Tuesday's Sports in Brief

How many teams will be allowed to play for the national championship is just one of many issues being considered by those who run the BCS.

When the games will be played is a hot topic, too.

The 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director met in Dallas, along with BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock, to resume discussing possible changes to college football's postseason.

While there seems to be growing support for creating a four-team playoff to determine a champion, how exactly that would work and when the games would be played remains to be seen.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Highly rated wide receiver recruit Davonte Neal from Scottsdale, Ariz., signed a letter of intent with Notre Dame.

The 5-10, 175-pound Neal was considered the highest-rated recruit still unsigned by most analysts. He helped Chaparral High School to back-to-back championships.

PHOENIX (AP) - The Fiesta Bowl's former top executive pleaded guilty to a felony charge stemming from a political donations scandal that nearly jeopardized the bowl's role as a regular host of college football's national championship game.

John Junker entered the plea for his role in soliciting political contributions from Fiesta Bowl employees.

PRO BASKETBALL

NEW YORK (AP) - Jeremy Lin has people watching the New York Knicks in record numbers.

The Knicks said that their past two games were the highest-rated regular-season events on MSG since the network began tracking household ratings in the 1988-89 season.

BASEBALL

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) -Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge announced that he will move Ichiro Suzuki from his traditional leadoff spot down to No. 3 in the Mariners batting order.

Wedge is set to make Suzuki's move permanent and he will figure out who is Seattle's best option to take over in the leadoff role.

CHICAGO (AP) - The Cubs and the Red Sox settled their dispute over what Boston should get after executive Theo Epstein left for Chicago.

The Cubs are sending right-handed reliever Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later to the Red Sox for a player to be named.

PHOENIX (AP) - Manny Ramirez is expected to join Oakland at its spring training facility on Friday.

``I watched some video of him and saw the swing. It didn't look any different, and it looked like he was in good shape,'' A's manager Bob Melvin said Tuesday. ``He'll be ready to go with the position players and we'll see what he has to offer.''

NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Mets' longtime clubhouse manager admitted he illegally owned millions of dollars' worth of team memorabilia.

Charlie Samuels pleaded guilty in a Queens courthouse to possessing stolen property and tax fraud.

He is expected to be sentenced in April to five years' probation. The 55-year-old is also banned from any Mets facility.

PRO FOOTBALL

DENVER (AP) - Brady Quinn apologized to Tim Tebow for unflattering comments Quinn made about the Denver Broncos' starting quarterback in a GQ article.

The article on Tebowmania was written by Michael Silver and titled ``The year of Magical Stinking: An Oral History of Tebow Time.''

In it, Quinn was quoted as saying, ``We've had a lot of, I guess, luck, to put it simply.'' He also said he felt the fans were the reason Tebow leapfrogged him on the depth chart when supplanting Kyle Orton as the starter after a 1-4 start.

PRO HOCKEY

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The Detroit Red Wings acquired defenseman Kyle Quincey in a three-team deal that sent forward Steve Downie from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Lightning acquired a first-round pick in this year's draft and minor league defenseman Sebastien Piche after exchanging Downie for Quincey with the Avalanche. Tampa Bay then dealt Quincey to the Red Wings for a first-round pick and Piche.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier is out indefinitely because of broken right hand.

CHICAGO (AP) - Detroit Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk is expected to miss two weeks after having arthroscopic surgery to remove fragments from his right knee.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - St. Louis Blues forward Jamie Langenbrunner will miss at least a month with a broken bone in his left foot sustained in a loss Sunday at Chicago.

SOCCER

LISBON, Portugal (AP) - Sporting Lisbon and U.S. national team defender Oguchi Onyewu needs knee surgery and will be sidelined for eight weeks.

The Portuguese club says medical scans revealed a torn ligament and meniscus in Onyewu's right knee, an injury sustained in Sunday's 1-0 victory over Pacos Ferreira.

SKIING

MOSCOW (AP) - Julia Mancuso of the United States and Alexis Pinturault of France dominated the parallel slalom World Cup races on a giant ramp in Moscow.

Mancuso beat Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria in both final runs in the only city event on the Alpine circuit this season. Overall World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn, who lost to Mancuso in the semifinals, finished third.

TENNIS

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Ana Ivanovic defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Peng Shuai ousted six-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-3, winning six straight games to wrap up the final set.

MARSEILLE, France (AP) - Nikolay Davydenko had nine aces and didn't face a break point in a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Andreas Beck to reach the second round of the Open 13.

Davydenko will face fourth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro for a place in the quarterfinals.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - No. 2 Nicolas Almagro beat Potito Starace 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), at Copa Claro clay-court event.

Gilles Simon defeated Rui Machado 6-3, 7-5, and No. 5 Juan Monaco advanced when Filippo Volandri retired in the second set with an injury while Monaco was leading 6-1, 3-1

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Top-seed John Isner, playing for the first time since helping the U.S. defeat Switzerland in Davis Cup, defeated Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.

COLLEGE HOCKEY

BOSTON (AP) - A Boston University hockey player accused of raping a female student pleaded not guilty and was ordered to have no contact with her.

Thousand Oaks, Calif., resident Max Nicastro was freed on $10,000 bail after his arraignment in Brighton District Court.