FOOTBALL

Top four teams unchanged for third straight week

Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Michigan were at the top of the College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday night, marking the first time in the five-year history of the postseason system that the same teams held the first four spots for three straight weeks.

Unlike last week, there was a little movement in the top 10. Central Florida moved up two spots to No. 9. The Knights became the first team from outside the Power Five conference to be ranked in the selection committee’s top 10.

Georgia remained No. 5, followed by Oklahoma at sixth. LSU remained seventh, Washington State held at 8 and Ohio State stayed at 10th.

• A person familiar with the decision says Massachusetts is working on parting ways with Coach Mark Whipple, who has led the Minutemen to just 16 victories in six seasons during his second stint at the school.

Whipple, 61, has two years remaining on a contract that pays $500,000 annually.

UMass finished 4-8, same as last year.

GOLF

PGA: Vijay Singh settled his lawsuit against the PGA Tour over the way it investigated his use of deer antler spray. The settlement ends five years of litigation, less than a week before the case was to go to trial.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Singh said in a Sports Illustrated article in early 2013 that he used deer antler spray. The tour sent a sample of it from Singh to be tested and it returned small amounts of IGF-1, which was on the banned substance list. Two months after the tour told Singh he was being suspended for three months, it announced it was dropping the case because of new information on deer antler spray.

Singh claimed in his lawsuit the tour exposed him to ridicule.

SOLHEIM CUP: British golfer Laura Davies will be one of Europe’s three vice-captains next year at the Solheim Cup.

Europe captain Catriona Matthew chose Davies to join vice-captains Suzann Pettersen and Kathryn Imrie for the competition at the Gleneagles course in Scotland in September.

SKIING

INJURY: Lindsey Vonn, 34, says she injured her knee in a training crash on Monday and will miss the upcoming World Cup speed races in Lake Louise, Alberta.

SOCCER

U.S. MEN: Matteo Politano scored his first international goal in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, and Italy beat the United States 1-0 in an exhibition at Genk, Belgium, as 20-year-old Christian Pulisic became the youngest captain in the modern history of the American team.

SWIMMING

GOGGLES AWARDS: Katie Ledecky was honored as the top female swimmer for the sixth straight year, while Ryan Murphy took home three prizes at USA Swimming’s awards.

Murphy was named male athlete of the year, male race of the year for his 100 backstroke victory at Pan Pacs and relay performance of the year for his part on the winning 4×100 medley relay team in Tokyo.

DOPING

TRACK: British sprinter Nigel Levine, who has won world and European championship medals, has been banned for four years for doping.

The U.K. Anti-Doping agency says Levine tested positive in an out-of-competition test last year for the banned substance clenbuterol, which can be used to burn fat.

– News service report