Monday's Sports In Brief

(AP) — The Super Bowl was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of "M-A-S-H" to become the most-watched program in television history.

The Nielsen Co. estimated that 106.5 million people watched the New Orleans Saints upset the Indianapolis Colts. That beats the "M-A-S-H" finale, which had 105.97 million viewers in an era when there were fewer television sets.

Compelling story lines involving the city of New Orleans and its recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the quest for a second Super Bowl ring for Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning propelled the viewership.

The game also obliterated the previous record viewership for a Super Bowl — last year's game between Arizona and Pittsburgh in which 98.7 million people watched.

___

A league that has always had to fight for respect as it tries to join the ranks of the power conferences, the 11-year-old Mountain West had three teams in The Associated Press' Top 25, one more than the Atlantic Coast Conference and three more than the Pac-10.

Kansas (22-1) remained the runaway No. 1, receiving 55 first-place votes from the national media panel. Syracuse (23-1), which received eight first-place votes, moved up one spot to become the fourth No. 2 in as many weeks. The ranking is the highest for the Orange since a six-week stretch at No. 1 in 1989-90.

Kentucky (22-1), which was No. 1 on two ballots, moved up one place to No. 3, while No. 4 Villanova beat No. 5 West Virginia 82-75.

New Mexico, BYU and UNLV, which are in a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West, give the league three teams in the Top 25 for the first time.

___

The unbeaten Nebraska Cornhuskers (21-0) moved past Notre Dame to No. 3 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll. Nebraska trailed the Irish in the poll by 27 points last week, but were buoyed by victories over then-No. 10 Oklahoma State and 12th-ranked Texas A&M to move two points in front.

UConn remained No. 1 for a record 38th straight week. The Huskies (23-0) routed West Virginia and Louisville this week. Connecticut has won 62 straight games, all by double digits.

Stanford remained second with Notre Dame falling to fourth — despite winning twice this past week — and Tennessee fifth.

___

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR debut this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

The IndyCar star will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in Saturday's second-tier Nationwide Series race.

___

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge has green-lighted most of a lawsuit by former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon, who alleges the NCAA used the images of student-athletes without permission.

U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken denied the NCAA's attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed. The NCAA had argued O'Bannon and others gave up their commercials rights when they annually signed a form permitting the organization to use their images to promote NCAA activities.

But the judge says O'Bannon's allegations the NCAA is improperly profiting by using the images to sell DVDs, video games and apparel deserve further hearing.

Wilken has combined his case with that of former Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller, who filed a similar suit against the NCAA and video game maker Electronic Arts Inc.

___

SEATTLE (AP) — Cliff Lee's first spring training with the Seattle Mariners is off to a slow start already.

Lee is recovering from minor foot surgery and will be limited when pitchers and catchers report to Seattle's camp in Arizona this month.

Seattle's biggest acquisition during its splashy winter had surgery Friday in his native Arkansas to remove a bone spur that broke loose and was floating in his left foot.

Lee's foot is not in a cast, and he is continuing his upper-body exercise program. The Mariners said the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner will "gradually return to all normal baseball activities" over the next two to three weeks.

___

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman will replace the Trail Blazers' Brandon Roy in this weekend's All-Star game.

Roy injured his right hamstring last month. Roy, in his fourth season with the Blazers, made the All-Star team as a reserve for the third straight season.

Kaman will be making his first All-Star appearance. He is averaging a career-high 20.2 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field.

___

MONTREAL (AP) — From his time as captain to his tenure as general manager, Bob Gainey has spent a lifetime providing leadership for the Montreal Canadiens.

Now, he's handing the reins to a trusted colleague.

Gainey stepped aside as Montreal's general manager and was replaced by assistant Pierre Gauthier in a surprising front-office shake-up for hockey's most storied franchise.

Gainey starred for the Canadiens from 1973-89 and the Hall of Famer rejoined the team as GM after the 2002-2003 season. Montreal made the playoffs four out of five seasons during Gainey's tenure.

___

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Robin Soderling has won his first match of the year, beating Florent Serra 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the ABN Amro indoor tournament.

Tommy Robredo also advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Dutch player Robin Haase.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and Nikolay Davydenko play their first-round matches on Tuesday.