Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, the national leader with 23 touchdowns, was named one of three finalists Monday for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation's top college running back.

Alabama's Mark Ingram and Clemson's C.J. Spiller are the other finalists.

Gerhart, the Pac-10's leading rusher with 1,531 yards, has gone over the 100-yard mark in nine of Stanford's 11 games this season, including the past five. His 39 career touchdowns trail only Darrin Nelson (40) on Stanford's all-time list.

The winner will be announced Dec. 10.

  • Florida's Tim Tebow and Texas' Colt McCoy both are finalists for the Maxwell and Davey O'Brien awards, honoring the best all-around player and the best quarterback, respectively. Ingram also is a finalist for the Maxwell, while Houston's Case Keenum is the other finalist for the O'Brien.

  • Gerhart's position coach, Willie Taggart, was named the head coach at Western Kentucky, where he'll replace the fired David Elson and try to end the nation's longest losing streak (18). Taggart, a former Hilltoppers quarterback, will finish out the season with Stanford.

    North Carolina State: Offensive coordinator Dana Bible, 56, an assistant at Stanford from 1995-97, has been diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Bible will remain in the hospital for the next 30 days for treatment.

    Northeastern: The university is dropping

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    football after 74 years, citing the cost of running the program.

    Men's basketball

    Syracuse (4-0), which beat Cal and North Carolina by an average of 19 points in winning the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament at Madison Square Garden, went from unranked to No. 10, the third-best jump-in in Associated Press poll history. Kansas (3-0) was still the runaway No. 1. Cal (2-2) dropped out after also losing to Ohio State.

    No. 6 Purdue 73, No. 9 Tennessee 72: E'Twaun Moore had 22 points, and the Boilermakers (4-0) survived Wayne Chism's open look at a 3-pointer from the top of the arc as the horn sounded to win the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

    Pac-10: A lawyer for UCLA starter Nikola Dragovic says his client will plead not guilty in an assault case that led to his two-game suspension. ... USC forward Kasey Cunningham (torn knee ligament) will miss the rest of the season.

    Gonzaga 76, Colorado 72: The Zags (3-1) advanced to the semifinals of the Maui Invitational by overcoming Cory Higgins' (Monte Vista) 19 points.

    Cross country

    Four Oklahoma State runners finished in the top 25, leading the Cowboys to their second national championship in men's cross country, while Villanova dominated the women's race, winning its eighth national title and first since 1998. Favored Stanford finished 10th in the men's race. Liberty's Samuel Chelanga and Illinois' Angela Bizzarri won the individual titles. Stanford's Chris Derrick finished third in the men's race.