UNDATED (AP) β Third-ranked Oregon and No. 5 Ohio State have played themselves into the Jan. 12 national championship game in Arlington, Texas. Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while the Ducks scored three touchdowns off turnovers to beat No. 2 Florida State 59-20. Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 230 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ 42-35 triumph over No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
UNDATED (AP) β Connor Cook threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keith Mumphery with 17 seconds to give seventh-ranked Michigan State a 42-41 victory over No. 4 Baylor in the Cotton Bowl. Melvin Gordon ran for an Outback Bowl-record 251 yards and three touchdowns, and Rafael Gaglianone kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give 17th-ranked Wisconsin a 34-31 victory over No. 19 Auburn. No. 16 Missouri rolled to a 33-17 triumph over Minnesota in the Citrus Bowl as Marcus Murphy ran for 159 yards.
UNDATED (AP) β The Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings won Thursday’s NBA games. Derrick Rose provided a late spark in the Bulls’ 106-101 triumph over Denver, scoring 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter after missing his first eight shots of the game. Rudy Gay contributed 21 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Kings handed Minnesota its 10th straight loss, 110-107.
WASHINGTON (AP) β The Washington Capitals won the NHL’s seventh Winter Classic, beating Chicago 3-2 on Troy Brouwer’s (BROW’-urz) power-play goal with 12.9 seconds remaining. Eric Fehr (fehr) and Alex Ovechkin (oh-VEHCH’-kihn) also scored for the Capitals, who blew a 2-0 lead before earning their second outdoor victory. Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad (sahd) had the Blackhawks’ goals at Nationals Park.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) β Evansville has opened its Missouri Valley Conference schedule by knocking off a ranked team. D.J. Balentine scored 17 points and the Purple Aces stormed back from 16 down to beat No. 23 Northern Iowa 52-49. Jaylon Brown made four free throws in the last seven seconds to seal it.
