Wichtig » llowing 3.4 goals per game, a number which ranks 2

The season that just started is pretty much half over. The teams that can still smell a championship no longer can feast on rent-a-victims, which is how we know that No. 2 Ohio State finally must play a Big Ten road game. Say this much for Urban Meyer, when he plays a road game, he makes it count. First, Oklahoma; now, No. 8 Wisconsin (ABC, 8 p.m. ET). No. 1 Alabama is playing its third SEC road game, and at No. 9 Tennessee at that. The schedule gods smiled on No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Washington and No. 6 Texas A&M. At the exact midpoint of their seasons, they have an off week.1. Four Big Ten teams reached the AP top 10 for the first time in 56 years. Whats weird about that is on Oct. 3, 1960, Iowa,?Illinois,?Ohio State, and?Purdue?all were ranked between third and seventh, yet the Big Ten team that won the national championship that year was Minnesota. This time its Ohio State,?Michigan,?Wisconsin?and?Nebraska?-- RIP, Big Eight -- and, and barring a Badgers victory, there probably wont be four Big Ten teams in the top 10 next week. But theres no question here, anyway, that the Big Ten has been the strongest conference in the first half of the season. And the ACC is second.2. Miami freshman wide receiver Sam Bruce, the nephew of former NFL star Isaac Bruce, found out what Georgia players learned for 15 years under head coach Mark Richt: If you step over the line, he wont let you come back. Bruce already had been suspended once for a photo of him with a gun. He broke a leg last month playing pickup basketball and was out for the season. I always thought Richts soft-spokenness and compassionate religiosity masked a harder edge. But no one averages 10-3 in the SEC for that long if he doesnt have a structured program. Bruce found out what was well-known in Athens.3. Hurricane Matthew dumped nine inches of rain on Carter-Finley Stadium by 6 p.m. Saturday, but the calendar smiled upon NC State. With the state fair taking place across the street from the stadium, the Wolfpack play on the road for the next two weeks. Assistant athletic director Ray Brincefield said this annual break allows for a midseason overseed and top dress. For the latter, he said, the school used 24 tons of sand this week instead of 12. He predicts the grass will be ready for Boston College on Oct. 29. Dont forget: North Carolina State has a turf school. They know how to grow grass.4. Iowa?coach Kirk Ferentz, one of the least hyperbolic people Ive ever met, said Tuesday that he likes the College Football Playoff as is and has no desire to see the field expanded to eight teams -- and that he fully expects that to happen. Were going to [go to eight teams] because there is so much talk and attention and emphasis on it, Ferentz said. I think were right where we need to be. He is concerned for the fate of the bowls, which have suffered as the playoff has blossomed. You can be in the playoffs, Ferentz said, and still have bowls that mean a lot to the teams involved. Last season, Iowa won the Big Ten West, as opposed to the Big Ten, and went to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 25 years.5. The emergence of?Jake Browning?into the bright lights of Heisman Trophy contention also shines a beam on the meager history of Huskies and Heismans. The last time a Washington player finished among the top 10 vote-getters: 2000, when quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo led the Huskies to a Rose Bowl victory. The last time a Washington player finished among the top five: 1991, when defensive tackle Steve Emtman finished fourth. The last time a Huskies offensive player finished among the top five: never, as in not one. Emtman is the only Washington player who finished higher than seventh (tailback Greg Lewis, 1990). East coast bias? Your witness.6. Some rivalries are filled with tension every season.?Tennessee?and?Alabama, known to fans on both sides of the states shared border as the Third Saturday in October, is not one of them. The Vols and the Crimson Tide might be the streakiest rivalry in sports. Only twice since 1961 has a team not lost at least two years in a row. Check it out: 1961-66: Alabama, 5-0-1; 1967-70, Tennessee, 4-0; 1971-81, Alabama, 11-0; 1982-85, Tennessee, 4-0; 1986-94, Alabama 8-0-1 (the NCAA later forced the Tide to forfeit the 1993 tie); 1995-2001, Tennessee, 7-0; 