MIAMI — Michael Irvin was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday despite a troubled past, though voters denied entry to retired NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

The former Dallas Cowboys receiver, who won three Super Bowls in the 1990s, got in on his third try.

Also voted in were running back Thurman Thomas, offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, defensive back Roger Wehrli and two nominees of the veterans' committee — tight end Charlie Sanders and guard Gene Hickerson.

Inductions will be Aug. 4-5 in Canton, Ohio. The Steelers and Saints will play in the annual Hall of Fame game.

DURHAM, N.C. — Al Thornton scored 21 points and Florida State upset No. 8 Duke 68-67 on Sunday to snap a 15-game losing streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium.Toney Douglas added 15 points and Uche Echefu added 12 for the Seminoles (17-6, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who overcame a 17-point deficit to claim their first victory on the Blue Devils' fabled home floor.

The Slippery Rock University athletic program recently received a few academic distinctions of note:• Junior offensive tackle Mike Butterworth received a 2006 PSAC Fall Top Ten Award. He carries a 3.9 grade point average as a health and physical education major and is a two-time All-PSAC West performer in football.• The SRU men's and women's cross country teams were included in the list of squads that earned U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-academic team honors.The Rock men had a cumulative GPA of 3.422 while the women had a composite 3.324.• A survey conducted by Clarion University shows that SRU ranks third in the PSAC in percentage of student-athletes who have earned conference scholar-athlete honors since 1998.The survey showed that 1,013 of a possible 4,343 SRU student-athletes since 1998 — 23.3 percent — have had a GPAof 3.25 or higher. Indiana (Pa.) and Clarion top the survey.

Butler graduate Kate DeGeorge and Moniteau product Haley McFeaters both ran a leg on the Thiel College women's 4x400-meter indoor track relay team that finished first and set a new school standard of four minutes, 11.27 seconds last Friday at the Case Western Reserve University Invitational in Cleveland.