Digest: ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups released

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Final Four teams Duke and Michigan State will face off in the 12th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Spartans, who lost in the semifinals to Butler, will play at the national champion Blue Devils on Dec. 1. Other matchups include North Carolina at Illinois and Iowa at Wake Forest on Nov. 30. N.C. State is at Wisconsin on Dec. 1.

n INDIANAPOLIS — The top five home drawing cards last season were Kentucky, Syracuse, Louisville, Tennessee and North Carolina.

Big Ten schools averaged 12,591 at conference games, finishing No. 1 in the nation for a 34th consecutive year. Two schools — Kansas State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff — each had attendance increases of more than 2,000 per game.

GOLF

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods said tests Wednesday showed an inflamed neck joint that causes pain and makes it hard to turn his head, an injury that will require little more than medicine, massages and rest.

Woods had an MRI that revealed inflammation in a facet joint of his neck. He said on his website that when facet joints are inflamed, it causes pain in the area along with headaches and difficulty rotating the head.

He withdrew from the final round of The Players Championship on Sunday after a week in which he was seen stretching and rolling his neck. Woods said his neck had been bothering him since before he returned from a five-month layoff at the Masters, and that it was not related to the Nov. 27 car accident when he ran into a tree, setting off revelations of infidelity.

"I now need to take care of this condition and will return to playing golf when I'm physically able," Woods said.

Woods said treatment will include physical therapy, such as soft-tissue massage, rest and anti-inflammatory medicine. He said the prognosis was for a full recovery, and while the layoff is not expected to be long, rehab can vary.

Woods said in a press conference this week that he hoped to be able to defend his title at the Memorial, which starts June 3 at Muirfield Village.

NFLNEW YORK — A positive drug test notwithstanding, Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing is still The Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Five days after he was suspended without pay for four games, a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL voted again to give Cushing the award. He didn't receive anywhere near the 39 votes of his previous landslide victory, but the 18 he got in the revote were enough to reclaim the honor.

"I was just glad to hear the news, that people stuck by me. Very honored," Cushing said. "I'm very happy to have the award once again, and I'm just happy with how everything turned out."

Although Cushing said he took a non-steroid substance, the league still considers it a performance-enhancer.

The AP decided to have a revote, in which Cushing finished five votes ahead of Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd. Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews III got 12, Washington linebacker Brian Orakpo earned three votes and St. Louis linebacker James Laurinaitis got one.

Three voters abstained. In all, 19 voters switched from Cushing to another player, and one voted for Cushing after picking Byrd originally.

n WASHINGTON — Brian Westbrook could become the fourth big-name veteran in a crowded Redskins running back competition.

The longtime Eagles standout visited the Redskins on Wednesday. General manager Bruce Allen called it "a good meeting" and that he will "probably have some meetings down the road" with the 30-year-old back.

n TAMPA, Fla. — Restricted free agent running back Cadillac Williams has signed his one-year tender to remain with the Bucs.

n PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania state trooper who was barred from working for Ben Roethlisberger wants the agency to let him return to his part-time job as an assistant for the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.

State police spokeswoman Lt. Myra Taylor said Trooper Ed Joyner has filed a union grievance but he won't be allowed to work for Roethlisberger while it is pending.

n NEW ORLEANS — An attorney for the New Orleans Saints said the team will wait until trial to respond to a former security director's allegations that the club tried to cover up prescription Vicodin thefts at team headquarters.

The Saints won't settle with Geoffrey Santini and won't be publicly discussing the lawsuit that he filed against the team until it goes to court, lawyer Phil Wittman said.

n CANTON, Ohio — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will be the presenter for Emmitt Smith at the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions this summer.

Jones also served as Michael Irvin's presenter in 2007. Smith is the NFL's career rushing leader.

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson will introduce linebacker Rickey Jackson.

Jerry Rice, the all-time receiving leader, will be presented by Ed DeBartolo Jr., former owner of the San Francisco 49ers.

Former Denver Broncos running back Floyd Little will be introduced by his son, Marc.

Russ Grimm, a one-time star guard with the Washington Redskins, will have his former line coach, Joe Bugel, present him. And Dick LeBeau, a standout defensive back for Detroit, will be introduced by his brother, Bob.N.C. HALLRALEIGH, N.C. — Paul Simson took a brief break from chasing another championship to receive another honor.

The Raleigh golfer was among seven people who make up the Class of 2010 that will be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame tonight.

Simson hustled onto the stage after shooting a 72 in the first round of the North Carolina Senior Amateur in Winston-Salem, and later joked that "the career continues."

He was joined at the ceremony by former North Carolina running back Don McCauley; former N.C. State receiver Mike Quick; former Marshall and Georgia coach Jim Donnan of Burlington; UNC field hockey coach Karen Shelton; former UNC soccer star Carla Overbeck and longtime Guilford College administrator Herb Appenzeller.

NBANEW YORK — The sale of the New Jersey Nets to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has been formally completed.

Russia's richest man agreed to buy 80 percent of the Nets and 45 percent of an arena project in Brooklyn from developer Bruce Ratner late last year.

n OKLAHOMA CITY — Thunder forward Nick Collison has undergone successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

COLLEGE FOOTBALLCORAL GABLES, Fla. — Randy Shannon has received a new four-year contract from Miami after the sides worked on trying to get a deal done for more than a year.

TENNISMADRID — Top-ranked Serena Williams was knocked out of the Madrid Masters, falling 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to Nadia Petrova in the third round.

In the men's draw, second-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Ukrainian qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. Earlier, fifth-seeded Andy Roddick withdrew from the tournament before his second-round match due to illness.