Washed It!

As Nevadans streamed to the polls Tuesday morning, Sen. Harry Reid gave handshakes and hugs to volunteers phone-banking in a Las Vegas campaign office, which was down the street from an apartment complex touting its “Recession Special!”

The embattled Democrat was notably relaxed, considering his battle with Republican Sharron Angle has been so filled with mud-slinging that a radio station Tuesday dubbed the pair “Dirty Harry” and “Psycho Sharron.”

Dressed in a button-down shirt and khaki pants, Reid joked about being scheduled to serve the volunteers doughnuts, a box of which had been opened in a different room. While in high school, Reid said, he worked part of the year at a Henderson, Nev., bakery glazing baked goods.

“Even today, I can’t stand the smell of doughnuts,” he said to laughter.

Reid told reporters — who outnumbered volunteers — that his team estimated nearly two-thirds of ballots had been cast in two weeks of early voting, during which he’d done “extremely well.” He also bragged about his “second-to-none” turnout operation, whose effectiveness will likely determine the razor-close race. (Indeed, the office lobby had a poster labeled “getting out the vote to victory.” A drawing of a thermometer had been colored in just below a line marked “800 shifts.”)

“We feel comfortable where we are,” Reid said, a sentiment he’s repeated often in recent days, even as public polls showed Angle gaining momentum. Reid, who’s been endorsed by numerous GOP rainmakers, said he’d likely peeled off support from moderate Republicans alarmed at Angle’s conservative “tea party” beliefs.

“They don’t want a Republican Party with her brand on it,” he said, but instead coveted GOP leaders in line with Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush.

A comic strip riffing on “Peanuts” taped to the office wall — called “It’s A Tough Election, Harry Reid” — summed up what the Reid considered the race’s “clear choice” between the powerful Senate majority leader and a Republican prone to lightning-rod statements. Reid was portrayed as Charlie Brown and Angle as Lucy.

“Harry Reid, stop being lazy like the unemployed and try to kick this football,” Angle says.

Unlike Charlie Brown, Reid nails the kick. “Good grief, you’re a terrible candidate,” he says.

ashley.powers@latimes.com
In campaign’s closing hours, a relaxed Harry Reid hands out handshakes, hugs and doughnuts

After years of dishing tales of celebrity folly and misfortune, The National Enquirer’s publisher has fallen on hard times of its own.

American Media Inc. plans to seek federal bankruptcy protection in the next two weeks or so. The privately held company, based in Boca Raton, Fla., announced its intention Monday without sharing any details about its finances.

Calls to American Media weren’t immediately returned.

American Media, whose other publications include Star, Shape, Men’s Fitness and Fit Pregnancy, is trying to get most of its creditors to back its reorganization plan before it files for Chapter 11 protection. About 80% of its bondholders have expressed their support, the company said.

By cobbling together a prepackaged bankruptcy case, American Media hopes to gain court approval of its plan within 60 days of its filing. That would be much quicker than most corporate bankruptcy cases are resolved.

Like other publishers of newspapers and magazines, American Media has been struggling to recover from the recession while also trying to adapt to technology that has driven more readers and advertisers away from print to less expensive — or even free — alternatives on the Internet.

The challenge has proved too daunting for some. More than a dozen U.S. publishers of newspapers and magazines have filed for bankruptcy since December 2008. Many of the publishers seeking refuge in Bankruptcy Court were saddled with heavy debt loads that they took on during better times.

American Media appears to fall in this category. One of its subsidiaries, American Media Operations, had $1.1 billion in debt as of December 2008, according to a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company reached an agreement with its major bondholders in July to reduce its debt by $200 million. It didn’t publicly disclose how much debt it had at that time.

If its reorganization plan is approved, American Media indicated that much of its debt would be wiped out in exchange for giving its bondholders ownership of that company. The bondholder group includes hedge fund Avenue Capital and distressed-debt specialist Angelo, Gordon & Co., which has gained stakes in major newspapers — such as the Orange County Register — through bankruptcy proceedings.

Stiffening competition for celebrity gossip and news has hurt American Media’s publications. Besides other print magazines such as Time Warner Inc.’s People and US Weekly, National Enquirer increasingly finds itself chasing websites, such as Time Warner’s TMZ.com, that dig up the latest news about celebrities.

