data-mm-id=”_vg7mbwwsg”>The Oregon Ducks soundly defeated the 5th-ranked team in the nation on Friday night in the Pac-12 Championship, beating Utah 37-15 and ruining the PAC-12's chance at the College Football Playoff for the third time this year. With the win, Oregon punched their ticket to the Rose Bowl and got their 11th win of the season. It's an OK result, but again, in an alternate timeline, it could have been their 12th win of the season and possibly punched their ticket to the College Football Playoff. The Ducks started their season by losing to the then 16th-ranked Auburn Tigers by six points. Auburn is currently ranked 11th, making Oregon's season-opener the definition of a quality loss. Oregon then spent a few weeks ranked in the middle-teens before steadily climbing the polls to #6. That's where they were two weeks ago when they lost to an unranked Arizona State team. Now Oregon, and the PAC-12, are on the outside looking in at the Playoff. It's Oregon's own fault. They could have lost to Utah and let the Utes make their case for the CFP, all for the greater good of the conference. Or they could have scheduled a cupcake to start the season and have their own legitimate case for a spot. (Something coach Mario Cristobal has already said they would not do.) Or they could have beaten the Sun Devils and then they'd tough to ignore with 12 straight wins with their only loss to a ranked SEC team on the road. The truth is, none of those scenarios would have guaranteed the PAC-12 a seat at the Playoff table. In the current format, losing any game if they had started the season beating up on a cupcake, both the Utes and the Ducks would have been 12-1 with a conference championship title. Ohio State, LSU and Clemson all have a shot to be 13-0 on Monday. With a single loss, Utah and/or Oregon would still just be in the discussion with the other 1-loss teams. Just last season Ohio State won the B1G Championship and missed the Playoff as a 1-loss team. It happens. Unless the Playoff is expanded to eight teams, quality 1-loss teams with impressive resumes are going to be left out. And when the field is doubled, people will complain about two and even three-loss teams being robbed– like this year's Auburn team, for example. The Tigers beat three ranked teams this season and suffered all three of their loses to top-10 opponents. How are you going to hold them out of an 8-team playoff over a Wisconsin team that lost to Illinois? When are we going to expand to a 16-team playoff? The truth is, Oregon had to win their opener – against either Auburn or a cupcake in the Duck-est timeline – and take care of business in Tempe if they wanted to ensure a trip to the Playoff. If you're not 13-0 – in a Power 5 conference – then all you have is a case. Better luck next year.
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Who will be next I wonder. Rio Ferdinand to head for the exit, Wayne Rooney turning up at Manchester City?
Of course neither of those things are likely to happen but it has to be a very unusual situation for Manchester United to have two of their superstars leaving the club in the same summer.
Goodbye
Firstly Cristiano Ronaldo announces that he is leaving for Real Madrid and now Carlos Tevez is saying goodbye to Old Trafford and will start a bidding war between the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City.
I think everyone pretty much agrees that Sir Alex Ferguson was OK about losing Ronaldo. He had wanted to leave twelve months earlier and although still brilliant, he sulked and scoured his way through the season and never reached the same previous heights …
West Ham have signed Brazil midfielder Lucas Paqueta from Lyon for a club-record fee.
Paqueta moves to east London from Lyon for a reported £36.5million (€43m) fee in a deal that is said to also include a further £14.4m (€17m) in potential add-ons.
The 25-year-old has signed a five-year contract with an option for further year. Paqueta had previously been linked with a reunion with former Lyon team-mate and fellow Brazil international Bruno Guimaraes at Newcastle United.
However, he will now be a rival to his compatriot after becoming West Ham s eighth signing of the transfer window.
Born in Brazil, but now East London is his home.
Bem-vindo, !
— West Ham United (@WestHam)
I am extremely happy to be here. I hope it s…
Best Odds: 19/20
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Desperate to make an immediate return to winning ways when they return from the festive break this weekend, Juventus will welcome Udinese to the Allianz on Sunday night.
Juventus
Starting with the hosts, while Juventus might have thought they had managed to find a real bounce when heading into the festive break, Andrea Pirlo s side came crashing back down to earth. Putting in what was a worrying display back on December 22nd when they welcomed a struggling Fiorentina to Turin, the Old Lady were hit with a woeful 3-0 drumming on home soil. While the former World Cup-winner might have seen his side enjoy a real Champions League romp and signing off their campaign with a 3-0 win at the Nou Camp, Juventus have struggled with their Serie …
Zinedine Zidane has explained his shock decision to resign as Real Madrid coach comes down to his doubts over whether the club could continue to win titles consistently under his stewardship.
