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.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
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.
AP
NEW YORK - After a weekend when all the national championship contenders stayed undefeated, the BCS standings were unchanged.
Florida was first, Alabama second and Texas third Sunday.
The Gators will play in the Southeastern Conference championship Saturday for one spot in the BCS national title game. The Longhorns can earn the other spot with a victory against Nebraska in the Big 12 title game.
The BCS bids go out Sunday, Dec. 6.
Hoping for a Texas loss are fourth-place TCU, which finished its regular-season 12-0, and fifth-place Cincinnati (12-0), which can boost it’s ranking by beating Pittsburgh for the Big East championship.
Sixth-place Boise State (12-0) will be rooting for Texas. The Broncos play New Mexico State and likely need the Longhorns to win to ensure themselves an at-large BCS berth.
Florida had an easy time running its record to 12-0, beating rival Florida State 37-10 on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, Alabama and Texas had to struggle to get to 12-0. The Crimson Tide rallied late to beat Auburn 26-21 and the Longhorns won a wild 49-39 game against Texas A&M.
Now all three are a victory away from a date in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 7 with the national championship on the line.
It’s practically a repeat of last season’s championship weekend, when Florida and Alabama played what amounted to a national semifinal in Atlanta and Oklahoma needed to win the Big 12 title to advance to the national championship game.
The Gators and Sooners ended up in the national championship game, with Florida winning its second title in three seasons.
If Texas losses at Cowboys Stadium to Nebraska, expect a furious debate about who should play in the national title game against the SEC champion.
TCU (.8689) and Cincinnati (.8547) are virtually tied in the standings. The Horned Frogs are ahead of the Bearcats in the two polls, but Cincinnati has a stronger computer rating.
Beating Pittsburgh could push the Bearcats past TCU and put them in position to take advantage of a Texas loss and slip into the national title game.
That is, unless the loser of the SEC championship game doesn’t stay ahead of the pack and set up a rematch between Florida and Alabama in Pasadena, Calif.
There has never been a regular-season rematch in the BCS title game nor a matchup of teams in the same conference.
In 2006, Florida leaped past Michigan in the final BCS standings to prevent a rematch of Ohio State-Michigan in the national title game. The Gators went on to beat the Buckeyes and win their first title under coach Urban Meyer.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
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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.
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.