American Media’s website says its magazines have a combined circulation of about 6.8 million. In March 2008, its publications were selling a combined 7.5 million, according to an SEC filing.
National Enquirer’s owner to file for bankruptcy

With redistricting on every politician’s mind, voters will choose some three dozen governors on Tuesday, and Republicans are expected to win the lion’s share of those races, according to the latest polls.

Democrats have a slight edge over Republicans going into the midterm elections, but GOP officials have said they expect to pick up at least six governors’ chairs to bring their total to more than 30. The Republican count could go higher since the latest polls have several races too close to call, including in the pivotal state of Florida.

According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink holds a statistically insignificant 1-point lead over former healthcare executive Rick Scott. But the key will be the 9% of the electorate still undecided, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of polling.

Sink, the Democrat, was further ahead in previous polls, so the current survey shows Scott, the Republican, with some momentum. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 points.

The final Ohio Poll is more optimistic for the GOP, showing Republicans capturing both the governor’s race and the Senate seat. Top Democrats, including President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Clinton, campaigned in Ohio throughout the weekend, hoping to reverse those predictions.

According to the poll, former Republican Congressman John Kasich has 52% of the vote while Gov. Ted Strickland is at 47.7%. On the Senate side, former Congressman Rob Portman was at 60% to Democratic Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher’s 39.2%.

The Ohio Poll is conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2%.

The gubernatorial races are important because congressional and local legislative districts will be redrawn this year after the census. Traditionally, the party in power has more sway in determining the composition of the districts for the next decade.

In addition, Ohio and Florida are considered pivotal to President Obama’s reelection chances in 2012.

Obama moved both Ohio and Florida into the Democratic column in 2008 after former President George Bush carried them in 2004.

michael.muskal@latimes.com
twitter.com/LATimesmuskal
Polls give GOP the edge in governors’ races

Democrats fought Republicans on Saturday in a campaign battle that stretched coast to coast, pushing against an epic tide of anger, frustration and economic anxiety that could sweep the GOP to control of one and possibly both houses of Congress.

Driving deep into once-solid Democratic territory, Republicans spent the last weekend of the midterm election campaign targeting House seats in blue-state bastions such as California, New York and Massachusetts. Democrats poured tens of millions of dollars into a last-ditch effort to save dozens of threatened incumbents, writing off others whose chances appeared beyond hope.

With spending near the $4-billion mark, a record for a midterm contest, there was little escaping the last blast of campaigning. Candidates and others with a stake in Tuesday’s outcome — including, most prominently, President Obama — staged rallies while hundreds of thousands of volunteers knocked on doors and manned phone banks, urging supporters to the polls.

In Philadelphia, the first stop on a final campaign swing, Obama said all the progress of the last two years could be rolled back if Republicans seize control of Congress.

“We can’t move backwards now. We’ve got to keep moving forward,” Obama told an audience of Democratic volunteers at Temple University. “And that’s all going to be up to you. So I want everybody to get out there, knock on doors, make phone calls, volunteer, talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors.”

Rep. John A. Boehner of Ohio, the likely House speaker if Republicans take over, used the party’s weekly radio address to jab at the president and Democrats and to promise a change from the last time Republicans ran Congress. He promised smaller government and greater accountability.

“We’ve tried it President Obama’s way,” Boehner said. “We’ve tried it Washington’s way. It hasn’t worked.”

All the while, a torrent of TV and radio advertising provided a loud and surly campaign soundtrack, blaring virtually around the clock. In some states, every last minute of TV ad time was sold out.

All 435 U.S. House seats are up on Tuesday. Republicans need a gain of 39 to win control of the House, which they lost in 2006. Despite a public show of optimism, based on healthy Democratic turnout in some early voting, party strategists privately echoed Republicans who have suggested a change in power was highly likely. The only question, both sides agreed, was the magnitude of Republican gains and whether it approaches — or surpasses — the 52-seat GOP landslide in 1994, the last time Democrats controlled Congress and the White House.

