Super Bowl XLVI
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.
Buried on the bench a little more than a week ago, the Knicks' Jeremy Lin is now the toast of New York.
Arc: With 38 teams projected to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble, this is a big weekend to boost a tournament profile.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Charlie Wi holds a three-shot lead at the midway point of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and Tiger Woods sits six back.
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.
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NEW YORK - Alabama will head into the postseason as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1973, while Southern California dropped out of the ranking Sunday after an eight-year run.
The Crimson Tide claimed the top spot in the media poll in overwhelming fashion, receiving 58 first-place votes after its emphatic 32-13 victory against previously No. 1 Florida in the Southeastern Conference title game.
Texas moved up one spot to No. 2 and received two first-place votes, after squeaking past Nebraska 13-12 in the Big 12 title game Saturday night. TCU is No. 3, followed by Cincinnati, Florida and unbeaten Boise State.
The Trojans dropped out to snap a streak of 130 consecutive polls in which they were ranked, after completing their worst regular season since 2001. USC (8-4) was ranked 20th before losing 21-17 to Arizona on Saturday.
Southern Cal’s streak was the second-longest active in the country behind Texas’ 156 weeks in the poll. Ohio State is now second with 83 straight AP rankings.
While the Trojans dropped out, No. 25 Central Michigan earned its first AP ranking in school history. The Chippewas (11-2) won the Mid-American Conference for the third time in four seasons with a 20-10 victory over Ohio on Friday.
The Crimson Tide was No. 1 for a week earlier this season, but spent the previous three at No. 2 before defeating the defending national champions. The last time Alabama went into a postseason game No. 1, the Tide lost the Sugar Bowl 24-23 to Notre Dame.
On Saturday, Alabama locked up a spot in the BCS national championship game with its SEC title, and is expected to play Texas on Jan. 7 at the Rose Bowl.
TCU has its highest rankings since winning the 1938 national championship.
The rest of the top 10 was Oregon at No. 7, followed by Ohio State, Georgia Tech and Iowa. The 11-15 spots were held by Penn State, Virginia Tech, LSU, BYU and Miami.
The top eight rankings are the same in the coaches' poll.
Pittsburgh dropped two spots after losing 45-44 to Cincinnati in a game that decided the Big East title. Oregon State dropped four spots to No. 17 after losing 37-33 at Oregon in a game that decided the Pac-10 championship.
West Virginia moved up six spots to 18 and Stanford moved up four spots to No. 19.
No. 20 Nebraska moved up one after nearly knocking the Longhorns out of the national title game in the Big 12 championship.
The final five were Oklahoma State, Arizona, Utah and Wisconsin — all of which have been in and out of the rankings this season — along with Central Michigan.
Falling out with USC were Clemson, Houston and California. Unbeaten Montana, which plays Appalachian State in the FCS semifinals on Saturday, received one point in the poll.
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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 Memphis fulfills BCS dream Tigers officials thrilled to announce that school has been accepted to join the Big East Conference in 2013. |
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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.
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.