weekend briefs

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, considered a front-runner for this season’s Heisman… Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, considered a front-runner for this season’s Heisman Trophy, broke his non-throwing hand in Florida’s 45-12 win over rival Florida State on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.

Tebow, a sophomore, should be able to play in Florida’s bowl game, which probably will be after New Year’s.

West Virginia is the No. 1 team in the nation according to yesterday’s USA Today poll.

The Mountaineers are No. 2 in the BCS standings and the Associated Press poll. At 10-1, West Virginia beat out Missouri (11-1) for the USA Today poll’s top ranking by 13 points.

West Virginia is .0068 points behind Missouri in the BCS standings, but with its win over Connecticut on Saturday, West Virginia clinched a berth in a BCS bowl game. Missouri needs to win the Big 12 championship game next weekend to secure its own berth.

If both teams win next weekend, nothing should prevent them from playing the BCS title game on Jan. 7 in New Orleans.

San Diego Chargers running back LaDanian Tomlinson reached the 10,000 rushing yards mark yesterday.

Tomlinson is the 23rd player in NFL history to reach the mark.

Tomlinson had 77 yards on 24 carries in the Chargers’ 32-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

The New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez reached a $30-million agreement on Saturday.

The agreement is based on home-run achievements for the slugger, who could increase his new deal’s worth to over $300 million for the next 10 years.

Compiled by Jeff Greer and Pat Mitsch