Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Getty Images
NEW YORK - All the national title contenders took care of business and the BCS standings were unchanged at the top Sunday, with Alabama and Texas Tech holding the first two spots and Florida, Texas and Oklahoma poised to move up.
The Crimson Tide ran away from Mississippi State in the second half of a 32-7 victory Saturday that kept Alabama on top of both the USA Today coaches’ poll and the Harris poll. The Tide has a .9787 BCS average.
Texas Tech (.9698) remained second in the polls and first according to the computer ratings during a week off. The Red Raiders head into their fourth straight game against a ranked opponent, this time at Oklahoma, in control of their national title and Big 12 championship hopes.
The Sooners also had the week off, while Florida and Texas both had blowout victories Saturday.
Florida and Alabama will play for the Southeastern Conference title on Dec. 6, and if they can avoid losing before they get there, the game will probably amount to a national semifinal with the winner advancing to play for the national championship.
Southern California, also a big winner Saturday, is still stuck behind the top five and in need of at least a couple upsets to reach the national championship game.
USC also needs help to win the Pac-10 championship and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl. Oregon State, which beat the Trojans in September, can earn a Rose Bowl bid with victories at Arizona and against Oregon.
The Trojans, however, would be a prime candidate to receive an at-large bid to the BCS if they finish the season with victories against Notre Dame and UCLA.
Penn State and Utah can both lock up spots in the Bowl Championship Series on Saturday with victories.
The Nittany Lions can win the Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl by beating Michigan State in Happy Valley.
Utah would lock up an automatic BCS bid if it can complete its perfect season with a victory against BYU. The Utes, from the Mountain West Conference, are seventh in the BCS standings and need to finish in the top 12 to earn their second BCS appearance since 2004.
Boise State is ninth in the standings and unbeaten. The Broncos can be eligible for an at-large BCS berth if they win out and are Western Athletic Conference champions, but they’ll need Utah to lose to earn an automatic bid to one of the five marquee bowl games for the second time in three seasons.
Also on Sunday, BCS coordinator John Swofford responded to a playoff push by President-elect Barack Obama that was broadcast on CBS’ “60 Minutes.
“First of all I want to congratulate newly elected President Obama and I am glad he has a passion for college football like so many other Americans,” Swofford said in a statement. “For now, our constituencies — and I know he understands constituencies — have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports.”
Swofford added: “We certainly respect the opinions of president-elect Obama and welcome dialogue on what’s best for college football.”
Obama said he will use his influence to create such a system.
“If you’ve got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there’s no clear decisive winner. We should be creating a playoff system,” he told reporter Steve Kroft.
According to Obama’s proposed system, eight teams would play over three rounds to settle the national champion.
“It would add three extra weeks to the season,” he said at the conclusion of a wide-ranging interview. “You could trim back on the regular season. I don’t know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I’m going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it’s the right thing to do.”
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
CollegeFootballTalk headlines |
 | Video: Football from NBC Sports |
 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
 | Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 | NBCSports.com |
| Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.