with a personal-best time of 12.54 seconds, finishing ahead of Australia's Sally McCellan and Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, who both came across in 12.64 seconds. McCellan was awarded the silver over Lopes- Schliep after officials consulted the photo-finish.

Damu Cherry of the U.S. and Jamaica's Delloreen Ennis-London were just .01 seconds away from McCellan and Lopes-Schliep.

However, Jones was leading the race and appeared poised for gold before hitting the second-to-last hurdle with her foot. The stumble dropped Jones all the way to seventh place.

 

In Monday's semifinals, Jones ran a blazing race of 12.43 seconds, the fastest time in the world since Joanna Hayes of the U.S. set an Olympic record of 12.37 seconds to win gold at the 2004 Athens Games.

Tampa, FL  - Luke McCown went 7-for-10 with 79 yards and a touchdown as the Tamp Bay Buccaneers downed the New England Patriots, 27-10, in preseason action.

Earnest Graham had a one-yard touchdown run while Michael Bennett added 57 rushing yards on eight carries for the Buccaneers (2-0). Matt Bryant hit a pair of field goals and all three extra-point attempts.

Tom Brady, who was expected to start, sat out the game with a foot injury and didn't make the trip with the team. Matt Cassell started under center and went 6-for-10 with 57 yards for the Patriots (0-2). Heath Evans scored the lone touchdown for New England on a one-yard score.

New England receiver Randy Moss made his preseason debut and caught two passes for 25 yards.

Graham capped a 17-play, 80-yard drive that ate up almost 10 minutes of the clock to give Tampa Bay a 7-0 lead.

Bryant hit a 34-yard field goal and McCown hit Byron Storer on a one-yard score with a bit over one minute left in the first half to give the Bucs a 17-0 lead.

Stephen Gostkowski's 53-yard field goal as time expired in the first half got the Patriots on the board.

An errant shotgun snap on the first play of the second half was picked up by Sabby Piscitelli and he rumbled into the end zone from 24 yards out to make it a 24-3 contest.

Bryant later hit a 23-yard field goal with 7:38 left in the third quarter.

Evans' one-yard score in the fourth quarter accounted for the final score of the contest.

Also on the injury front, Tampa Bay starting quarterback Jeff Garcia has sat out both preseason contests after missing most of training camp with a sprained right calf.

Beijing, China  - Angelo Taylor of the United States won his second gold medal in the men's 400 meter hurdles Monday at the Beijing Olympics, leading a clean sweep for the Americans in the event.

Taylor, the gold medalist eight years ago in Sydney, finished the race in a personal-best time of 47.25 seconds. Kerron Clement crossed the line .73 seconds later for silver and Bershawn Jackson earned the bronze with a time of 48.06 seconds.

Jamaica's Danny McFarlane was fourth, running the race in 48.30 seconds.

 

St. Petersburg - With a possible hurricane looming, the top two teams in the American League start a three-game series this evening, as the Tampa Bay Rays welcome the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to Tropicana Field.

Tonight's tilt is not expected to be affected by Tropical Storm Fay, but the final two games could be impacted if the storm, which is projected to reach Florida's Gulf Coast on Tuesday, becomes a hurricane.

Tampa, of course, has been the surprise of baseball this season and enters tonight's potential playoff preview with a 4 1/2-game edge on the Boston Red Sox in the AL East.

Injuries this past week to Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and Troy Percival did not slow them any, as the Rays took two of three this weekend from the Texas Rangers and have won seven of their last nine.

On Sunday, Scott Kazmir was convincing on the mound, while B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena both homered to lead Tampa Bay to a 7-4 victory in the finale of the three-game set in Arlington. Upton and Pena both finished with three RBI, while Jason Bartlett accounted for the other RBI in the win.

Kazmir (9-6) gave up just two runs on four hits while fanning seven and walking four over six innings of work. Dan Wheeler came in to record the final out and earned his fifth save of the season in the process.

Getting the nod for the Rays tonight will be right-hander Andy Sonnanstine, who has won his last two decisions and is unbeaten in his last three starts. Sonnanstine picked up the win on Wednesday in Oakland, as he held the Athletics to a pair of runs and six hits in six innings to run his record to 12-6 on the season, while lowering his earned run average to 4.35.

Sonnanstine received a no-decision earlier in the year against the Halos, but is 0-1 in two starts against them with a 6.00 ERA.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, has more than enough breathing room in the AL West, where they hold a comfortable 15 1/2-game lead on the Texas Ranges. The Angels, though, enter this series on the heels of their first series loss to an AL team since getting swept by the Rays back in mid-May.

Cleveland took two of three from the Angels over the weekend, including a 4-3 win in Sunday's finale at Progressive Field.

LA starter Joe Saunders was touched for three runs on eight hits through five innings while taking a no-decision for his effort. Justin Speier (1-6) allowed the eventual game-winner in his 1 1/3-inning relief appearance for the loss.

Mark Teixeira had two hits and an RBI while Erick Aybar was 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored for the Angels, who have lost three of their last four, but still own the best record in baseball at 76-46.