Stanson Town » osing streak, and a 1-and-7 finish in conference play. Wh

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Pittsburgh Pirates extended $15.3 million qualifying offers to catcher Russell Martin and pitcher Francisco Liriano on Monday.Both players have until 5 p.m. EST to accept. The Pirates would receive a compensatory draft pick if a player given the offer doesnt accept and then signs with another major league team before June 8.Martin and Liriano have been vital parts of Pittsburghs revival. The Pirates are coming off back-to-back playoff appearances following a record streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons.The 31-year-old Martin hit .290 with 11 home runs and 67 RBIs in 111 games in 2014 and deftly handled a pitching staff that kept Pittsburgh in the NL Central title race until the final day of the regular season. The left-handed Liriano is 23-10 with a 3.20 ERA in two seasons with the Pirates. Pierre Turgeon Jersey .J. -- The NHL reduced its penalty against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for signing Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. Artturi Lehkonen Jersey . -- Canadian womens amateur golf champion Brooke Henderson is a little less starstruck as she prepares for her second career appearance at an LPGA Tour major event. http://www.authenticcanadienspro.com/Phillip-danault-canadiens-jersey/ . Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton and Kole Calhoun all homered to help the Los Angeles Angels get their first win of the season with an 11-1 rout of the Houston Astros. Alexei Kovalev Jersey .com) - The Milwaukee Bucks will try to get another win on this homestand Thursday night when they welcome the Utah Jazz to the Bradley Center. Jonathan Drouin Jersey . The 31-year-old Russian dominated the No. 3-ranked Ferrer throughout, breaking the defending champion and local favourite four times on the indoor hard court.The hosts of The College Football Podcast debate who deserves an invite to the BCS National Championship should OSU and Auburn win their conference championship games on Saturday. Ryan Bolta (@TSNBolta) and the case for Ohio State: If in fact Ohio State completes an undefeated season and wins the Big 10 title on Saturday, they deserve to play for the BCS National Championship. An undefeated team in a power conference has never been passed over in favor of a team with a blemish on their record, and that should remain the case. Naysayers will point to a below-average strength of schedule, close victories or to the SEC right to have a team in the championship because their conference is the deepest. Those naysayers couldnt be more wrong. It is incredibly hard to go an entire NCAA football season without a loss. There is a reason only one team, also Ohio State, accomplished the feat last year. No matter the level of competition, winning every single game is incredibly difficult. Many teams would be part of the conversation if not for slip ups against lesser opponents. Oklahoma State lost to West Virginia, Michigan State lost to Notre Dame, and Stanford beat two top 10 teams but lost to unranked Utah and USC. There have been hundreds of examples this year that just because you enter the game as a favorite, it doesnt mean youll head home with a victory. Also, on the topic of strength of schedule there is one key fact that continues to be overlooked. If playing tough opponents is of such high importance, it would be Florida State being replaced in the national championship. According to Jeff Sagarins formula Ohio State has played the 61st toughest schedule while Florida States ranks 66th. Thats before OSU plays No. 10 Michigan State on Saturday, while FSU gets No. 20 Duke. Ohio State has played the tougher schedule, and that gap will grow on Saturday. Another popular argument is the big 10 being “down” this year. The depth in the Big 10 isnt what it was years ago, but the fact is it produced a power matchup in the title game. Ohio State will play a top 10 team with a vaunted defense and only one loss on its resume. Florida State gets a two-loss traditional basketball school in Duke that for the first time in history won 10 football games this season. The Seminoles are 29-point favorites over the Blue Devils. None of this dismisses Auburn from the conversation, just points to the fact if you were to have them leapfrog an undefeated team you are looking at the wrong one in the Buckeyes. As for Auburn, the case against them is simple, they are not perfect. I believe that any loss eliminates your should there be two power conference undefeated teams, but well dig deeper. Auburn not only lost a football game, but they lost by two touchdowns to an LSU program that sits No. 15 in the BCS rankings. As impressive as their win was against Alabama, we cannot just look at what theyve done lately. College football requires you to look at the whole resume, and the Tigers have a glaring two-touchdown defeat on theirs. No. 21 Wisconsin would surely be higher if not for their very questionable loss to Arizona State on a game where the referees decided the outcome by not spotting the ball for a game-winning field goal try. Northwestern was 16th in the rankings when Ohio State beat them by 10 points with ESPN College Gameday in attendance. The Buckeyes won a dog fight in their rivalry week game and would need a victory over a top 10 opponent in Michigan State to make the BCS Championship. OSU also beat 8-win Iowa by double-dights and 7-win San Diego state by 26. When comparing