Joe Mauer sat behind a table on a podium in a conference room at the Metrodome when Justin Morneau shouted out the last question of the day.

“Are you finally going to buy dinner now?” Morneau said to his teammate from the audience, one MVP to another.

Mauer became only the second catcher in 33 years to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award, finishing first in a near-unanimous vote Monday.

The Minnesota Twins star received 27 of 28 first-place votes and 387 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Yankees teammates Mark Teixeira (225 points) and Derek Jeter (193) followed. Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera drew the other first-place vote and was fourth with 171 points, one point ahead of the Angels’ Kendry Morales.

Baseball

Vizquel, Chisox agree

Chicago — Omar Vizquel agreed Monday to $1,375,000, one-year contract with the Chicago White Sox.

The 42-year-old is an 11-time Gold Glove winner and has played mostly shortstop during 21 major-league seasons. He figures to add depth to Chicago’s young infield.

NFL

Packers lose 2 defenders

The playoff chase has gotten much more difficult for the Packers after they lost two key defensive players because of season-ending injuries.

Cornerback Al Harris and linebacker Aaron Kampman will have knee surgery after suffering major injuries Sunday. Both were hurt on separate plays in the second half of a victory over San Francisco, apparently damaging their left knees. Coach Mike McCarthy would not confirm specific details of either injury.

The Packers have a short turnaround before visiting Detroit on Thanksgiving Day. The Lions also have injury concerns, particularly quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Lions coach Jim Schwartz said Monday that the top overall pick in the draft was “extremely sore” after sustaining a separated left shoulder on the next-to-last play of the win over Cleveland, and he won’t play against Green Bay unless the pain subsides.

• The Redskins added running back Ladell Betts (torn left knee ligaments), tackle Chad Rinehart (broken leg) and fullback Eddie Williams (broken leg) to their long injured reserve list.

• The Steelers not only dropped to 6-4 with a stunning loss at Kansas City, they saw their top two quarterbacks go down. After Ben Roethlisberger left with concussion-like symptoms, backup Charlie Batch injured his left wrist during overtime. Batch could undergo surgery later this week and miss about six weeks. Batch sat out last season with a broken collarbone.

• Arizona’s Kurt Warner, the other starting QB in February’s Super Bowl, left in the second quarter against the Rams after banging his head against the turf. Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said he spoke with Warner on the flight home, and the quarterback was “very upbeat and alert.”

• Rams QB Marc Bulger will be sidelined 3-6 weeks due to a broken left leg sustained in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. The team said it would not place Bulger on injured reserve.

• Linebacker Chris Chamberlain and rookie offensive tackle Jason Smith will be tested for concussions today.

• Dolphins nose tackle Jason Ferguson will miss the rest of the season because of a quadriceps injury.

• Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown (foot) and quarterback Chad Pennington (shoulder) also have suffered season-ending injuries this year.

• Bills rookie guard Eric Wood had surgery to repair a broken left leg.

• Baltimore cornerback Fabian Washington is expected to miss the remainder of the season after hurting his knee.

• Browns coach Eric Mangini questioned whether the Lions faked injuries to slow down Cleveland’s no-huddle offense in Detroit’s 38-37 win. Mangini said the Lions had several players leave the field injured, only to return.

College basketball

Syracuse joins at No. 10

Syracuse was so impressive in the 2K Sports Classic that it made one of the best entrances ever into the Associated Press’ college basketball poll.

The Orange, who beat California and North Carolina by an average of 19 points in winning the tournament at Madison Square Garden, went from unranked to No. 10 on Monday, the third-best jump-in in poll history.

Kansas was still the runaway No. 1, and Michigan State and Texas held on to second and third in the second poll of the regular season, but that’s where the changes started after a week that saw six ranked teams lose, including California and Dayton, which both lost twice and dropped out.

Notre Dame (4-0) and Vanderbilt (2-0) moved into the rankings this week at No. 23 and 24, respectively, while Georgia Tech also fell out.

Kansas (3-0) received 56 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel.

Next KU foe moves to 3-2

Cookeville, Tenn. — Derick Nelson scored 20 points, and two others scored in double figures as Oakland (Mich.) beat Tennessee Tech, 77-56, on Monday night in the Hall of Fame Showcase. Keith Benson had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies (3-2). Johnathon Jones added 14 points. Oakland will travel to Kansas University on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Dragovic to plead not guilty

Los Angeles — A lawyer for UCLA starter Nikola Dragovic says his client will plead not guilty in an assault case that led to his suspension.

College football

Pinkel: RB to play vs. KU

Columbia, Mo. — Missouri coach Gary Pinkel says he’s “very confident” that leading rusher Derrick Washington will play this week in the Tigers’ regular-season finale against Kansas.

Washington has been cleared to practice by Missouri’s training staff after suffering a mild concussion in the second quarter of Saturday’s 34-24 win over Iowa State. The junior tailback said he doesn’t remember anything about how he was hurt.

Missouri (7-4, 3-4 Big 12) plays Kansas (5-6, 1-6) on Saturday afternoon at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.

Ex-Tiger arrested

Columbia, Mo. — A former Missouri wide receiver working as a volunteer practice coach has been arrested after a weekend fight outside a downtown Columbia nightclub. Columbia police say 23-year-old Tommy Saunders was arrested for allegedly punching a man once in the face outside Tonic about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

Meyer rules out Irish

Gainesville, Fla. — Standing behind the same podium where quarterback Tim Tebow delivered his now-famous promise 14 months and 21 wins ago, coach Urban Meyer vowed Monday to be at Florida “as long as they’ll have me.”

With rumors swirling about Charlie Weis’ future at Notre Dame, Meyer squashed any potential speculation about leaving Gainesville for South Bend, Ind.

N’eastern ends football

Boston — Northeastern University is ending its football program after 74 seasons because the investment required to make it competitive was too high.

WKU hires Stanford aide

Western Kentucky hired Willie Taggart on Monday to replace David Elson, fired two weeks ago with the Hilltoppers in the midst of the longest active losing streak in the country. Elson will finish the season before Taggart, currently the running backs coach at Stanford, takes over.

College women’s hoops

SDSU in; KU up to 18th

San Diego State cracked the AP women’s basketball Top 25 for the first time in 14 years, while Connecticut remained a unanimous No. 1 for the 18th consecutive poll.

Kansas University moved up a spot to No. 18.

Golf

Nordqvist wins LPGA

Richmond, Texas — Anna Nordqvist has won the LPGA Tour Championship, and Lorena Ochoa finished second to win her fourth consecutive player of the year award by one point over Jiyai Shin.

Cross country

OSU, ‘Nova win NCAAs

Terre Haute, Ind. — Four Oklahoma State runners finished in the top 25, leading the Cowboys to their second national championship in men’s cross country over favored Stanford on Monday. Villanova dominated the women’s race, winning its eighth national title and its first since 1998.