• Spain clinches Davis cup win • Auburn, Cal, odd teams out in BCS race Spain clinches Davis cup win SEVILLE, Spain — Spain won the Davis Cup title Sunday, taking an insurmountable lead against the United States when Carlos
• Spain clinches Davis cup win
• Auburn, Cal, odd teams out in BCS race
Spain clinches Davis cup win
SEVILLE, Spain — Spain won the Davis Cup title Sunday, taking an insurmountable lead against the United States when Carlos Moya beat Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5) for the American star’s second loss in this final.
Moya’s decisive victory put the home country ahead 3-1 in the best-of-five series. The victory came before a sellout crowd of 27,200 that included Prince Felipe, heir to the Spanish throne.
“The Davis Cup is my dream,” Moya said. “I can’t ask for more. There is nothing bigger than what I’ve lived today.”
This was the second Davis Cup championship for Spain. The Americans were shooting for their 32nd title and first in nine years.
Moya took the match when Roddick netted a backhand off the Spaniard’s serve. Moya dropped to his back on the red clay, and Prince Felipe leaped from his chair with a two-fisted salute. Moya then raced over and reached up to shake the Prince’s hand, and the hand of his wife, Princess Letizia.
Roddick needed to win both his singles matches in this round for the Americans to have a chance. Instead, the No. 2 player in the world dropped both, losing in four sets Friday to 18-year-old Rafael Nadal. The United States won Saturday’s doubles behind twins Mike and Bob Bryan.
Auburn, Cal, odd teams out in BCS race
USC and Oklahoma finished atop the final Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday and will meet in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 in a title game that — again — might not end the argument over who is No. 1.
Auburn, 12-0 just like the top two teams, finished third in the BCS points system that relies on The Associated Press and coaches polls, plus computer ratings. So the Tigers will have to settle for a Sugar Bowl berth against Virginia Tech on Jan. 3.
“It’s not a perfect system, and if it was we’d all be happy today,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said during ABC’s broadcast of the BCS pairings.
At least Auburn gets to play in one of the glamour games. California was left out of the BCS altogether after Texas passed the Golden Bears and moved into fourth in the final standings. The Longhorns (10-1) will play Big Ten co-champion Michigan (9-2) in the Rose Bowl. The Bears (10-1) were relegated to the Holiday Bowl, certainly not the showcase they were hoping for as the fourth-ranked team in the country.
“As a program, we were set on the Rose Bowl,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “I felt like we did enough to earn that.”
Oklahoma’s strong computer rankings kept the Sooners ahead of the Tigers in the BCS standings, while USC held on to first place thanks to its strong showing in the polls.
It’s the first time Nos. 1 and 2 stayed the same from the Associated Press preseason Top 25 through the final regular season poll.
