SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A story that Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o's girlfriend had died of leukemia — a loss he said inspired him to help lead the Irish to the BCS championship game — was dismissed by the university Wednesday as a hoax perpetrated against the linebacker.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick says his faith has not been shaken in Te'o "one iota."

Swarbrick says an investigation by a firm the school hired has convinced him that Te'o was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose death was then faked by the perpetrators of the hoax.

HOUSTON (AP) — Joe Jackson had 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead Memphis over Rice 77-51 Wednesday night.

Jackson, who was 3 of 6 from the field, was one of five players in double figures.

Antonio Barton also had 13 points for Memphis (13-3, 3-0 Conference USA). Adonis Thomas and Tarik Black had 12 points apiece, and Shaq Goodwin added 10.

Memphis led 31-24 at halftime and never trailed in the second half. The Tigers shot 55.8 from the field for the game and had 41 rebounds. The Owls shot 31 percent and had 20 rebounds. Rice committed 13 turnovers and Memphis converted those into 21 points.

Austin Ramljak led Rice (3-13, 0-3) with 14 points and was 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Max Guercy had 13 points and four rebounds. Julian DeBose had eight points and four rebounds.

Rice has lost six consecutive games.

CHICAGO (AP) — One of pro football's legacy franchises is making news.

The Chicago Bears are giving Marc Trestman his first shot as an NFL head coach. A longtime NFL assistant, Trestman spent the past five seasons as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, winning two Canadian Football League championships.

The Bears hope he can get the most out of quarterback Jay Cutler and help them reach the postseason on a consistent basis. Smith was let go after Chicago missed the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.

NFL-CHARGERS-MCCOY

Chargers have new coach

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mike McCoy is the new head coach of the San Diego Chargers.

McCoy had been the offensive coordinator for the Broncos. His hiring comes three days after top-seeded Denver was eliminated from the playoffs with a home loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

The 40-year-old McCoy replaces Norv Turner, who was fired along with general manager A.J. Smith after the Chargers finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the third straight season.

NFL-AWARDS

Manning, Peterson named top offense players

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was chosen AFC offensive player of the year and Vikings running back Adrian Peterson the NFC's top offensive player in voting for the 101 Awards.

A nationwide panel of 101 sportswriters and broadcasters who regularly cover the NFL vote on the awards, which will be handed out for the 43rd time on March 2 in Kansas City.

San Francisco linebacker Aldon Smith was the NFC's top defensive player, and Seattle's Pete Carroll the conference coach of the year. Houston's J.J. Watt was the AFC's best defensive player and Chuck Pagano and Bruce Arians of Indianapolis shared the AFC coaching honor.

TENNIS-AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Djokovic in fine form...Sharapova cruises again

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic (JOH'-kuh-vich) was all but perfect in his second-round match at the Australian Open. The top seed beat 20-year-old American Ryan Harrison 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 to stay on track for his third consecutive title at the year's first Grand Slam event and the fourth of his career.

Maria Sharapova (shah-rah-POH'-vah) was even more convincing a few hours earlier, winning 6-love, 6-love for the second time in two matches to set up a third-round encounter with Venus Williams.

Williams beat Alize Cornet (uh-LEEZ' kohr-NAY') 6-3, 6-3 during Wednesday play Down Under.

ARMSTRONG-OPRAH

Armstrong comes clean, but WADA and the UCI want more information

UNDATED (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency and cycling's governing body are both hoping Lance Armstrong can be as forthcoming with them as he was with Oprah Winfrey.

Armstrong confessed to Winfrey during a taped interview on Monday, that he doped while winning seven straight Tour de France titles from 1999-2005.

The Tour titles were stripped last year when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a massive report built around the testimony of former teammates.

WADA (WAH'-duh) says it wants a full confession under oath before Armstrong seeks a reduction in his lifetime ban from sports for using performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong reportedly hopes to return to competition in recognized triathlon events.

SKIING-MILLER OUT

Not Miller time

UNDATED (AP) — American Olympic star Bode (BOH'-dee) Miller is trying to avoid any sort of setback with the Sochi Games just a year away, so he will skip the rest of the World Cup season to rest his surgically repaired left knee.

The two-time overall champion had microfracture surgery nearly a year ago and has been taking a cautious approach to recovery.

The 35-year-old Miller says it is a tough decision made easier when he looks at his opportunity next year.

NBA-SCHEDULE

Nets look to continue run of success under new bench boss

UNDATED (AP) — The team with the longest current winning streak in the NBA heads up tonight's 10-game pro hoops schedule. The Brooklyn Nets will be hunting an eighth straight victory tonight at Atlanta in the opener of a home-and-home series with the Hawks. The Nets are 9-1 since assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo (kar-LIHS'-ih-moh) replaced the fired Avery Johnson at the head of the bench.

Two teams with six-game winning streaks also are slated for action. The Boston Celtics are home to New Orleans and the Denver Nuggets play at Oklahoma City. The Thunder have won four straight and are a league-best 30-8.

Elsewhere, league cellar dweller Washington will be chasing a fourth straight W at Sacramento, Toronto hosts Chicago, Indiana is at Orlando, Dallas is home to Houston, San Antonio entertains Memphis, Cleveland plays at Portland and Eastern Conference leader Miami is on the road against Golden State.

TOP 25 BASKETBALL-SCHEDULE

Bulldogs lead the way

UNDATED (AP) — Tonight's Top-25 basketball schedule is made up of eight teams in the lower half of this week's AP poll.

Butler is the highest-ranked team on the slate. The 13th-ranked Bulldogs bring an 11-game winning streak and 14-2 record into their Atlantic 10 home outing against 11-6 Richmond. Butler will be playing the first of at least two games without its leading scorer. Rotnei (RAHT'-nee) Clarke is nursing a neck injury suffered in Saturday's win at Dayton.

Also this evening, No. 14 N.C. State visits Maryland, 15th-ranked San Diego State hosts UNLV, No. 16 Kansas State is at TCU, No. 17 Missouri is home to Georgia, 18th-ranked Michigan State is on the road to play Penn State, No. 19 New Mexico is at Boise State and 25th-ranked Marquette hosts Seton Hall.