Voters will cast ballots for 37 of 100 U.S. Senate seats. Democrats were confident they would keep the majority, albeit narrowly, and Republican strategists conceded the likelihood. The GOP needs to convert 10 seats to take over and many handicappers predicted the party would fall short, as contests in Connecticut and West Virginia seemed to tip the Democrats’ way and as Sens. Barbara Boxer in California and Patty Murray in Washington appeared to shore up support.

The last time either party gained at least 10 Senate and 40 House seats in a single election was in 1958.

Also on the ballot Tuesday are the governorships of 37 states, including California, Florida, New York and Texas. Republicans seem poised to gain about a half-dozen governor’s seats and take control of several statehouses, which could have significant implications for races in 2012 and beyond, as legislators redraw the boundaries used to elect members of Congress.

Midterm contests are typically a referendum on the president and almost always cost his party congressional seats. This year appears no different. If anything, the achievements of Obama and congressional Democrats — passing massive economic stimulus and healthcare bills, rescuing the auto industry, cracking down on Wall Street — sharpened the opposition, giving birth to the “tea party” movement that promised to usher a number of insurgents into Congress.

Compounding problems for the president and his party, this year’s races were run in a brutal economic climate, following the worst downturn since the Great Depression. At nearly 10%, the jobless rate is the second highest it has been for a midterm election in the last 50 years.

“If unemployment was 7.4%, or even 8.1%, but dropping, and people clearly perceived that things were getting better, then Democrats would take some losses,” said Tim Hibbitts, an independent pollster in Oregon. “But not the potential catastrophe they’re facing.”

A look at the national map showed the party’s dire circumstances.

Of 100 or so House seats that looked at least marginally competitive, Democrats were on the defensive in all but a handful. Some of the party’s most durable incumbents — including committee chairmen Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Ike Skelton of Missouri and John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina — were in trouble or, at the least, facing their toughest reelection fight in years.

Seats that would normally be out of Republican reach, in districts Obama easily carried two years ago, were in the toss-up category or leaning Republican, leading some independent analysts to forecast GOP gains of as many as 70 seats or more.

A swing of even 60 seats would be the largest midterm shift since 1938.

Both parties campaign to the finish line

As candidates count down the hours to election day, many campaigns are bracing for the possibility that it may take weeks before the final results are known. And that’s before the lawyers have their say.

In several states that host what may prove to be decisive contests for the House and Senate, elections officials say a definitive vote count may not be known until well after Nov. 2.

In Washington, for instance, all but 2% of ballots are expected to be cast by mail. With polls showing Sen. Patty Murray locked in a tight race with Republican Dino Rossi, it may be those votes arriving after election day that tip the balance.

“We do have a sense for the dramatic here in Washington,” said Secretary of State Sam Reed.

His office is also preparing for the possibility of a recount, which would automatically occur if the two leading candidates are separated by a margin within 0.5%. Recount laws vary by state, and in several, losing candidates have to pick up the tab if they seek one.

In Alaska, simply tallying the votes presents an additional challenge because of the write-in candidacy of Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Write-in ballots won’t be counted until mid-November, if officials decide it is necessary to do so.

For Rossi, a recount may provide a sense of d

The U.S. economy continued to plod along at a sluggish pace in the third quarter, not enough to generate momentum or bring down the nation’s high jobless rate.

The nation’s gross domestic product, or the value of all goods and services produced inside U.S. borders, grew at an annualized rate of 2% in the July-to-September quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.

That was a tad higher than the 1.7% GDP growth in the second quarter, but overall still paints a picture of a lackluster economy that expanded at a 3.25% annual rate in the second half of last year coming out of the recession, only to see a slowing since spring.

One positive sign was a pickup in consumer spending in the latest quarter. Inflation-adjusted personal consumption increased 2.6%, up from 2.2% in the second quarter, thanks largely to gains in expenditures for housing and other services.

Business investments also contributed positively to the third-quarter GDP, although the rate of increase in spending for equipment and software fell sharply to 12%, from nearly 25% the prior quarter. Government spending also added to the growth, but depressed home-building and the nation’s trade deficit continued to be a drag on the overall economy.