The Frenchman took the football world by surprise on Thursday when, at a hastily arranged news conference, he announced he is leaving the club.
Zidane s decision comes just five days after guiding Madrid to a third successive Champions League title in Kiev by beating Liverpool 3-1 his ninth trophy since taking charge in January 2016.
The 45-year-old took charge of the club in January 2016 and has enjoyed an incredible tenure, but he was simply unsure they could continue to keep winning with him at the helm.
There are lows and sometimes you might ask yourself if you …
Julian Nagelsmann insisted Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic did not mean to offend when he said the club s training matches could be better spectacles than Bundesliga games.
The comments from Salihamidzic came in a wide-ranging interview with German broadcaster Sky Sport, as he answered a question about Tottenham s Harry Kane by pointing out the wealth of attacking talent already in Bayern s ranks.
Salihamidzic said in the interview, released on Thursday: If you look at the training sessions, it s great fun to watch. Some training games are better than Bundesliga games.
It was the sort of throwaway comment that could be interpreted as a provocative remark towards Bayern s Bundesliga rivals.
Bayern have won 10 consecutive German league …
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City have enjoyed incredible success in keeping Erling Haaland fit, claiming his occasional early withdrawals of the striker have been justified.
Haaland sustained several injuries during his prolific two-year spell at Borussia Dortmund, netting 22 goals despite only starting 21 Bundesliga games in his final season with BVB.
However, only Ederson (2,610) and Rodri (2,407) have played more Premier League minutes for City than Haaland this term (2,187) as Guardiola s men bid for a fifth title in six seasons.
Haaland has averaged a goal every 72.9 minutes in his first Premier League campaign, and Guardiola says City have a host of medical professionals to thank for his continued availability.
I don t know what he did in D…
Manuel Pellegrini s tenure at Manchester City got off to a dream start with a resounding 4-0 triumph over 10-man Newcastle United on Monday.
Victory means City top the table after the first weekend of the Premier League as the 2011-12 champions produced a masterclass at the Etihad Stadium.
David Silva opened the scoring with a header inside 10 minutes before Sergio Aguero extended the advantage with a neat finish from a wide angle. It got worse for Newcastle when Steven Taylor received his marching orders in first-half injury-time for striking the back of Aguero s head during an aerial challenge.
City s dominance continued after half-time as Yaya Toure marked his 100th Premier League appearance with a sublime curling free-kick and Samir Nasri completed the rout with 15…
Raheem Sterling rediscovered his scoring touch as under-fire Liverpool beat Bournemouth 3-1 in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old had not scored for club or country since September, but his brace at Dean Court ended a run of 21 matches without a goal.
His double came either side of Lazar Markovic s first goal for Liverpool, which was aided by Bournemouth defender Tommy Elphick s confusion.
With Philippe Coutinho jinking into the area, Elphick thought he had heard a whistle and appealed for offside, and the Brazilian s shot was saved by Artur Boruc before Markovic converted the rebound.
Former Everton man Dan Gosling did pull one back for the Championship leaders his fifth goal in as many appearances in this year s competition �…
Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique insisted there was no excuse for the LaLiga champions stalemate against Malaga, despite the absence of star duo Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
Barca failed to score at home for the first time since February 2015 as they played out a goalless draw with Malaga on Saturday.
Messi missed the clash due to illness, while Suarez was sidelined due to suspension.
Pique, however, refused to use the missing pair as an excuse after Barca fell four points behind leaders and arch-rivals Real Madrid.
We re Barca and we can t blame absences, he said.
We have players that cost a lot of money and a huge budget if we compare it with Malaga s. There are no excuses for not winning.
It s worrying that we ve dropped so many p…
Nemanja Matic says he considered his Chelsea future following the arrival of N Golo Kante from champions Leicester City.
The Serbia international played a key role in the club s Premier League title success of 2014-15, but struggled last season and then saw his place come under threat from the arrival of Kante.
Matic has now revealed he thought about leaving Chelsea amid rumours of moves to Juventus and Manchester United, before deciding to stay put under new manager Antonio Conte, starting every league game so far this term.
To be honest I spoke with [Conte], he told Sky Sports. I spoke with the club and we both decided that it was best for the club and for me to stay.
I m very happy because I m now here with this team and this club. I will give my bes…