Canes news and reaction:

• The Hurricanes' basketball team is ranked for 2008-2009: No. 12 by ESPN, No. 13 by Fox Sports and No. 20 by CBS Sports.

REACTION: I'm happy they are ranked, I'm worried about failing to meet expectations and they still need to sign another good point guard to pair with Lance Hurdle.

• The Canes' baseball team, ranked No. 1 in the nation, lost to Florida Atlantic, 6-3, on Wednesday night. The Canes are now 27-3.

REACTION: That's what happens in mid-week games sometimes because the Canes start one of their lesser pitchers, in this case John Housey, who gave up four runs in the first inning and took the loss.

Even so, the Canes loaded the bases in the ninth and put a major scare into the Owls when power hitter Yonder Alonso hit a deep fly that was caught in center field.

Kudos to shortstop Ryan Jackson, who had 3 hits and now leads the Canes with 15 multi-hit games. Jackson, a sophomore, entered the season with an all-field, no-hit reputation, so his progress is great news.