In addition, the latest quarter was boosted by a stronger buildup in inventories, which could curb production and overall economic growth in the coming months, especially if the holiday shopping season turns out poorly.

The overall 2% change in GDP was right in line with analysts’ forecasts, and won’t change expectations that the Federal Reserve on Wednesday will launch a new round of government bond purchases to drive down long-term interest rates and stimulate economic activity.

Before Friday’s report, economists were generally projecting somewhat stronger growth for the fourth quarter and heading into next year. Expectations of the Fed’s likely stimulus program already has pushed down the value of the dollar, which should bolster U.S. exports. Stock prices also have improved in the last quarter, giving consumers a little more confidence.

Uncertainties about the expiring Bush administration’s tax cuts loom as a potential negative, but analysts say even that could provide a lift in the next two months as people move some of their planned spending for 2011 to this year because of the risks of higher taxes.

don.lee@latimes.com
GDP rises slightly to 2% in sign that economy remains sluggish

By the time the 5-year-old boy was rescued from a dark closet in San Bernardino County last year, much of his body had been burned by a glue gun and hot spoons. Johnny had been starved and sodomized, taunted and punched, forced to eat soap and crouch motionless in corners.

Child welfare officials across the county line, in Los Angeles, might have spared him this. More than a year earlier, they had dismissed allegations that he had been abused as unfounded and determined that the “child [was] not at risk.”

A recent internal review by the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services concluded the finding was wrong — the result of a shallow inquiry in which the agency misjudged what little information it collected, according to records reviewed by The Times.

The department’s involvement in the case might never have come to light but for the decision by the supervising social worker on the case, Roc

Ford Motor Co. demonstrated the growing strength of the U.S. auto industry Tuesday by posting a third-quarter profit of $1.7 billion, a 69% jump over the same period a year ago and surpassing a previous record set in 1997.

The automaker — which unlike General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group avoided bankruptcy reorganization last year — benefitted from both cost cutting and top-line performance, gaining U.S. market share and selling vehicles for higher prices.

“Overall, we are doing better than we expected through the first nine months of the year,” said Alan Mulally, Ford’s chief executive, “and we expect to deliver solid profits in the fourth quarter and for the full year.”

Ford has reduced its level of sales-incentive spending at the same time buyers are adding options to their cars and spending more, according to Edmunds.com, the auto information company. Edmunds.com estimated that buyers paid an average of $30,636 for a Ford in September, slightly higher than a year ago and up 10% from five years ago.

“For a long time, they weren’t really in the car market very strongly, depending mostly on trucks and SUVs. Now they have good cars, and the car market is where the action has been in recent years,” said Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with Edmunds.com.

Ford’s profit equaled 43 cents a share and compared with earnings of $1 billion, or 29 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. It was the automaker’s sixth consecutive profitable quarter. Revenue fell to $29 billion from $30.3 billion a year earlier, before the company sold off Volvo, the Swedish automaker, to focus on its core Ford and Lincoln brands. Year to date, the company has earned $6.4 billion.

In early trading, Ford shares rose 7 cents to $14.22.

“This was another strong quarter,” said Mulally. “The key drivers for improvement in 2011 will be our growing product strength, a gradually strengthening economy and an unrelenting focus on improving the competitiveness of all our operations.”

On Friday, Ford plans to use some of the cash it is generating to pay off the remaining $3.6 million it owes to the United Auto Workers union retiree healthcare trust, which will save it about $330 million in annual interest expenses. The automaker borrowed heavily to stay afloat during the recession and is working to pay back those loans.

The payment will reduce the company’s total debt to $22.8 billion, a net reduction of $10.8 billion from the end of 2009. Ford said it expected its cash holdings to be equal to its total debt by the year’s end, earlier than it previously anticipated. Ford also plans a stock offering that would convert $3.5 billion in debt to common stock during the fourth quarter.

“We are clearly ahead of where we thought we would be on improving our balance sheet and repaying our loans,” Mulally said. “This allows us to reduce our annualized interest payments by over $800 million.”

Ford’s American operations had an operating profit of $1.6 billion, compared with $300 million in the same period a year earlier. The company was profitable in South America and in Asia, driven by gains in China and India, but lost money in Europe. The company said it expected its European operations to become profitable in this year’s fourth quarter.

