Auburn and LSU played the last weekend of September and both coaches were under pressure. The ugly game had a bizarre ending. The next day LSU fired coach Les Miles, while Auburn and Gus Malzahn were feeling fortunate to be 2-2.Now its November and both SEC West Tigers are in the race not only for a conference championship, but perhaps a spot in the College Football Playoff.No. 15 LSU hosts No. 1 Alabama on Saturday for what amounts to an elimination game for the Tigers. Even with a victory, the Tigers would need help to win the West, an amazing prospect given the first month of the season.Snapping a five-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide would do wonders for interim coach Ed Orgeron as he tries to convince LSU to make him coach-for-good.No. 11 Auburn faces a much easier task Saturday with Vanderbilt at home. The Tigers have won five straight and if they get to the Iron Bowl without another loss, beating Alabama could earn them a trip to the SEC title game.How things have changed.The picks:THURSDAY NIGHTERSNo. 12 Oklahoma (minus 21) at Iowa StateThe Sooners are down to one scholarship tailback with Joe Mixon suspended and Samaje Perine injured ... OKLAHOMA 42-14.UCLA (plus 12) at No. 21 ColoradoThe Bruins season is crumbling ... COLORADO 24-10.FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTSSan Jose State (plus 29) at No. 24 Boise StateThe Broncos bounce back from the first loss of the season ... BOISE STATE 45-14.MARQUEE MATCHUPSNo. 1 Alabama (minus 7) at No. 15 LSUThe Tide held Leonard Fournette to 31 yards on 19 carries last season ... ALABAMA 28-23.No. 9 Nebraska (minus 17) at No. 6 Ohio StateThe Cornhuskers have not beaten a top-10 team on the road (0-9) since coach Tom Osborne led the Cornhuskers to a victory at Washington in 1997 ... OHIO STATE 31-20.UPSET ALERTNo. 8 Wisconsin (minus 6+) at NorthwesternThe Wildcats have won two straight against the Badgers and could find themselves in first place in the Big Ten West with another victory ... WISCONSIN 21-20.No. 10 Florida (minus 5+) at ArkansasThe Razorbacks will have had two weeks to stew over getting blown out by Auburn ... ARKANSAS 28-24, UPSET SPECIAL.PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONSMaryland (plus 31) at No. 2 MichiganJim Harbaugh faces former assistant DJ Durkin, who has done a solid job in his first season as Terps coach ... MICHIGAN 41-15.Syracuse (plus 26+) at No. 3 ClemsonThe worst defense in the ACC comes to Death Valley for Deshaun Watson to feast upon ... CLEMSON 52-21.No. 4 Washington (minus 17) at CaliforniaIf the Huskies were getting overconfident, the College Football Playoff selection committee likely knocked that right out of them ... WASHINGTON 49-28.No. 5 Louisville (minus 25) at Boston CollegeThe Cardinals need some blowouts ... LOUISVILLE 56-14.No. 7 Texas A&M (minus 13+) at Mississippi StateThe Aggies lost their last game in Starkville, but Dak Prescott doesnt player there anymore ... TEXAS A&M 38-21.CONFERENCE CALLSVanderbilt (plus 26) at No. 11 AuburnThe downside of playing Vandy? If the Tigers were to get into a three-way tie in the SEC West, the record of their non-divisional opponents could come into play ... AUBURN 42-10, BEST BET.TCU (plus 8) at No. 13 BaylorThe last three meetings include two decided by three points each and one -- last season -- went to overtime ... BAYLOR 35-28.Kansas (plus 34+) at No. 14 West VirginiaThe Jayhawks Big 12 losing streak is at 17 games ... WEST VIRGINIA 45-7.Georgia Tech (plus 10) at No. 18 North CarolinaThe Tar Heels have won two straight high-scoring games against the Yellow Jackets; combined score 86-74 ... NORTH CAROLINA 43-27.No. 19 Florida State (minus 5) at N.C. StateSeminoles RB Dalvin Cook is back in the Heisman Trophy discussion ... FLORIDA STATE 35-24.Iowa (plus 7+) at No. 20 Penn StateIf the Nittany Lions are truly on the upswing, this is a game they need to win ... PENN STATE 26-20.No. 22 Oklahoma State (plus 3) at Kansas StateWildcats Bill Snyder looking for victory No. 199 ... KANSAS STATE 24-21.No. 23 Virginia Tech (plus 10+) at DukeAfter years of futility against the Hokies, the Blue Devils have won two of the last three meetings and lost the other game by one point ... VIRGINIA TECH 31-23.Arizona (plus 17) at No. 25 Washington StateAfter 0-2 start, the Cougars are the biggest threat to Washington in the Pac-12 North ... WASHINGTON STATE 42-24.TWITTER REQUESTSTexas (minus 3+) at Texas Tech -- (at)4WallerOUThe Charlie Strong Referendum Tour pulls into Lubbock; the Longhorns had a six-game winning streak against the Red Raiders snapped last year in Austin ... TEXAS 50-42.Georgia (minus 2) at Kentucky -- (at)realBJPThe Wildcats have not beaten Georgia since 2009, but now is the season to do it ... KENTUCKY 28-23.Notre Dame (minus 6+) vs. Navy in Jacksonville, Florida -- (at)JeffiBelcherThe Irish didnt exactly look like a team about to salvage its season in beating Miami last week ... NOTRE DAME 35-31.Oregon (plus 17) at USC -- (at)mjbx101A couple of emerging quarterbacks in the Pac-12 in Sam Darnold of USC and Justin Herbert of Oregon ... USC 48-35.---Record: Last week 13-7 straight; 15-5 vs. points.Season: 129-52; 83-93-3.Upset specials: 2-7.Best bets: 1-8.