National Sports

Rookie Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists for St. Louis. Andy McDonald had a power-play goal and an assist, Alex Pietrangelo's goal tied it up in the third period, and Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists. The team that won the President's Trophy last season now has started this lockout-shortened season with two straight wins.

Stan Musial was so revered in St. Louis, two statues of him stand outside Busch Stadium. He spent his entire 22-year career with the Cardinals and made the All-Star team 24 times.

A study released Wednesday shows the Southeastern Conference combines relatively low academic spending with explosive coaching salaries. The report does not provide information about ratios at individual institutions.

The NCAA is facing more than a half-dozen lawsuits in what could signal a new era of legal complications for the largest governing body in collegiate sports.

The site of the first championship game in the new college football system is still to be picked, though Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, seems to be the front-runner.

SEC teams are just 3-11 against the Top 25. Missouri's 82-73 victory over No. 10 Illinois on Dec. 22 is the SEC's lone win over a top-10 team in eight attempts.

Quieting the Irish on the first drive, Eddie Lacy, AJ McCarron and the No. 2 Crimson Tide rolled top-ranked Notre Dame 42-14 for the BCS championship Monday night, locking up a second straight national title and third in four years.

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel is the Southeastern Conference offensive player of the year while the Aggies' Kevin Sumlin shared coaching honors.

A report released Wednesday by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida said that 100 percent of FBS conference commissioners were held by white men at the beginning of the 2012-13 academic year.

Officials involved in the decision decided that the potential money to be made in the Big Ten was more significant than the tradition associated with belonging to the same conference for 59 years.

A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that Maryland and Rutgers are in discussions with the Big Ten to possibly join the conference in 2014.

Television networks weren't all that interested in paying in excess of $20 million a year more for a game that could potentially feature low-profile teams.

Spokesman Erik Christianson wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the NCAA's drug-testing rules are not affected by state laws.

The pitcher returned to the mound for the first time since winning Game 7 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers.

Danny Amendola tied an NFL record with 12 first-half receptions in Week 2. The St. Louis Rams' wide receiver might get some extra attention this week at Chicago.

After several difficult years in a row, St. Louis sees big improvement this season. The Rams are playing with the same positive attitude coach Jeff Fisher brings to the job.

Kansas City's schedule doesn't get easier in upcoming weeks. The Chiefs follow their trip to New Orleans with games against San Diego and Baltimore and then will visit Tampa Bay.

Chicago ended a six-game losing streak by defeating the Royals 5-4 Saturday. In the past two games against Kansas City, the White Sox have hit six home runs.

Sarah Castle, a four-time Paralympian, trained with the MU Men's Wheelchair Basketball team to prepare for this year's event in London.

The SEC once again features an array of hard-to-block pass rushers including the freakishly fast Barkevious Mingo at LSU, South Carolina's twin towers Jadeveon Clowney and Devin Taylor and Georgia All-American Jarvis Jones.