wins, was Auburns last-second win against Texas A&M really more impressive than Ohio State over the Hawkeyes? Id argue that is wasnt. Admittedly OSU didnt play the strongest schedule, but there is some proof that Ohio State is in fact a powerhouse worthy of their No. 2 ranking. This was still the schedule of a team in a power conference, and one that cannot be ignored. All of the SEC backers need not look any further than Alabama coach Nick Saban. After losing to Auburn Saban mentioned coaching his team to treat the entire season as if it were March Madness, as in you need to win your games to advance. The most decorated coach in the SEC admitted that a loss eliminates your team, unless of course there arent two undefeated teams to play for the championship. If not for sanctions against Ohio State last season, Alabama would have missed out on the title game under those same conditions. One otheer popular point is Urban Meyer successfully lobbying for Florida back in 2006.dddddddddddd The difference then was only one team (ironically Ohio State) was undefeated heading into the bowl season. So any quotes from the former Gator and current Buckeye are taken out of context if they are being used to show who he believes should be in the title game. Whether it be Auburn, Alabama or potentially Missouri, the fact remains that no matter what conference you come from one-loss is too many if there are two teams remaining from power conferences that are chasing perfection. Mike Marshall (@marshallmike) and the case for Auburn: When No. 3 Auburn and No. 5 Missouri meet at the Georgia Dome on Saturday, they will be playing for the Southeastern Conference championship. Despite their not-quite-perfect records, they should also be playing for a berth in the BCS National Championship. Sure the Ohio State has won a school record 24 straight games and is 12-and-0. But youre “going to tell a group of young men, who just went 12-1 in a most difficult schedule, that they dont have a chance to play for a national championship? Im going to need help with that one.” Thats a quote from Urban Meyer back in 2006. At the time, Meyers Florida Gators were 12-and-1, ranked fourth in the BCS standings, and outside of the national title picture. Meyer was lobbying for the Gators to jump USC and Michigan and earn a berth in the BCS Championship. In the end, both the Trojans and Wolverines lost, and Florida got its shot, beating Ohio State by 27 points, and beginning an unprecedented run of 7-straight national titles for the SEC. Ironically, this year Meyer is on the other side of the debate, lobbying for the unbeaten Buckeyes to get a bid over a 1-loss SEC champ. But if anything, his argument from 2006 rings more true now than ever before. Forget the fact that both Auburn and Missouri went from 3-and-9 and 5-and-7 a year ago, to 11-and-1 this season. Gus Malzahn and Gary Pinkel have already both been nominated for Coach of the Year. Forget that Auburns season culminated with a historic Iron Bowl win, their second miracle in as many games, knocking off the program that was gunning for an unprecedented third straight national title. Forget that Mizzou closed their season with a win over Johnny Manziel and then No. 21 Texas A&M, holding the reigning Heisman trophy winner to just 216 total yards, statistically the worst game of his career.The strength of schedule of an SEC champ should trump an unbeaten season of a team in a has-been conference. And the strength of schedules arent even close. Both Auburn and Missouri beat four top-25 teams this season. Ohio State beat two. The Buckeyes rang up wins against five teams with losing records. Auburn played just two. Auburns FBS opponents were a combined 20 games above .500 this season, Missouris 10. Ohio States? Eight games under. Sure both Auburn and Missouri lost a game. But Auburns loss came against then No. 6 LSU. They lost 35-21 at Death Valley, the place that LSU coach Les Miles says is “where dreams go to die.” They lost in the rain, at night, in a stadium in which the home team is 34-and-2 since 2009. Missouri lost to No. 8 South Carolina. In double overtime, when kicker Andrew Baggett banged a 24-yard field goal off the uprights. Hardly a blemish to throw away a season on. The Buckeyes played five road games en route to their 12-and-0 season. Those road opponents? A combined 5-and-36 in conference play. Ohio State won “the game” last week beating archrival Michigan – a team that had lost three of their last four - on a failed 2-point conversion. The Wolverines scored 41 points in the loss, despite scoring 49 total points in regulation in all of November. The Buckeyes two wins against ranked teams came against No. 21 Wisconsin, the same team that as a 24-point favourite lost to Penn State this past weekend, the largest FBS vs FBS upset this season. The following week OSU beat then No. 16 Northwestern, the beginning of the Wildcats seven game losing streak, and a 1-and-7 finish in conference play. When the Buckeyes meet Michigan State in Indianapolis, it will be their first regular season game against a top-10 team since 2009. Auburn has played three. This season. This week, Meyer has understandably changed his tone. Hes lobbying for the Buckeyes, and a chance for the Big Ten to win a national title for the first time since 2002. But, like he said in 2006, “its called winning and losing, and playing a difficult schedule.” And there is no schedule more difficult than that of the SEC. 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