T25-SCHEDULE
Buckeyes go for 21st straight tonight against Scarlet Knights
UNDATED (AP) βTop-ranked Ohio State is looking to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 21 games and its Big 10 Conference regular-season winning streak to 28 when it plays 3-3 Rutgers tonight. The 7-0 Buckeyes are one shy of the NCAA conference record winning streak set by Florida State of the ACC from 1992-95. Rutgers will be looking for its first win over a No. 1 team.
Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer has settled on J.R. Barrett as his quarterback. Elliott has rushed for 988 yards and 11 TDs this season. Rutgers’ defense is giving up 447.3 yards and Big Ten opponents have averaged 37 points against the Scarlet Knights.
In other AP top-25 action today:
β Second-ranked Baylor is trying for a 7-0 start against a 2-4 Iowa State team. Baylor again has the nation’s best offense (719.7 yards, 63.8 points a game) and looks to extend its FBS-best home winning streak to 20 in a row. The Bears have scored at least 56 points in every game this season and gone over 60 points the last five. Iowa State is wrapping up a three-game stretch against the nation’s top three offenses β Texas Tech, TCU and Baylor.
β Third-ranked Utah travels to the LA Coliseum to play 3-3 Southern California tonight. The Utes are 6-0. Utah attempts to keep its unbeaten run alive with its first victory over Southern California at the Coliseum since 1916. Clay Helton hopes to become the eighth-straight Trojans coach to win his first home game. He replaced fired Steve Sarkisian (sahr-KEE’-zee-en) on an interim basis two weeks ago.
β Fifth-ranked LSU is home in Death Valley tonight against 6-1 Western Kentucky out of Conference USA. The 6-0 Tigers are still in firm hopes of making the College Football Playoffs. LSU’s pass rush has racked up 17 sacks through six games and will be going against a prolific WKU passing attack that has produced 407.1 yards per game.
β Sixth-ranked Clemson is in Miami playing the 4-2 Hurricanes. The 6-0 Tigers remain firmly in the chase for a spot in the College Football Playoff and to move a step closer toward a potential matchup of unbeatens against Florida State on Nov. 7. The Tigers could also have a winning streak reach 10 games for the first time since 1983-84. A Miami win would likely slow down some of the criticism of embattled ‘Canes coach Al Golden.
β Seventh-ranked Michigan State, coming off its emotional last-second victory over Michigan last week, will try to avoid a letdown today as it plays host to 4-3 Indiana. The 7-0 Spartans remain unbeaten and on track for a showdown with top-ranked Ohio State next month.
β Eighth-ranked Alabama is 6-1 and at home against 3-3 Tennessee. Alabama is trying to continue a four-game win streak that included lopsided road wins over two SEC teams ranked in the Top 10 at the time. The Volunteers are trying to get over the hump after losing several close games, including defeats by No. 17 Oklahoma and No. 13 Florida.
β Ninth-ranked Florida State is 6-0 and is in Atlanta to play 2-5 Georgia Tech. Florida State can’t afford to stumble if it wants to stay in the mix for the College Football Playoff, especially with a Nov. 7 trip to unbeaten Clemson looming. Georgia Tech, a preseason ACC favorite, has been a huge disappointment. The Yellow Jackets likely need an upset of the Seminoles to have a shot at maintaining their streak of 18 straight bowl appearances
β Tenth-ranked Stanford tries to improve to 6-1 and 5-0 in the Pac-12 North when the Cardinal host 3-3 Washington tonight. The Huskies look to bounce back from a home loss to Oregon by winning their second-straight game against a ranked team. The Cardinal go for their sixth straight win, looking to remain in control of the Pac-12 North race and in contention for the College Football Playoff.
β Winless Kansas has a tall task in traveling to Stillwater to play 14th-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma State, which is 6-0. Oklahoma State is coming off its bye week, after three straight down-to-the-wire victories, winning twice on last-minute field goals and in overtime in their last outing on Oct. 10 against West Virginia. The Cowboys are determined to not overlook the Jayhawks, who gave Texas Tech all it could handle last weekend before falling 30-20.
β No. 15 Texas A&M hits the road against 24th-ranked Ole Miss, which is 5-2. The Aggies are 5-1 and both teams are 2-1 in the SEC West. The winner of this game will still be right in the middle of the SEC hunt. The loser will be all but eliminated. This looked like it might be a huge game one week ago, but the Aggies and Rebels are both coming off disappointing losses. Ole Miss lost on the road against Memphis while Texas A&M fell at home to Alabama.
