data-mm-id=”_utq3gwn1x”>The College Football Playoff selection committee released its latest batch of rankings Tuesday night and let me tell you, they don't make a lick of sense. Several teams in the top 10 moved, but not how most would have predicted. The logic for the rankings doesn't appear to apply equally to all the teams, with some getting punished for the same things others are rewarded for. It's a big damn mess. The top five teams remained the same this week, as Alabama (10-0), Notre Dame (10-0), Clemson (9-1) and Ohio State (5-0) remained in the coveted top four spots, while Texas A&M (7-1) lurks at No. 5. But here's where things get weird. Iowa State (8-2) jumped to No. 6 after a week off and Florida only dropped from sixth to seventh after losing to a really bad, unranked LSU team at home. The Gators only dropped one spot after that embarrassment? How does that make any sense?Georgia (8-2) beat a bad Missouri (5-4) team that is unranked and somehow jumped Cincinnati for eighth place. The Bearcats are undefeated at 8-0 and the committee apparently dinged them for not playing in a few weeks:Gary Barta just faulted Cincinnati for having not played since Nov. 21 while others around them have played "2 or 3 games."Ohio State has played 1 game since Nov. 21. But said they didn't consider moving them.— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 16, 2020OK, but Ohio State has only played two games since November 7 and they've stayed in the top four? How does it make sense to punish Cincinnati? It feels like the committee just made up a rule so it could move the Bearcats down and elevate another SEC team into the mix. Oklahoma (7-2), Indiana (6-1) and Coastal Carolina (11-0) all moved up one spot, while USC (5-0) jumped two to No. 13. The big loser was Miami (8-2) who fell eight spots to No. 18 after getting blown out by North Carolina. The Tar Heels (8-3) jumped two spots to No. 15. The real craziness here is Florida. Taking a second loss on the season and doing it against an anemic LSU team at home should have sent the Gators tumbling down the rankings. Instead they dropped one spot. It feels like a move designed to protect No. 1 Alabama in case the Crimson Tide lose the SEC title game to the Gators. If that happens, the committee could easily justify keeping Nick Saban's bunch in the top four. That move also reinforces the committee's clear desire to get two SEC teams in the final four by any means necessary. If Clemson loses to Notre Dame in the ACC Championship Game, you can bet the Tigers will fall out of the top four. Never mind that their two losses would have both come against the No. 2 team in the country. The committee continues to overrate Georgia, a team with two losses that hasn't beaten anyone in the top 25, and Iowa State, which has two losses and moved to No. 6 despite and embarrassing early season home loss to Louisiana by 17 points. Those teams and Florida sit ahead of undefeated Cincinnati and an Indiana team whose only loss came by seven on the road against Ohio State. Just to reiterate, none of this can be tracked logically, which is the biggest problem here. When the NCAA Tournament rolls around, the selection committee lays out its criteria clearly and once the field is set you can follow the logic of its picks. Within minutes you can tell how it valued things like true road wins, conference record, Tier 1 wins, home losses, etc. On the college football side it just feels like a group of guys throwing stuff at a wall to ensure the ACC and SEC get as many teams in as possibleThe rankings are a mess and the CFP selection committee has some questions to answer.
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Ruthless Germany too strong for Italy / Image via eurosport.co.uk
Germany played host to Italy on Tuesday night determined to bounce back from a disappointing 3-2 defeat to England last week which put Joachim Low’s charges under huge pressure amidst the team’s Euro 2016 preparations.
Die Mannschaft rose to the occasion and got back to being their usual selves as they displayed a fantastic performance against otherwise respectable Italy in one of Europe’s greatest classics.
Four goals in the net were more than what Gianluigi Buffon had bargained for, as Toni Kroos, Mario Gotze, Jonas Hector and Mesut Ozil struck to earn their team an impressive win against the Azzuri.
Antonio Conte’s men managed to restore some of the lost pride thanks to Stephan …
Manuel Pellegrini has rued the decision to go public with the appointment of Pep Guardiola as his successor at Manchester City halfway through the season rather than wait until the end of the 2015-16 campaign.
City announced in February that Guardiola would replace Pellegrini as the man in charge ahead of the 2016-17 season when they were still fighting for the Premier League title, only to then lose against Leicester City, Tottenham and Liverpool in the following weeks.
Pellegrini has acknowledged it was his decision to confirm Guardiola s move to City and has indicated he would take care of things differently if he could do it all over again.
Yes, it was my decision [to go public with Guardiola s appointment], Pellegrini told The Guardian.
After Gua…
Al Nasr striker Ibrahima Toure has been linked with a return to France s top flight, .
The experienced forward surprisingly left Monaco after helping the Principality club gain promotion to the elite division, moving to Al Nasr Dubai.
And despite enjoying a very successful season in United Arab Emirates, the 28-year-old is reportedly pondering a return to France.
L Equipe understands that the likes of Saint Etienne, Montpellier, Bastia and Evian are all showing interest in his signature.
While coming through the youth ranks at Metz, Toure has spent most of his early career outside Europe, playing for Chengdu Wuniu, Wydad Casablanca, Paykan, Persepolis, Sepahan and Ajman before joining Monaco in January 2012.
The Senegal international went on to s…
Goals either side of half-time from Vincent Janssen and Georginio Wijnaldum ensured Austria rounded off their Euro 2016 preparations with a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Netherlands.
The boisterous home fans at Vienna s Ernst-Happel-Stadion did their best to rouse Austria by creating an atmosphere that belied the fact this was only a friendly, but the hosts defensive frailties let them down.
Marcel Koller s team looked dangerous going forward, but they lacked the ruthlessness of Netherlands whose performance made further mockery of their inexplicable failure to qualify for the European Championship.
AZ striker Janssen, the Eredivisie s top scorer in 2015-16, headed the visitors in front in the ninth minute after taking advantage of some lax marking from Sebastian…
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere had surgery on his left knee in Sweden on Tuesday, with the club confirming the operation was a success.
The 20-year-old will return to England to continue his rehabilitation with the
English Premier League side, and is expected to be training before the start of
next season.
Wilshere established himself as a key member of Arsene Wenger s side during the
2010/11 campaign, scoring three times in 49 appearances.
However, he missed the whole of the following season with an injury to his
right ankle and suffered a number of setbacks.
Wilshere s chances of featuring in England s Euro 2012 squad or Team GB s
Olympic squad were dashed by his injury setbacks.
…
Chelsea-bound Eden Hazard may go up against his future team-mates when England host Belgium in Roy Hodgson s second match in charge.
Belgian Hazard is widely reportedly to be on the verge of joining European champions Chelsea, for a fee rumoured to as much as 32 million pounds.
The playmaker became one of the most highly sought-after talents in Europe after guiding unheralded Lille to a double of Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France in 2010/11.
And it is Roman Abramovich s Chelsea, yet to appoint a fulltime manager and with caretaker Roberto di Matteo in limbo, who appear to have succeeded in luring the 21-year-old.
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Paris Saint-Germain need just a point against Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday to qualify for the Champions League last 16, but head coach Thomas Tuchel insists his side will be going all out for the win.
The Ligue 1 champions lost two of their first three Group H games, yet are in pole position to progress to the knockout stages after victories over RB Leipzig and Manchester United in their previous two games.
They have won five of their last six matches at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League and will be confident of seeing off their Turkish opponents, who have conceded four goals in each of their last two games in the competition.
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Diego Simeone expects a brave Salzburg to take Atletico Madrid out of their comfort zone in Wednesday s crunch Champions League clash.
Atleti, two-time finalists under Simeone, have drawn each of their past three group matches, including being pegged back to 1-1 by a late Thomas Muller penalty for Bayern Munich last time out.
A fourth consecutive stalemate in Salzburg will seal qualification for the knockout stages at their Austrian opponents expense, but Simeone knows Jesse Marsch s expansive side needing victory makes them particularly dangerous.
This game is a bit like when you play in a knockout game and you re away from home in the second leg, said Simeone, with Atleti having won a thriller between the sides 3-2 at the Wanda Metropolitano in October.
…
Santi Cazorla is reluctant to discuss his future until after the FIFA World Cup amid speculation about a move to Atletico Madrid.
The midfielder joined Arsenal from Malaga in August 2012 and has become an integral part of Arsene Wenger s side.
Cazorla is currently on international duty with Spain in Brazil and the 29-year-old will not be distracted by talk about a move back to his homeland.
He told AS: When the World Cup is over, I’ll start thinking about my situation.
“I don’t want to be thinking about it right now and I’ve told my agents not to tell me anything if an offer comes in.
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Sabri Lamouchi has resigned as coach of Ivory Coast following the country s heartbreaking exit at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Ivory Coast were on track to qualify from Group C and join Colombia in the round of 16 before Georgios Samaras scored a controversial 93rd-minute penalty to hand Greece a 2-1 win in Fortaleza on Tuesday.
While Greece advanced ahead of Ivory Coast by one point, it condemned the African nation to their third consecutive group-stage exit at a World Cup.
And Ivory Coast s failure has claimed the casualty of Lamouchi, who was a controversial appointment back in 2012 having had no previous managerial experience.
My contract ended at this World Cup. It won t be renewed and you can understand why, the 42-year-old said post-game.