Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - A glass half-full Baylor fan sees the Bears appearance in a New Years Day bowl game as an accomplishment. One with a half-empty mindset views it as a slight of the highest order. Regardless of their opinion, they will be tuning in to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1 to watch the fourth-ranked Bears take on the seventh-ranked Michigan State Spartans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. While Baylor is ranked No. 4 in the AP poll, the College Football Playoff committee saw it appropriate to rank Ohio State in the final spot in the CFP rankings, with the 11-1 Bears falling in at No. 5. Since the Big 12 does not have a championship game, the conference opted to name co-champs at the end of the regular season, with both Baylor and TCU each sharing the crown even though the former beat the latter. The only blemish on Baylors record came in a 41-27 loss at West Virginia on Oct. 18, a game that saw the Bears commit 18 penalties for 215 yards -- the most ever by a Big 12 team. They recovered to win their final five games, including a 38-27 win over nationally-ranked Kansas State in the finale. Still, it was not enough, and Baylors head coach took the high road rather than complain about the process. I certainly would have liked to be in (the final four), but it didnt work out that way so what am I going to do? You know, moan and wine, Art Briles lamented, Its a decision that was made that we have no control over, so we will live with it, its what we do. We are fighters, competitors, we will live to fight another day. Its what we are doing. Bryce Petty was one of those fighters and was a finalist for all of the major quarterback awards after guiding the No. 1 offense in the country, one that averaged 58.8 points and 581.3 yards per game. The senior ranked eighth in the country with 300.5 passing ypc and produced a sensational 26-to-6 touchdown- to-interception-ratio. Corey Coleman was Pettys No. 1 target and finished with 57 catches for 969 and 10 touchdowns in nine games. Antwan Goodley, K.D. Cannon and Jay Lee all had six TD receptions, while Shock Linwood ran for 102.2 ypc and 16 scores as a sophomore. The offense justifiably gets most of the headlines, but the Bears defense ranked first in the Big 12 against the run, allowing 107.7 ypg. That usually stems from teams needing to throw after falling in an early hole, and Baylor has been able to force 24 turnovers as a result. Bryce Hager led the way with 101 tackles, Orion Stewart intercepted four passes and Shawn Oakman had one of the best seasons in school history on the defensive line. Oakman needs one sack and two tackles for loss to set the BU record in both categories. He has posted 10 sacks and 18 TFLs so far. A win Thursday would give the Bears a school-record 12 victories and improve their postseason record to 11-10. They lost in the Cotton Bowl in 1975 and 81 to Penn State and Alabama, respectively. Michigan State was also predicted to be in the title hunt, what with finishing the 2013 season with only one loss and a Rose Bowl win over Stanford. The Spartans though, dropped an early-season test at Oregon and later lost at home to Ohio State, which all but sealed their fate outside the CFP. MSU won three straight after the OSU loss to finish the season at a respectable 10-2, including a 7-1 mark in Big Ten play. Since the two setbacks were both to teams playing in the CFP, Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio figures his team is ready for another stiff test. Baylor would have, could have been in the top four in the country. Weve already played two of those top-four teams, so why not play another one, Dantonio said. When you go to a bowl game, youre always trying to move forward. You want to play the best team you can. Known for its hard-nosed defense coming into the season, the Spartans offense rose to the occasion nearly every week and set school single-season records for points (517), total offense (5,958 yards), offensive touchdowns (64), rushing touchdowns (40) and made point-after attempts (66). Jeremy Langford carried the load out of the backfield, rushing for 1,360 yards and school-record nine consecutive 100-yard games and counting. The senior accounted for 19 of a team-record 40 touchdowns on the ground. Connor Cook was no slouch under center, with the junior QB leading the Big Ten in passing (241.7 ypc) and ranking 14th in the FBS in passing efficiency (152.4). Half of his 22 touchdown passes went to wide receiver Tony Lippet, who totaled 60 receptions for 1,124 yards in his senior campaign. The defense took a slight step back this season but still ranked seventh in the FBS in total defense (293.5 ypg) and sixth in rushing defense (97.5 ypg). The opportunistic bunch forced 33 turnovers, which led to an FBS-best plus-20 turnover margin. Kurtis Drummond made second-team All American after leading the Spartans in tackles (65), interceptions (4) and pass breakups (11). Trae Wayne recorded three interceptions, while Shilique Calhoun anchored a line with 11 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. MSU has never appeared in the Cotton Bowl and is just 10-14 all-time in the postseason, though the Spartans have won their last three bowl games. They also hold an impressive 19-2-1 record against teams currently in the Big 12 and won their only previous matchup against Baylor way back in 1968. The Cotton Bowl was first played in 1937, and this is the first top-10 battle it has seen since 1994 when No. 4 Notre Dame beat No. 7 Texas A&M. New Orleans Saints Jerseys . -- Hee Young Park topped the leaderboard at 8 under Friday in the suspended second round of the Kingsmill Championship. Willie Roaf Jersey . 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Thanks to a strong start by Nick Hernandez, a homer and three hits from Jake Blackwood and a big save from Brendan Lafferty, the Goldeyes beat the St. Paul Saints 6-4 to win the first game of an important three-game series in front of 5,521 at Shaw Park. With the victory, the Goldeyes won their second straight game and improved to 49-32 on the season. More importantly, they dropped the Saints to 44-35, as first-place Winnipeg took a four-game lead over the Saints in the race for first in the American Associations North Division. "You try to treat every game like its just another game but you could tell by the look in some of the guys eyes in the clubhouse that that game was a little more important," said Hernandez, who went eight-plus innings, allowing four runs on just five hits. "Weve worked too hard for almost 80 games to let this lead slip away. We want to win every game we can, but this game was a little extra special because it guarantees that well still be in first place no matter what happens when St. Paul leaves town." The Saints opened the scoring in the top of the first, as Willie Cabrera hit his first of three home runs on the night, but the Goldeyes answered with two in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Brock Bond led off with a walk, Jake Blackwood singled and Tyler Kuhn walked to lad the bases. After Casey Haerther struck out, Reggie Abercrombie singled to drive in Bond and then Donnie Webb lined out to centre and his sacrifice fly scored Blackwood.dddddddddddd. The Goldeyes made it 4-1 in the fifth, as Ryan Pineda and Blackwood hit solo homers. Cabrera hit his second solo homer of the game to make it 4-2 in the top of the sixth, but the Goldeyes answered in the bottom half of the inning as Luis Alen singled home Abercrombie. In the seventh, the Goldeyes made it 6-2, as Kuhns sacrifice fly drove home Bond from third, but in the ninth Cabrera drove Hernandez from the game with his third homer of the night, a two-run shot that made the score 6-4 and made the game very interesting. "The first at bat, I threw a change on 2-1 and he hit it out," said Hernandez. "In his third at bat, I threw him a real good pitch and he hit it the other way. I even asked Luis (Alen) and he thought it was a good pitch. He just got the best of me on that one. The final at bat, I threw him the 2-1 change again and he got the best of me again. Now I know what not to throw him." Hernandez (9-2, 3.58 ERA) got the victory, while Saints starter Anthony Claggett (5-5, 2.99 ERA), the starter for the North team in the All-Star game last month, took the loss. Brendan Lafferty (2.48 ERA) picked up his third save of the season for the Goldeyes. The Goldeyes and Saints will play Game 2 of this three-game series on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Shaw Park. Matt Jackson (8-6, 4.13 ERA) will get the start for the Goldeyes, while Robert Coe (5-6, 6.72 ERA) will head to the bump for St. Paul. Cheap Barcelona Jerseys Cheap Real Madrid Jerseys Authentic Cheap Bayern Munich Jerseys Cheap Dortmund Jerseys Cheap USA Jerseys Cheap USWNT Jerseys France Soccer Jerseys Soccer Mexico Jerseys Cheap Germany Jerseys Cheap Belgium Soccer Jerseys Brazil Jerseys From China Germany Jerseys From China Authentic Soccer Mexico Jerseys Cheap Portugal Soccer Jerseys Wholesale Spain Jerseys Cheap France Football Jerseys Cheap Germany Jerseys Authentic Cheap Mexico Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Colombia Jerseys Cheap Belgium Football Jerseys Wholesale Argentina Jerseys Cheap USA Soccer Jerseys China cheap uswnt jersey authentic Authentic AC Milan Jerseys Discount Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. 