β No. 17 Oklahoma is 5-1 and has a rivalry game against 5-2 Texas Tech. The Sooners are still smarting from their upset loss to Texas two weeks ago. Another loss would likely doom OU’s playoff hopes. Texas Tech could claim its third straight Big 12 win and first victory over a ranked team since the 2013 Holiday Bowl.
β No. 19 Toledo takes its perfect record on the road to play 1-5 UMass. The Rockets are 6-0 for the first time since 1997. Their No. 19 ranking is the highest since then, when they reached 18th before losing three of their last four games. If this Toledo team can avoid a similar fate and run the table, the Rockets will be in contention for the Group of Five automatic bid to one of the college football playoff system’s New Year’s Day bowl games.
β The 20th-ranked Cal Bears are at UCLA tonight. The annual UC rivalry game is enormous for the Bruins, whose conference title hopes are slipping away after a two-game skid. They are 4-2. It’s also quite big for the 5-1 Golden Bears, who could cement their hot start and Top 25 status with their most impressive win of the year.
β No. 21 Houston is 6-0 and facing winless Central Florida. Coach Tom Herman has Houston rolling in his first season. But the Cougars can’t afford a letdown against a winless UCF team that has won five of the six previous meetings with its former Conference USA turned AAC rival. Houston is one of three unbeaten teams in the AAC West Division.
β No. 23 Duke travels to Blacksburg to play Virginia Tech. The 5-1 Blue Devils are one of three Coastal Division teams that remain unbeaten in league play and will play the other two, North Carolina and Pitt, on consecutive Saturdays in November. The 3-4 Hokies can’t afford another loss if they are to have any hope of getting back into the mix for the divisional title and ACC title game berth.
β No. 25 Pittsburgh is at the Carrier Dome playing 3-3 Syracuse. Syracuse started the season 3-0 but has lost three straight, and with the most difficult portion of the schedule ahead β Pitt is the first of three ranked opponents in the next four games. The Orange are teetering on the brink of finishing below .500 for the second straight time under second-year coach Scott Shafer.
NASCAR
Qualifying at Talladega
TALLDEGA, Ala. (AP) β There’s qualifying today at Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday’s CampingWorld400.com race. This is the sixth event of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Last year, Brad Keselowski raced to the last of his six 2014 victories at Talladega.
Last week, Joey Logano won at Kansas Speedway for his second straight victory, spinning out Matt Kenseth to take the lead. Logano earned a spot in the third round of the Chase two weeks ago with his Charlotte win.
The Chase field will be cut from 12 to eight after this race. The championship field will be cut to four after the ninth race. Drivers get a spot in the next round with a victory.
Denny Hamlin leads the points race for the remaining third-round spots. He’s five points ahead of Kurt Busch.
FORMULA ONE-US GRAND PRIX
One eye on the wheel, the other on the weather forecast
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) β There is supposed to be qualifying today for Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. But storms could affect the entire weekend, from Saturday’s qualifying to Sunday’s race.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Canadiens try for 9-0 start against Maple Leafs
UNDATED (AP) β Never in the glorious history of the 24-time Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens has the team started out 9-0. The Habs have a chance tonight when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s the second game in two nights for Montreal. The Canadiens routed Buffalo 7-2 last night.
That’s one of 12 games on the NHL schedule — all at night. In other games, Anaheim visits Minnesota, New Jersey is at Buffalo, Ottawa hosts Arizona, the New York Rangers visits Philadelphia, the New York Islanders at in St. Louis, Nashville hosts Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay is at Chicago, John Tortorella’s winless Columbus Blue Jackets are at Colorado, Detroit is at Vancouver and San Jose is home to Carolina.
GOLF-SHRINERS HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN OPEN
Stegmaier shares lead
LAS VEGAS (AP) β Brett Stegmaier finished up the final three holes of his second round at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open this morning, posting a 5-under 66 for a share of the lead. Playing in just his fifth PGA Tour event, he’s tied with Chad Campbell, Tyler Aldridge and Morgan Hoffman.
LPGA-TAIWAN
Ko takes 4-shot lead
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) β Lydia Ko has taken a four-stroke lead in the LPGA Taiwan Championship, putting the 18-year-old New Zealander in position to regain the top spot in the world ranking.
Ko had four birdies in a five-hole stretch and closed with another birdie for a 5-under 67. She has a 13-under total.
South Korea’s Eun-Hee Ji is second after a 72.
SKIING-WOMEN’S WORLD CUP GS
Brignone edges Shffrin in season opening slalom
SOELDEN, Austria (AP) β Italy’s Federica Brignone has ended a nearly eight-year wait for her first World Cup win, by capturing the season-opening women’s giant slalom.
Brignone held on to a commanding first-run lead to beat last year’s winner Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States by 0.85 seconds.
