Dein erstes Forum » d John Lackey in a repeat of the Division S

College football is making it easy on the 12 judges of the sport -- again.When the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its first of six rankings on Tuesday, Alabama, Clemson, Michigan and Washington -- all still undefeated -- should comprise their top four.The biggest question is in what order, following No. 1 Alabama.Week 9 was the final chance for teams to impress the selection committee before their first meeting of the season, which begins on Monday at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas. Heres a look at five lasting impressions from Saturday which could influence the committees top 25:1. The Big 12 is in big trouble After nine weeks, the Big 12 looks like the Power 5 conference most likely to be left out of the top four. Baylor and West Virginia both joined the one-loss club on Saturday, and neither of them has a win over a ranked opponent on its résumé. That will be a problem when the committee compares them against other one-loss teams, like Texas A&M, that have played tougher schedules. Baylors nonconference schedule is ranked 127th out of 128, according to ESPNs Football Power Index, and it doesnt have any wins over teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. A loss to an unranked 4-4 Texas team will be nearly impossible to overcome. West Virginia had separated itself by playing defense in wins over Texas Tech and TCU, but the Mountaineers had three turnovers that led to 17 points for Oklahoma State. That leaves two-loss Oklahoma in the conference lead -- and thats not good for the Big 12s playoff hopes.2. Washington earned its first statement road win Still undefeated after travelling to No. 17 Utah, Washington further legitimized its case to be in the committees top four. The Huskies had dominated lesser competition -- including nonconference wins over Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State -- but their timing couldnt have been better for knocking off their first ranked opponent on the road. Washington doesnt have any more currently ranked opponents on its schedule -- which made the win over Utah all the more imperative. An undefeated Pac-12 champ would likely finish in the top four, and the Huskies just cleared their toughest remaining regular-season hurdle.3. Louisville is officially a long shot Its one thing to struggle against Duke. Its another to barely squeak by Duke and Virginia, the two worst teams in the ACCs Coastal Division. They are a combined 5-11, and Louisville was fortunate to beat both. The Cardinals simply didnt look like a top-four team on Saturday at UVA (seven penalties, two turnovers and dropped passes), and they need to be more than just Lamar Jackson to sneak into the playoff without winning a conference title. Louisville has just one win against a ranked opponent -- Florida State -- and it doesnt have any more ranked teams on the schedule. Its a one-loss résumé that doesnt stack up to Texas A&Ms right now.4. Ohio State has work to do The Buckeyes rebounded from their loss at Penn State with a win over Northwestern, but they didnt look like a top-four contender in the process. The good news for the Buckeyes is they still have about a month to improve before hosting Michigan in the regular-season finale which will likely determine the Big Ten East winner. The problem is, if they continue to struggle offensively the way they have the past two weeks, they might not beat Nebraska at home on Saturday.5. Florida tightened its grip on the SEC East This was supposed to be the easy part for Tennessee -- starting on Saturday against a South Carolina team that had lost three of its last four. Instead, the Vols dropped their third straight game, looking up at the Gators and -- gasp! -- Kentucky in the SEC standings. Florida took care of business against Georgia but still has to play at Arkansas and LSU and would have to lose both of those games for Tennessee to win the tiebreaker. Myles Straw Jersey . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Josh Reddick Jersey . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. http://www.customastrosjersey.com/custom-carlos-correa-jersey-large-1686y.html . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. Joe Pepitone Jersey .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Lance Berkman Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. CHICAGO -- Joe Maddon was driving his RV through Virginia two years ago when he got the news. Andrew Friedman was leaving Tampa Bay to take over the Los Angeles Dodgers.One pivotal moment on the road to this years NL Championship Series.A month after Friedmans departure, Maddon was introduced as the 54th manager of the lowly Chicago Cubs. Friedman hired general manager Farhan Zaidi in his first big move in Los Angeles, and the Dodgers continued their winning ways.Now Maddon and Friedman are together again, with a spot in the World Series on the line. The Cubs and Dodgers play Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday night at Wrigley Field.We stay in touch all the time, Maddon said before his team worked out on Friday. I know his family really well. His moms a trip. I really enjoy the whole group. So Andrew and I are very close.Friedmans move to sunny LA triggered an opt-out clause in Maddons contract, and Chicago jumped on the opportunity to put the Pennsylvania native in its dugout. The decision has worked out quite well so far, with the Cubs returning to the NLCS for the second straight year for the first time.It turns out there are lots of friends on each side of this years series.Dodgers manager Dave Roberts contributed a famous steal to Bostons run to the World Series title in 2004, stopping an 86-year drought. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer worked for the Red Sox at the time, and they acquired Roberts in a trade with Los Angeles on July 31 that year.I kind of put Theo and Jed together and theyre good friends of mine, Roberts said, and theres a lot of, a little bit of banter, but obviously Ive got the ultimate respect for those guys and they really helped me get a ring.Roberts and the Dodgers arrived in Chicago on Friday, fresh off a dramatic 4-3 victory at Washington in Game 5 of their NL Division Series. The NL West champions used six pitchers in the series-clinching win, including closer Kenley Jansen for a career-high 51 pitches and ace Clayton Kershaw for the final two outs.The taxing finale in Washington left Roberts few options for Game 1 of the NLCS, and he said Kenta Maeda will get the ball for the opener against the Cubs. Roberts wasnt ready to announce his rotation for the rest of the series, but hinted Kershaw likely would go in Game 2 on Sunday night.Physically, he feels great, Roberts said before the Dodgers workkout.dddddddddddd. Hes going to go out there and get a lift in and throw and run and do what he does. So, obviously, were not prepared to make that decision yet, but hes tracking to start when we all think.Jansen thinks he will be ready for the NLCS opener, and Kershaw said he felt fine. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner also said he isnt sure when he will make his next start.I havent heard a thing, he said.The 28-year-old Maeda went 16-11 with a 3.48 ERA in his first season in the majors. But the Japanese right-hander has lost three straight starts, lasting just three innings in his first career playoff appearance Monday against Washington.Weve been relying a lot on our relief pitchers to take the load, so I want to be able to -- Im really just focused on throwing quality innings as long as I can, Maeda said through a translator. And as long as I keep throwing quality innings, then I would be able to throw longer and deeper into the game.The Cubs have been resting since they used a four-run ninth to finish off San Francisco with a 6-5 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night. Jon Lester is lined up to start Game 1, followed by Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and John Lackey in a repeat of the Division Series.Lester pitched 15 innings of one-run ball in two starts against Los Angeles this year, and the Dodgers hit .213 against lefty pitching overall.Hes good. And right now hes at the top of his game, Maddon said. I mean, from what Ive seen, hes had a couple hiccups, which everybody does. But, man, hes been pretty much right on the last couple months, including the first game of the playoffs for him.There was some question about Hendricks health after he had a comebacker go off his right forearm in Game 2 against the Giants. But the right-hander, who had a major league-best 2.13 ERA this year, felt fine after a bullpen session on Thursday, allowing the Cubs to finalize their rotation.Our staff has been really, really good this year, and I think that, really, if you put all of our names in a hat and pulled one out, I dont think you could go wrong, Lester said. So, its a huge honor, especially for an organization like this, to get the ball again and try to go out and give us a good start.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '