without five-time Pro Bowl right guard Marshall Yanda (shoulder) in t

The College Football Playoff selection committee doesnt meet for three more weeks, and heres why: It takes at least two months for conference races to sort themselves out and for the best teams in the country to separate from the rest of pack.Were almost halfway through the season and have a much better idea of which teams to take seriously -- and which to eliminate. Heres a look at the major lessons learned in Week 6:Houston is out The Cougars playoff hopes ended with their loss to Navy, and now they need help just to win the American Athletic West division. It was the game that changed the playoff picture the most; Houston was an X-factor with the potential to knock a second Power 5 conference out of the top four. Houstons chances at another New Years Six bowl are also in critical condition because it would have to win the AAC to have a chance at becoming the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion in the selection committees final top 25. The Cougars need Navy to lose twice in order to get back into the conference race.Tennessee is in a must-win situation against Alabama The Vols nine lives have officially expired. After losing to Texas A&M, Tennessee needs to beat Alabama next week, or it will open the door for Florida to possibly win the East. If the Vols have two losses and the Gators win out, Florida will win the East, which makes rescheduling the game against LSU of the utmost importance to the conference race. On the flip side, if Tennessee loses against Alabama and Florida loses at Arkansas on Nov. 5, the Vols (should they win their other remaining games) would still win the East because Tennessee would win the head-to-head tiebreaker. In order to stay in the drivers seat, though, Tennessee has no more margin for error.Its Washington and everyone else in the Pac-12 The Huskies have dismantled Stanford. Theyve plucked the Ducks. They have now officially manhandled the two programs that have combined to win the league in each of the past seven years. With its win over Oregon on Saturday, Washington snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Ducks and left no doubt it is the Pac-12s new contender for the College Football Playoff.Alabama is one step closer to surviving its season-defining stretch Alabamas win at Ole Miss was critical, but its win at Arkansas was where Bamas national title hunt really begins. It was the first of three straight games the Tide will play against ranked opponents, including Tennessee and Texas A&M. It was also the first of three road trips in a four-game span, including at LSU on Nov. 5. The Tides win against the Hogs was arguably the most impressive of Week 6, but its not going to get any easier.Ohio State and Michigan really need to play each other, not Rutgers The Big Ten heavyweights combined to outscore Rutgers 136-0 over the past two weeks. Thats not a typo. The CFP selection committee compares common opponents without incenting margin of victory, but the margin in this one stretches from Ann Arbor to Piscataway and is impossible to ignore. The committee will need the head-to-head result between Ohio State and Michigan to determine the Big Ten representative.Florida State still owns Miami The Canes made one of the best hires of the offseason when they brought in Mark Richt, but their seventh straight loss to Florida State -- as close as it was -- showed the Canes arent ready to close the gap with their rival. Much of that can be attributed to the Noles defense, which had been relentlessly criticized this season. Miami entered the game averaging 235 yards rushing; Florida State held the Hurricanes to 62 and had back-to-back sacks of Brad Kaaya in the fourth quarter. Miami snuck into the AP top 10 after beating Georgia Tech last week but came up short against its first ranked opponent of the season.Dont turn out the lights on Oklahoma just yet Its a long shot, yes, and Houstons loss to Navy certainly didnt help the Sooners résumé, but Oklahoma can still win out and win the Big 12. It would certainly need help -- another conference champion would have to flop along the way -- and it has to look like a top-four team by the end of November, dominating each opponent. The fact that the Sooners have two losses and no league title game to help compensate is going to be extremely difficult to overcome, but if they beat ranked opponents in Baylor and West Virginia, and Ohio State continues to dominate and win the Big Ten, theres simply no telling how the committee might view OU. Tom Brady Jersey ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. Julian Edelman Womens Jersey . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. https://www.patriotssportsgoods.com/Womens-Andre-Tippett-Inverted-Jersey/ . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. Rob Gronkowski Patriots Jersey . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Kevin Faulk Youth Jersey .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Its been four years since the Baltimore Ravens stood alone atop the AFC North in November.The objective now is to stay there.After overcoming a variety of injuries, a four-game losing streak and an offense that runs hot and cold, the Ravens (5-4) have worked their way into first place with seven weeks left in the season.Though an imposing schedule looms ahead -- beginning with a trip to Dallas (8-1) on Sunday -- Baltimore currently doesnt have to rely on any outside help to get into the postseason as AFC North champs.Whether its in a game or whether its in a season, you want to get the lead, coach John Harbaugh said Monday. When you get the lead, you want to keep the lead. When you keep the lead, you want to expand the lead.After facing Dallas, the Ravens have two games left against division foe Cincinnati; visits to New England and Pittsburgh and a home matchup against improving Miami.Baltimore faces the prospect of playing down the stretch without rookie guard Alex Lewis, who sustained a high ankle sprain on Thursday night against Cleveland and is expected to be out for at least six weeks.Hopefully we can get him back, Harbaugh said.Baltimore went winless in October before defeating Pittsburgh and Cleveland in the span of five days. After using a strong second-half performance to dispatch the winless Browns 28-7 , the Ravens were given some time off to heal.They should be refreshed and ready to go on Tuesday, Harbaugh said.Although Baltimore has already matched its win total from 2015, that was never really a goal. The Ravens are striving to earn a playoff berth, and for that to happen they have to play better.Obviously there have been stretches where it certainly didnt look like we were making any progress, but more of thhat showed up in the past two weeks, Harbaugh said.dddddddddddd We need to continue to improve in every single area. The offense is something most people are looking at from a statistical standpoint, how weve done. Thats probably had the farthest way to go.Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes against the Browns but was also picked off twice. He has nine interceptions and nine TD passes and a lackluster 78.3 quarterback rating.Part of the problem is that hes been working behind a makeshift offensive line that has been without five-time Pro Bowl right guard Marshall Yanda (shoulder) in three of the last four games. Regardless, Flacco must cut down on the turnovers if the Ravens are to win.Hes got to clean some things up, certainly, Harbaugh said. But thats looking back. Youve got to look forward. We need to move the ball, we need to make first downs. But we also need to do it in a way where we protect the football. Thats always going to be the challenge for a quarterback.One reason why the Cowboys are flying high is that their quarterback, rookie Dak Prescott , has 14 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. Hes working behind a solid offensive line and is backed by NFL rushing leader Ezekiel Elliott.Hes made a lot of great decisions, very few interceptions, Harbaugh said. Theyve supported him with protection and a great run game. Hes got some pretty good targets out there to throw to. Hes the guy thats making it all go because hes the quarterback. Its going to be a challenge for us. Were going to try to slow him down a little bit.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '