Three more teams gained automatic spots in the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night. Josh White hit the go-ahead bucket with 24 seconds left and George Odufuwa came up with a key block on the ensuing series, as North Texas edged Troy, 66-63, for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship. Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack each scored 14 points, as the 12th-ranked Butler Bulldogs officially punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament with a 70-45 victory over Wright State in the Horizon League Tournament Championship Game. Oakland moved into the Big Dance for the second time in school history, climbing on the back of Derick Nelson's 36 points to win the Summit League Tournament Championship with a 76-64 victory over IUPUI.

The Northeast and Big Sky conferences will hold their championship games on Wednesday. Quinnipiac is on the brink of its first trip to the NCAA Tournament and the Bobcats can make that a reality if they can beat Robert Morris in the NEC title game. The top-seeded Bobcats are the home team against the No. 2 seeded Colonials, who are the defending champions and will try to win the NEC for a seventh time. Weber State will essentially have a home game when the top-seeded Wildcats play No. 4 seed Montana in the championship game of the Big Sky. Weber State is aiming for its ninth title in this conference, while the Grizzlies are trying to win the tourney for a seventh time.

The Connecticut women's basketball team won the Big East title again, this time using dominant defense in the second half to take down ninth-ranked West Virginia, 60-32, in the tournament final Tuesday night. Kalana Greene scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the top-ranked Huskies, who stretched their winning streak to a record 72 games. Tiffany Hayes had 15 points, while Tina Charles contributed 12 points, 10 boards and four blocks for the Huskies (33-0), who pulled away over the game's final 15 minutes and didn't allow a field goal for the Mountaineers over an 11-minute stretch in the second half. Maya Moore tallied 10 points for the Huskies, who are assured of being the top-seeded team for the NCAA Tournament. On Monday, they broke their own longest winning streak in NCAA Division I women's basketball history with a 59-44 victory over sixth-ranked Notre Dame. The only longer winning streak in NCAA Division I basketball history is the 88-game run the UCLA men had from 1971-1974.

The Kansas City Chiefs announced the signing of free agent running back Thomas Jones on Tuesday. Terms of the signing were not released. Jones was released after three productive seasons with the Jets upon the opening of free agency last week. The 31-year-old ran for a career-high 1,402 yards in 2009 and established a franchise record with 14 rushing touchdowns, after setting that mark in 2008 with 13 scores.

The New England Patriots officially announced the signings of defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and guard Stephen Neal on Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a report from a Boston paper last Friday, citing Wilfork's agent, revealed his deal is for $40 million over five years with $25 million guaranteed and an $18 million signing bonus. Wilfork has played in 90 regular- season games for the Patriots, including 80 as a starter, since the club selected him with the 21st overall pick of the 2004 draft.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have re-signed safety Ryan Clark to a new four-year contract and brought back wide receiver Antwaan Randle El to the Steel City with a three-year contract. Terms of Clark's deal were not disclosed, but a Pittsburgh newspaper reported it to be worth $14 million over four years. The Steelers also announced a one-year contract for offensive tackle Jonathan Scott. Clark was an unrestricted free agent who spent the past four seasons in Pittsburgh and has also played for Washington and the New York Giants. Randle El joined Washington after Pittsburgh's Super Bowl winning season in 2005 and spent the last four years with the Redskins. He started just three of the team's 16 games in 2009 and finished with 50 receptions for 530 yards.

The Cleveland Browns terminated the contract of quarterback Derek Anderson on Tuesday. The move came less than 24 hours after the Browns traded for Seneca Wallace and seems to open the door for Brady Quinn to step in as the team's unquestioned full-time starter under center. Anderson's five-year tenure with the club was a bumpy one. He was originally claimed off waivers from Baltimore in 2005 and appeared in five games the following season in place of an injured Charlie Frye.

Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan has a "significant" ligament tear in his right elbow. Nathan left a spring training game on Saturday and went back to Minneapolis for tests, which revealed damage to the ulnar collateral ligament. The Twins said the veteran reliever will rest the elbow for two weeks to allow swelling in the area to subside. He will then try to strengthen the elbow before trying to pitch. If rehab does not work, surgery will likely be necessary. Nathan faced one batter Saturday in a spring training game against Boston and left the mound after experiencing tightness in the elbow. The 35- year-old right-hander is coming off a franchise-record 47-save season in 2009.

Carl Edwards avoided suspension but received a three-race probation period from NASCAR after intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski in last Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. NASCAR President Mike Helton addressed the seriousness of the Edwards-Keselowski incident, in which Keselowski's car went flying upside down into the frontstretch wall after Edwards deliberately hit him from behind in the closing laps at Atlanta. Helton also said NASCAR officials had several discussions internally as well as conversations with the stakeholders of the situation, including team owners Jack Roush (Edwards) and Roger Penske (Keselowski), before making their decision to place Edwards on probation for the upcoming races at Bristol, Martinsville and Phoenix. Edwards was neither fined nor penalized with a points loss for the incident.

The National Basketball Association on Tuesday levied one-game suspensions without pay against Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger and Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye. Both men were hit with the penalties for their actions during the third quarter of the Suns' victory over the Pacers in Phoenix on Saturday. Frye, who won't serve his suspension until Friday, threw a punch at Granger, who retaliated and sat out Tuesday's game against Philadelphia. In addition, the league dished out a $30,000 fine to Pacers guard Earl Watson for escalating the incident on the court, and $25,000 fines to Indiana's Roy Hibbert and Jason Richardson of Phoenix for adding to the escalation of an on- court incident.

The Los Angeles Clippers announced they have severed ties with general manager Mike Dunleavy, just over a month after he resigned as head coach. At the time of the February 4 announcement, the Clippers disclosed Dunleavy would remain in the front office, focusing exclusively on the team's personnel matters. That came to a conclusion Tuesday night. The Clippers announced Neil Olshey, presently the assistant general manager, will assume the duties created by Dunleavy's departure.