Much of the automaker’s success is coming from a string of successful new products, such as the Fusion sedan and the Edge SUV. Truck sales, especially government and business fleet sales of the F-150 pickup also added to the quarterly profit, Caldwell said.

Ford’s latest vehicles have been well received by consumers.

“It’s much better than the Ford of five years ago,” Caldwell said.

Ford sales have risen 21% to 1.4 million vehicles through the first nine months of this year. That’s more than double the overall industry gain. Its share of the U.S. market has grown to 16.7% from 15.2% — the largest jump of any automaker this year, according to Autodata Corp.

The automaker has been able to restructure so it can operate profitably with what are considered historically low auto sales numbers.

There are some signs of a more robust rebound in the U.S. auto market, which was up about 10% through the first nine months of the year.

Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, said Monday that U.S. auto sales hit an annualized pace of about 12 million vehicles in October, its best rate so far this year. Automakers will report their October sales results next week.

jerry.hirsch@latimes.com

Ford third-quarter profit soars 69% over a year ago

CHICAGO (AP) — Strong wind and torrential rain buffeted the Midwest Tuesday as forecasters predicted the giant storm could be the most powerful to hit Illinois in over seven decades.

The massive storm muscled its way across an area that stretched from the Dakotas to the eastern Great Lakes. Severe thunderstorm warnings blanketed much of the Midwest, and tornado watches were issued from Arkansas to Ohio. Flights were canceled at O’Hare International Airport, a major hub for American and United airlines.

The National Weather Service said the storm is one of the strongest to hit the region in decades.

“We’re expecting sustained winds on the order of 35 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph throughout the afternoon,” said Edward Fenelon, a weather service meteorologist in Romeoville, Ill. He said the storm’s central pressure is equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane.

“This is a very different type of event,” Fenelon said. “But that does give an indication of the magnitude of the winds. This isn’t something you see even every year.”

Weather Service Meteorologist Jim Allsopp said the storm could be among the worst to hit Illinois in more than 70 years.

Commuters in the Chicago area faced blustery, wind-driven rain as they waited for trains to take them downtown before dawn. Some huddled underneath train overpasses to stay out of the gusts, dashing to the platform at the last minute. In the city’s downtown Loop, construction workers wore heavy slickers and held onto their hard-hats, heavy metal streets signs rattled against their posts and umbrellas provided relief only for as long as they could last.

“The wind was almost blowing horizontally. The rain was slapping me in the face,” said Anthony Quit, a 24-year-old jewelry store worker in Chicago. “My umbrella shot off … It was pretty dangerous.”

He said the wind was so strong that his car “was starting to veer off the road.”

Another commuter described a frightening pre-dawn drive to the train station.

“It was raining really, really hard. Coming down the street I was kind of getting really nervous; even with the bright lights you couldn’t see in front of you,” said Delphine Thompson, 53, a telecom manager in Chicago.

The weather service said gusts that topped 50 miles per hour slammed into the Chicago suburb of Lombard early Tuesday.

High winds forced authorities to stop flights at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

A spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation said officials issued a temporary “ground stop” at O’Hare, meaning no flights are departing. Aviation Department spokeswoman Karen Pride said more than 125 flights were canceled at O’Hare. No cancelations are being reported at Midway International Airport on Chicago’s South Side.

The storm was also picking up speed on Twitter, where people were dubbing it “Chiclone” and “Windpocalypse.”

In St. Louis, pre-dawn strong winds were blamed for a partial building collapse that sent bricks, mortar, roofing and some window air-conditioning units raining down onto a sidewalk. No one was injured, and inspectors were inspecting the 1920s-era building.

In Ballwin, a St. Louis suburb, a woman escaped with minor injuries when a tree fell onto her home as she slept, covering her and her husband with dust and insulation. The family managed to get out of the house and call emergency responders.

In Milwaukee, some restaurants moved sidewalk furniture indoors as the storm approached and homeowners scrambled to batten down anything that might be swept away by the storm.

