Tuesday's Sports Briefs

WASHINGTON (AP) Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and Mississippi are the top four teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings.

The first of seven Top 25 rankings done by a 12-member selection committee was released Tuesday night. The selection committee will pick the four teams to play in the national semifinals and set the matchups for other four marquee New Year's Day bowls that are part of the playoff rotation.

Oregon was fifth and Alabama was sixth.

The final rankings will be released Dec. 7, the day after the most of the conference championships are decided.

Federal regulators say it's illegal to fly drones or model planes near stadiums and that violators can face up to a year.

The Federal Aviation Administration posted an updated notice to pilots online this week warning that drones and remotely controlled aircraft are included in a prohibition on aircraft flying over sports arenas issued in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The prior version of the notice, issued in 2009, makes no mention of drones or remotely controlled aircraft.

Attorneys familiar with the notice say it's the first time the agency has sought to criminalize the use of drones and model planes.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown says the agency is merely trying to clarify that such craft are included in the prohibition since both are considered ''aircraft.''

SOCCER

MOSCOW (AP) - FIFA President Sepp Blatter has revealed the logo for the 2018 World Cup in Russia - with the help of a crew of cosmonauts.

The logo depicts the World Cup trophy in red and blue, colors from the Russian flag, with gold trim.

Unveiling the logo on a Russian state TV talk show, Blatter said the logo would show Russia's ''heart and spirit.'' It was then presented over video link by a crew of three Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station.

''Seeing the football World Cup in our country was a dream for all of us,'' cosmonaut Elena Serova said.

Simultaneously with the logo's appearance on TV, it was beamed onto Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre as part of a light show.

TORONTO (AP) - The Canadian Soccer Association is denying allegations that it targeted players involved in a legal challenge to the use of artificial turf at next summer's Women's World Cup.

''No such threats were made and any suggestion that Canadian Soccer Association officials engaged in any wrongdoing is completely baseless,'' the association said in a statement Tuesday.

Lawyers for a group of elite female players involved in the human rights challenge allege that the women are being pressured to drop their lawsuit.

In a letter Monday to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the lawyers said ''the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and FIFA - aided by national federations - have threatened reprisals against a coalition of the world's best female soccer players for bringing this sex discrimination action.''

The women asked the tribunal for a cease-and-desist order.

NBA

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber wrote to team employees to say that he regrets if anybody was offended by his unintentional use of ''hoodish'' in an email.

Yahoo Sports reported late Monday night that Guber listed ''hoodish'' as one of the languages he planned to learn as he replied to a team email praising the franchise for having five international players on this season's roster. Guber, who is Jewish, responded later that he intended to type Yiddish.

The Warriors confirmed the authenticity of the emails to The Associated Press on Tuesday morning. The emails come at a time when the NBA is still reeling from other league executives making racially charged statements.