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP---APs college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org Cheap Custom Basketball Jerseys Online . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Sale Custom Basketball Jerseys . Robinson finished with 17 points, all but two in the second half, and Lawson had 14 after halftime and finished with a game-high 11 assists as the Nuggets handed Dallas its first home loss in eight games this season. J.J. Hickson led Denver with 22, and Kenneth Faried added 10 points and 10 rebounds. http://www.customjerseysbasketball.com/ . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Custom Basketball Jerseys Outlet . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Discount Custom Basketball Jerseys . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. POCATELLO, Idaho - Mizzou Volleyball concluded its run at the 2016 Idaho State Invitational with a split on Saturday afternoon.?Redshirt junior Melanie Crow (Wildwood, Mo.) and senior Carly Kan (Honolulu) were awarded All-Tournament Team honors for their outstanding weekends on the court. Crow led the Tigers in kills (48) and points (58.0), while Kan paced the team in aces (5) and finished second in digs per set (2.18) and points (32.0).Saturdays honors marks Crows third consecutive All-Tournament Team recognition to begin the season and Kans second All-Tournament Team nod.Junior Sydney Deeken (California, Mo.) and senior Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) also shined on offense this weekend for Mizzou. Deekens 27 kills were second-most on the team, while producing a solid .311 hitting percentage. Thater contributed 19 kills on .308 hitting with eight total blocks.Senior Alexa Ethridge (Lees Summit, Mo.) was a mainstay at libero, recording a team-high 36 digs over the Tigers three matches.MIZZOU VS. #10 BYUThe Tigers got off to a hot start in the opening set, leading to a late 22-17 advantage over the Cougars. Following a timeout, BYU responded with a 5-0 run and ultimately claimed a 26-24 opening set triumph. Mizzou played well despite the late struggles, as five individuals claimed at least one kill. Crow paced the offense with four kills on .400 hitting in the opening set.Mizzou and BYU switched roles in the second set, as the home Cougars claimed a late 24-18 advantage. The Tigers staged an outstanding 6-0 run to even the score at 24 apiece. BYU used consecutive kills to take the second set however and tallied its second straight 26-24 set victory. Kan played a pivotal role in the Tigers initial comeback, producing a team-high five kills in the set.The third and final set was all BYU, as it completed its afternoon sweep against Mizzou. The Cougars took advantage of solid serving and hitting, en route to a 25-17 set triumph. Crow and Kan tied for the team-lead with nine overall kills apiece. Senior Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.) and junior Sydney Deeken (California, Mo.) also performed well offensively for the Tigers despite the match loss. Thater tallied seven kills on .455 hitting, while Deeken produced eight kills on .316 hitting.Sophomore Alyssa Munlyn (Suwanee, Ga.dddddddddddd) led Mizzou with seven total blocks, keying the teams 11.0 overall total stops. The solid defensive effort marked the Tigers fourth double-digit block match on the young season.MIZZOU VS. BOISE STATEMizzous offense was on a mission in the first set, recording 16 kills on .433 hitting. Six different Tigers tallied multiple kills, led by Crows five kills on .444 hitting. The Tigers scored points in a variety of ways, including three service aces and three total blocks.The second set was even better for Mizzou, as it claimed a 25-17 victory. Effective blocking was key yet again for the Tigers, as they added six more total blocks to their total. Through the first two sets, four individual Tigers accumulated two-plus total blocks. The strong Mizzou defense led Boise State to eight attack errors and a .000 hitting percentage. Offensively, Thater shined in the second set with three kills and zero errors.Boise States offense finally appeared in the third set, keying its 25-18 triumph over Mizzou. The Broncos posted 15 kills on .353 hitting, as the Tigers struggled to find an answer on defense. For Mizzou, Crow surpassed 10-plus kills in a match for the seventh time in nine total matches.Mizzou finished its weekend strong in the fourth set against Boise State, recording a 25-23 match-clinching set win. Crow was excellent on offense for the Tigers, claiming seven of her 22 total kills in the match-clinching set. The Tiger newcomer now has 20-plus kills in two matches this season.For the sixth consecutive match, junior Courtney Eckenrode (The Woodlands, Texas) paced Mizzou in assists. Eckenrodes 31 assists keyed the Mizzou offense and it also marked her fourth 30-plus assist match of the year.UP NEXTMizzou travels east to Newark, Del., from Sept. 16-17 for its non-conference tournament finale. The Tigers will join Duquesne, Miami (Fla.) and Delaware at the two-day 2016 Delaware Invitational.The Hearnes Center will host Mizzous 2016 Southeastern Conference opener on Wednesday, Sept. 21. First serve between the Tigers and South Carolina is set for 8 p.m. (CT) and the match will broadcast live on ESPNU. ' ' '