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Ireland vs New Zealand November 19, 2016, 4:45pm Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Noa Nakaitaci and Virimi Vakatawa start for France against former compatriots Sefanaia Naivalu and Henry Speight, with Taqele Naiyaravoro also named on the Wallaby bench.And Noves went on the defensive when quizzed about the Fijians in his team.What concerns me is whether a player is eligible for selection. Ill pick him if he deserves it, the former long-time Toulouse coach said, deflecting talk of deficiencies in the national structure.Youd need two hours to speak about the future of French rugby. I can but I dont know if you have enough time. Its not a question of the reserve (of wingers). They are French for me.Whether theyre white, grey or black, these are the men who will put on a jersey and defend a nation because they have been welcomed (in France). Michael Cheika says the time is right to give young players a chance Wallabies Cheika said he felt the time was right for a reshuffle in his team to give the next generation a chance of a run-out.Its the right time to let a guy prepare as a starter, said Cheika.Sometimes on the finishers, its hard to know what youre going to get because you dont know when youre going to go on, its hard to prepare.France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Remi Lamerat, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Jean-Marc Doussain, 9 Maxime Machenaud; 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 3 Uini Atonio, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Charles Ollivon, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 8 Louis Picamoles.Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Gael Fickou.Australia: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Stefanaia Naivalu, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia; 1 James Slipper, 2 Tolu Latu, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 4 Kane Douglas, 5 Rob Simmons, 6 Scott Fardy, 7 David Pocock (c), 8 Sean McMahon.Replacements (one to be omitted): 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Dean Mumm, 21 Lopeti Timani, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Bernard Foley, 24 Taqele Naiyaravoro.Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch England v Fiji and Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price! 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Then Klay Thompson put his foot on the gas. Thompson scored 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and Harrison Barnes scored 14 points in his season debut to help the Golden State Warriors to a 106-93 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Mikael Granlund Jersey . It looked like being another miserable day for Moyes when Ashley Westwood put Villa in front from a 13th-minute free kick. But Rooney headed United level seven minutes later, and the striker netted his 16th of the season for the struggling champions from the penalty spot before halftime. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Defending champion Kei Nishikori of Japan rallied to beat Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships on Friday. The top-seeded Nishikori will next play 35-year-old American Michael Russell, who upset third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 6-3, 7-6 (6) in another quarterfinal match. Bogomolov broke Nishikori for a 3-2 lead in the second set only to drop his next two service games and lose the set. In the third, Nishikori fought off three break points to hold serve and broke Bogomolov in consecutive games to take a 5-2 lead. "Obviously, he was playing really well, I thought," Nishikori said. "He was hitting ball really flat and deep and wasnt making mistakes, especially from the beginning he was very aggressive. I wasnt maybe playing 100 per cent." Fourth-seeded Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan beat American qualifier Alex Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-4 in another match and will next face either Jack Sock or Ivo Karlovic, who play later Friday. Russell needed nearly two hours to finish off the former world No. 1 Hewitt. He was broken after double-faulting twice whhile serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set and also failed to convert a couple of match points in the tiebreaker before finally closing it out.dddddddddddd "Every time we play its a battle," Russell said. "Its kind of the mentality knowing, Yeah, youre serving it out. But this guy has a really good return. And vice versa the same thing when hes serving." Russell is the second-oldest player ranked in the top 100 behind Tommy Haas, who will turn 36 in April. He didnt manage a point on his serve while trying to close out the match at 5-4. He then went up 6-4 in the tiebreaker but hit a forehand into the net on his first match point. Hewitt fought off a second match point with a brilliant forehand down the line to level the breaker at 6-all. But the Australian hit a forehand wide and then a return long to allow Russell to advance to just his third ATP Tour semifinal. "My rhythm on my serve wasnt there," Hewitt said. "I was feeling my shoulder a little bit and just couldnt hit my spots. So that was putting me under a lot of pressure then, and he makes a lot of balls and makes you play a lot." 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