2007-15, Alabama, 9-0. From 2002 to 06, Tennessee won three out of five, and the NCAA forced Alabama to vacate its 2005 victory. The Tide are favored to stretch the current streak to 10 games against the injury-riddled Vols.7. I have been thinking about my friend and colleague Beano Cook, who died four years ago this week. No one was ever more passionate about the history of college football, or about pricking pomposity. This, from a 2010 podcast: Jim Tatum left Oklahoma to take the Maryland job after the 46 season and (Bud) Wilkinson got the Oklahoma job. I dont think the people of Oklahoma had any idea what they were getting. They got absolutely, I wont say genius. I will use an adjective: a football genius. These people who refer to coaches as a genius: Einstein was a genius. Edison was a genius. Football coaches arent geniuses. They might be football geniuses. But not geniuses.Air Max 95 Sale Canada . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Air Max 95 Canada . -- In a span of seven Washington Redskins offensive plays, Justin Tuck sacked Robert Griffin III four times. http://www.cheapairmax95canada.com/ .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Air Max 95 Outlet Online Store . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. Air Max 95 For Sale Cheap . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1.DALLAS -- Looking at their last 10 games, the New Jersey Devils and Dallas Stars are definitely heading in opposite directions.New Jersey (8-3-3) defeated Buffalo 4-2 at Prudential Arena on Saturday for its fourth consecutive victory. The Devils, who have a plus-5 goal differential, fifth-best in the Eastern Conference, are also 7-1-2 over their past 10 games.Four wins in a row is huge for our confidence, Devils center Taylor Hall told NHL.com after the win against the Sabres. The one thing it does do is put other teams on guard that were a strong team. Were going to face these teams at their best, so we have to be ready for that.New Jersey is also allowing 2.1 goals per game, third-lowest in the league.As for the Stars, who host the Devils on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center, they return home from their longest road trip of the season -- a five-game trek to Chicago, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver that saw them go 2-1-2.Dallas punctuated the trip with a 5-4 overtime loss against the Canucks at Rogers Centre on Sunday night, and understandably Stars coach Lindy Ruff didnt have a lot to say after a tough defeat where Dallas blew a 3-1 lead after two periods.You got to move on, Ruff said postgame in Vancouver.The Stars are still without key offensive cogs Jason Spezza (lower body) and Patrick Sharp (concussion), and fellow veteran forward Jiri Hudler continues to be sidelined with an illness.And even though Dallas took six of a possible 10 points on the trip, the Stars are just 3-4-3 over their past 10 games, a mark which captain Jamie Benn knowws is simply not good enough.ddddddddddddisappointing, give up four goals in 20-something minutes and lose a hockey game. Its no good and unacceptable, Benn said postgame in Vancouver.The good news for Dallas is starting a three-game homestand against the Devils, Colorado Avalanche (on Thursday) and the Oilers (on Saturday). The Stars are 3-2-1 on home ice.Dallas hopes to get Sharp, Spezza and maybe even Hudler back on the ice soon. Without so many key personnel thus far, the Stars have posted several distressing numbers, like a minus-11 goal differential, which is tied for fourth-worst in the Western Conference.The Stars are also allowing 3.4 goals per game, a number which ranks 26th out of the 30 teams in the league.But even with their current winning streak, the Devils will be without veteran forward Michael Cammalleri, who is out due to personal reasons.And if theres one thing New Jersey hasnt done well over its past five games, its execute on the power play -- the Devils are 0-for-19 with the man advantage during that span.However, teams who seem to be effective in limiting Dallas ability to use their speed and make it a complete back-and-forth game have given the Stars fits over the past few seasons.Still, as the man wearing the C for the Stars puts it, the style of play on Tuesday night is irrelevant but the ultimate goal never changes.We just got to be better, Benn said postgame on Vancouver. Havent found a way to win lately. ' ' '