In brief

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Auburn, Newton deny contact with man who sought payment

Auburn has had "no contact whatsoever" with a man who allegedly tried to secure payment from Mississippi State during the recruitment of Tigers quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Cam Newton, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Newton also said he has done nothing wrong.

The NCAA is reviewing the recruitment of Newton, but Auburn has not received a letter of inquiry, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment.

"Cam's eligibility has at no point been in jeopardy," the person said Friday.

Newton, who will start for the third-ranked Tigers against Chattanooga today, denied any wrongdoing.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Newton said. "I'm blessed to be at Auburn right now, and I'm sure the smoke will settle."

Asked about how tough the past two days had been, Newton said: "It's been all right. I've had worse days, but God continues to bless me throughout this process, me and my family and most importantly the team."

The person familiar with the situation said Auburn's compliance office has reviewed personal and church bank records of Newton's dad, Cecil, as well as phone and e-mail records of the Tigers' football staff, and is "extremely confident there was no wrongdoing" during the school's recruitment of the quarterback.

The person told AP that the Southeastern Conference informed Auburn months ago of the allegations reported by Mississippi State.

Also: Utah will visit Southern California in the first conference game in the newly formed Pac-12 Conference next season.

The league released its first football schedule following the addition of Colorado and Utah to the conference. The season will end Dec. 3 with the championship game at the site of the division winner with the best record.

Oregon and Oregon State will not make trips to Los Angeles in the first season, with the Ducks hosting USC and the Beavers hosting UCLA. Washington State will travel to UCLA and Washington will visit USC. Those trips will flip in 2012.

Also, the previously scheduled nonconference game between California and Colorado has been dropped. That forces both schools to fill a game on their schedules.

The president of Notre Dame sent an e-mail to students, faculty, staff and alumni saying that the school is responsible for a student videographer's death because it failed to protect him.

"Declan Sullivan was entrusted to our care, and we failed to keep him safe," the Rev. John Jenkins wrote. "We at Notre Dame and ultimately I, as President, are responsible. Words cannot express our sorrow to the Sullivan family and to all involved."

Sullivan, 20, a student videographer, was killed Oct. 27 when a hydraulic lift he was on toppled over while he was filming football practice. The National Weather Service reported gusts of up to 51 mph at the time. The school and state regulators are investigating the accident.

SOCCER

U.S. women lose to Mexico, in danger of missing World Cup

Mexico beat the United States in one of the biggest upsets in the history of women's soccer, a 2-1 victory in Cancun on goals by Maribel Dominguez and Veronica Perez that qualified the Mexicans for next year's World Cup.

Carli Lloyd scored for the top-ranked United States, which is in danger of missing the Women's World Cup for the first time. Mexico is ranked 22nd.

The Americans, the 1991 and 1999 champions, must beat Costa Rica on Monday in the third-place playoff of the North and Central American and Caribbean region, then win a home-and-home playoff with Italy, the No. 5 team in European qualifying, to reach the tournament in Germany. The playoff is Nov. 20 and 27.

The Americans outscored opponents 18-0 in the first round and had beaten Mexico in all four previous meetings in qualifiers, by a combined 26-0.

Also: Wayne Rooney will spend a week in the United States doing conditioning work to aid his recovery from the ankle injury that has kept him out for three weeks.

The Manchester United striker will train at Nike's headquarters in Portland, Ore.

Rooney's conduct has been scrutinized by British media over the past three months after he was accused of cheating on his wife with a prostitute. He then publicly threatened to quit United before signing a five-year contract with the club.

MISCELLANEOUS

Teen Vandeweghe to make Fed Cup debut in hometown

Teenager CoCo Vandeweghe will make her Fed Cup debut in her hometown of San Diego against French Open champion Francesca Schiavone when the underdog United States faces defending champion Italy in the final beginning today.

U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez picked the 18-year-old Vandeweghe over Melanie Oudin for No. 2 singles. The top U.S. singles player, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, will play Italy's No. 2, Flavia Pennetta, in the second match today.

Also: Top-ranked Rafael Nadal withdrew from next week's Paris Masters because of a shoulder injury that will keep him sidelined for at least a week.

Nadal said in an e-mail sent out by his management team that he was suffering from "a small case of tendinitis in my left shoulder which came about through forcing my serve too much during training this week."

UNLV freshman women's tennis player Lucia Batta was eliminated from the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in White Plains, N.Y. Batta lost in the first round of consolation play to Tennessee's Brynn Boren, 6-2, 6-4.

The New York Mets were forced to release reliever Hisanori Takahashi, who was 10-6 with eight saves and a 3.61 ERA in 12 starts and 41 relief appearances last season, after the sides failed to agree on a new contract.

Right-handed pitchers Doug Mathis and Brandon McCarthy and infielder Esteban German became free agents after refusing their assignment to the minor leagues by the Texas Rangers.

Hollywood has an eye on Mine That Bird.

Plans are in the works for a movie about the New Mexico-based thoroughbred that won the 2009 Kentucky Derby as a 50-1 long shot.

The director will be Jim Wilson, the Academy Award-winning producer of "Dances With Wolves." The production team also includes Santa Fe resident Tony Mark, who was executive producer for the Academy Award-winner, "The Hurt Locker."

Among those being considered for roles are Mine That Bird himself and three-time Kentucky Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel.

American skater Mirai Nagasu won the women's short program at the Cup of China in Beijing in her return from a fractured foot.

Nagasu started the performance with a solid triple lutz and double toe-loop before following with a wobbly triple flip. She quickly recovered with a smoothly executed layback spin and change foot combination spin to earn 58.76 points.

Eugene McCune, Bill O'Neill and Scott Norton won the first three events of the PBA World Series of Bowling at the South Point Bowling Center.

McCune defeated Norm Duke 238-237 to win the Cheetah Championship, O'Neill defeated Andres Gomez 237-203 to win the Viper Championship, and Norton, a PBA Tour rookie bowling in only his fifth event, defeated Sean Rash 256-181 to win the Chameleon Championship for his first career PBA Tour title.

The final three WSOB events will be decided today at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.