Meanwhile, much of North Dakota was under a blizzard warning. The National Weather Service said up to 10 inches of snow could fall in some areas into early Wednesday.

The snow is expected across North Dakota and into northern South Dakota. Forecasters said wind gusts of more than 50 mph in many areas would make travel treacherous.

Fenelon of the National Weather Service said the winds will subside Tuesday evening but could pick up again on Wednesday.

Eleven states are under a high wind warning. Those states are: Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio and parts of Kentucky.

With a nod to the coming weekend, Jodi WhiteJones in Chicago said she hoped the storm wouldn’t lead to a Halloween-related disaster.

“Everyone in Chicago is used to foul weather but with this type of wind I just hope nobody gets hurt by things falling from buildings, flying pumpkins, debris,” said the 41-year-old assistant college dean at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

___

Associated Press writer Tamara Starks in Chicago, David Aguilar in Detroit and Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this story.

Massive ‘Chiclone’ storm slams into Illinois; forecaster predicts strongest storm in 70 years

It was a new week but the same story for the Bowl Championships Series, with a team the poll voters have not endorsed jumping to No. 1 in the standings.

Last week, Oklahoma leapfrogged Oregon and Boise State to claim the top spot in the initial BCS standings before losing Saturday at Missouri.

This week’s No. 1 is Auburn, which used a 24-17 win over No. 6 Louisiana State to assume this very precarious position.

In the last three weeks, three No. 1 schools have fallen. Alabama and Ohio State were No. 1 in the polls when they lost and Oklahoma was No. 1 in the BCS.
Auburn, as Oklahoma did the week before, used the top ranking in the BCS computer component to override a lower position in the polls.

“I can only control how we proceed in this building,” Auburn Coach Gene Chizik said today before the standings were released. “We just had a team meeting and we talked about being very grounded and understanding that every week is another new week and another opportunity.”

Auburn leads the standings with a BCS average of .9371, followed by Oregon at .9069 and Boise State at .8846. Texas Christian is fourth at .8833, with Michigan State moving up two spots to the fifth spot with an average of .8387.

It is Auburn’s first No. 1 ranking in the BCS since the standings formula was introduced in 1998.

Rounding out the top 10 is Missouri at No. 6, followed by Alabama, Utah, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

Oregon, a 60-13 winner over UCLA last Thursday, remained No. 1 in the two polls used in the BCS formula — USA Today coaches and Harris Interactive. The Ducks are also No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, which is no longer a part of the BCS but has been crowning champions since 1936.

The Ducks are still in position to win out and retain a spot in the BCS championship game on Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.

“It doesn’t matter about No. 1, we don’t care what the outside world thinks of us being No. 1 or No. 2,” Ducks running back LaMichael James. “We just have to win.”

Boise State remained at No.2 in all three major polls, but suffered a bit for having taken the weekend off. The Broncos host Louisiana State on Tuesday.

Oregon is lagging behind in the computer component, with a No. 8 average ranking, while Boise State is sixth in the BCS computers.

Missouri used its first win over Oklahoma since 1998 and the No.2 computer ranking average to jump from No. 11 to sixth.

The top two teams in the final BCS standings on Dec. 5 will advance to the BCS title game on Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.

The standings are likely to get shuffled again in the coming weeks, with key games involving the top teams.

Oregon plays this week at USC (5-2), which is not eligible for the BCS title because of NCAA sanctions but reemerged at No. 24 in Sunday’s latest AP poll. The Trojans’ two defeats this year, to Washington and Stanford, came on last-second field goals.

Missouri doesn’t have much time to celebrate either, as the Tigers put their undefeated season on the line next weekend at BCS No.14 Nebraska, which ended Oklahoma State’s unbeaten season last Saturday in Stillwater.

Michigan State, off to its best start since 1966, plays at BCS No. 18 Iowa on Saturday.

No. 7 Alabama visits No. 12 LSU in two weeks (Nov. 6), while Utah and TCU are meeting the same day in a huge Mountain West Conference showdown in Salt Lake City.

Auburn plays Mississippi next weekend in Oxford and has dangerous closing games against resurgent Georgia and Alabama, the defending national champions.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com
Auburn vaults Oregon to take over No. 1 spot in BCS standings