Sports briefs: Cowboys Stadium will host first CFP championship game

College football • The first championship game in the College Football Playoff will be at Cowboys Stadium.

A person familiar with the decision tells The Associated Press that Arlington, Texas, has beaten out Tampa, Fla., in the bidding to be the site of the game.

The final three sites for the semifinal rotation also were announced, and Cowboys Stadium came up a winner again. The Cotton Bowl, which is played at the $1.2 billion home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, will be part of the six-bowl rotation, along with the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. The Rose, Orange and Sugar bowls are already part of the semifinal rotation.

Also on Wednesday, it was discovered that the College Football Playoff's online fan voting has been manipulated by a cyber-ballot stuffer.

BCS officials say the contractor that runs the logo contest informed them that an IP address in Austin, Texas, cast 50,251 for one of the four logos.

NASCAR levies penalty on Kenseth

Auto Racing • In one of the largest penalties in history, NASCAR stripped Matt Kenseth of everything but the trophy from his victory at Kansas after his engine failed a post-race inspection.

NASCAR said Wednesday one of the eight connecting rods in the engine of the No. 20 Toyota did not meet the minimum weight requirement. Although it was potentially a quality control issue by engine provider Toyota Racing Development — and one that gave no advantage to Kenseth in Sunday's race — NASCAR levied a severe penalty against a Sprint Cup team for the second week in a row.

From wire reports