NEW YORK—Texas is back to No. 2 in the AP college football poll. The Longhorns jumped Alabama and landed right behind top-ranked Florida on Sunday, the day after winning 41-14 at Oklahoma State. Florida, No. 1 for all but one week this season, received 38 first-place votes after a 41-17 victory over Georgia. The Longhorns started the season ranked second, but have been No. 3 behind the Gators and Crimson Tide the last three weeks. Texas received 13 first-place votes from the media panel.

ST. LOUIS - Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford will have season-ending shoulder surgery and expects to enter the NFL draft in April. The Oklahoma quarterback injured his right throwing shoulder twice this season, most recently against Texas on Oct. 10. The school announced yesterday that Dr. James Andrews will perform the operation Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala.

Shortly after winning last year’s presidential election, Barack Obama said he was going “to throw my weight around a little bit” to nudge college football’s Bowl Championship Series to move to a playoff system. Yesterday, Sen. Orrin Hatch took him up on that. Hatch asked the president to launch a Justice Department investigation into the way the BCS—a complex system of computer rankings and polls that often draws criticism—crowns its national champion.

Florida, Alabama and Texas hold the top three spots in the first BCS standings and control their fates in the national championship race. The Gators (.988) are in first, just ahead of the Crimson Tide (.952). Texas (.891) is third. Boise State (.808) is fourth, but the Broncos still seem to be a long shot to play for a national championship.

The ideal place for government involvement in sports is on the sidelines. The ideal rarely is met. Politicians use public funds to build stadiums. Government officials woo professional franchise owners with tax breaks and other subsidies. Without government involvement, Major League Baseball probably would not have been inspired to improve its testing for the use of steroids.

A lawyer for a college athletic conference says it would be in the public’s interest if the government investigated the system that determines college football’s No. 1 team.

MIAMI—The top-ranked Florida Gators grabbed a 14-7 lead over No. 2 Oklahoma after three quarters at the BCS national championship game Thursday night. With two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks and offenses that combined to average 99 points per game in the regular season, the Gators and Sooners were expected to trade scores most of the night at Dolphin Stadium. But the defenses came up with most of the biggest plays in the first 30 minutes.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Bowl Championship Series officials believe they’re prepared to fend off any legal challenges. With the Utah attorney general investigating the bowl system for a possible antitrust violation, Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner and BCS coordinator John Swofford said the BCS has carefully considered the legality of its format.

SALT LAKE CITY—Utah’s attorney general is investigating the Bowl Championship Series for a possible violation of federal antitrust laws after an undefeated University of Utah team was left out of the college football national title game for the second time in five years. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff contends the BCS unfairly puts schools like Utah—a member of a conference that has no automatic bid to the lucrative bowl games—at a competitive and financial disadvantage.

Thirteen years ago last night, inside the Louisiana Superdome, Virginia Tech announced its presence to the college football world. The 28-10 win over Texas in the Sugar Bowl remains a magical memory for many Tech fans who, to this day, can see Bryan Still returning a punt 60 yards for a touchdown and catching a 54-yard touchdown pass from Jim Druckenmiller.