Sports briefs 12/2/03

Baseball

The Diamondbacks got Richie Sexson from Milwaukee in a nine-player deal that sent infielder Craig Counsell and second baseman Junior Spivey to the Brewers. First baseman Lyle Overbay, catcher Chad Moeller and left-handers Jorge De La Rosa and Chris Capuano also were dealt to Milwaukee. In addition to Sexson, Arizona received left-hander Shane Nance and a player to be named.

Free agent reliever Tom Gordon and the Yankees reached agreement on a two-year, $7.25 million contract, The Associated Press learned. The deal was finalized after Gordon passed a physical earlier in the day, a baseball source familiar with the negotiations said on the condition of anonymity.

Gary Sheffield and his agent, Rufus Williams, met with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for about an hour at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Fla. While Williams said the sides still haven't reached an agreement, he said all signs point toward the outfielder signing with New York.

Colleges

TCU is staying home to play its bowl game. The 19th-ranked Horned Frogs (11-1) will play in the inaugural Fort Worth Bowl against an undetermined opponent.

Louisville accepted a bid to the GMAC Bowl. The Cardinals will face No. 14 Miami (Ohio) in Mobile, Ala., on Dec. 18.

Conference USA champion Southern Mississippi will face Mountain West champ Utah in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 in Memphis, Tenn. Southern Mississippi will be making its third Liberty Bowl appearance.

Oregon State was picked to play against New Mexico in the Las Vegas Bowl on Christmas Eve, bowl officials announced.

The University of Cincinnati fired football coach Rick Minter and offered him another position within the athletic department. Minter has been at Cincinnati for 10 years, and with a 53-63-1 record had the most wins and losses in Bearcats history.

Texas-El Paso fired football coach Gary Nord after the team's third straight two-win season. Nord was 14-34 in four seasons.

Missouri's Marcus James was chosen as one of three Big 12 players of the week after he had four punt returns for a total of 96 yards in MU's 45-7 win Saturday over Iowa State. James shared the weekly award with Texas teammates Cedric Benson and Nathan Vasher of Texas.

Bill Self didn't have to wait long to be No. 1 at Kansas. The Jayhawks, taking advantage of losses by the top four teams last week, jumped from sixth to No. 1 in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll. Kansas' jump from No. 6 to No. 1 matched Duke's rise on Dec. 14, 1965, and those were second only to West Virginia's moving from No. 8 to No. 1 on Dec. 24, 1957.

Florida Gators quarterback Ingle Martin has asked to be released from his scholarship so he can transfer to another school.

-- From wire reports