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Alabama is the undisputed top dog, but the Big Ten is the Big Show in the third College Football Playoff rankings, which followed a stunning weekend of losing among highly ranked teams.Ohio State climbed from No. 5 to No. 2, while Michigan stayed put at No. 3 after losing to unranked Iowa. Of course, those two play on Nov. 26, with the stakes being both huge and curious.?Along with No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Penn State, the Big Ten leads all conferences with four teams in the top eight. It also leads all conferences with intrigue.If Ohio State beats Michigan State and Michigan, and Penn State also wins out, the Nittany Lions capture the Big Ten East crown by virtue of handing the Buckeyes their only loss, and they would play for the Big Ten title, most likely against Wisconsin. That either sets the stage for two Big Ten teams in the playoff, or the committee leaving out Ohio State because it didnt win its conference title. Or the committee could dump Penn State, which lost by 39 at Michigan, or Wisconsin, and go with the Buckeyes.Yeah, its complicated. But what could anyone expect after three of the top four and six of the top 14 teams lost in a single weekend?There obviously are a lot of critical games ahead, and the only seemingly safe team is No. 1 Alabama, the only remaining unbeaten Power 5 squad, which has almost certainly earned a mulligan after dominating a tough schedule.Two weekends remain in the regular season, including many rivalry showdowns, and then conference championship games. No. 9 Oklahoma plays two ranked teams -- No. 14 West Virginia and No. 11 Oklahoma State -- to conclude its season,?while No. 6 Washington can reverse its downward course against Arizona State, No. 22 Washington State and against a highly ranked team in the Pac-12 title game (No. 13 USC, No. 10 Colorado or No. 12 Utah).More good news for Washington, which owns the weakest schedule among the contenders: Stanford re-entered the rankings at No. 24, meaning the Huskies now have two wins over ranked teams.Ohio State is back at No. 2 due to a strong overall résumé, with three top-20 wins (Wisconsin, Oklahoma and No. 18 Nebraska). The Buckeyes could add Michigan to that list, but they also could end up sitting out the Big Ten title game.While No. 4 Clemson is no longer unbeaten, it also has quality wins over No. 15 Auburn, No. 5 Louisville and No. 17 Florida State.Louisville owns a five-game winning streak, and its lone loss was a nail-biter at Clemson. On the other hand, its only quality win came against three-loss Florida State. The Cardinals play unranked Houston on Thursday and conclude their regular season against Kentucky.Wisconsins only losses came in consecutive games with Michigan and Ohio State, while it owns quality wins over No. 16 LSU and Nebraska. The Badgers are at Purdue this weekend and conclude their season at home against Minnesota.In other words, there are a lot of present and future data points that the committee will be considering over the final three weekends. In fact, myriad seemingly off-the-radar games could play roles in how things play out, such as Florida State-Florida and Nebraska-Iowa.Or what about more upsets? Is South Carolina a potentially tricky matchup for Clemson? Or might Michigan State catch the Buckeyes looking ahead?Theres a lot of football left, and last weekend taught us that believing that clarity might be on hand was a foolish conclusion. Nike Vapormax Comprar Online . 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Nike Vapormax España .J. -- Marshawn Lynch said Thursday it will be good to get back to football after the Seattle quiet talking running back wrapped up his final mandatory media session of Super Bowl week. Nike Vapormax Baratas . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. One of the biggest events, if not the biggest race, on Saturdays strong Stars & Stripes Festival card at Belmont Park is the Belmont Derby for 3-year-old males on the turf. And one of Saturdays four stakes at Arlington Park is the American Derby, also for 3-year-old males, and also on the turf.The American Derby has a purse one-tenth the size of the $1.25 million purse of the Belmont Derby and, at 1-1/8 miles, the American Derby is one furlong shorter than the Belmont Derby. The American Derby is also something of a means to an end. It is the local springboard to next months Secretariat Stakes. The Belmont Derby, with its outsized purse, is an end. The American and Belmont Derbies are not exactly mirror images of each other. But there are still compelling similarities between the two races.And thats the point. The Belmont Derby and American Derby are two turf stakes for 3-year-olds going long on the turf run on the same day. And yet, the Belmont Derby drew a field of 13, and the American Derby drew a field of 11. Even after you separate the wheat from the chaff, thats a lot of numbers. Who knew there were so many 3-year-old grass horses?Well, these 3-year-olds are still young, lightly raced, and full of hope. So clashing, competing stakes schedules -- not exactly a new matter -- are not quite the issue for this group that it is for other divisions which have been compromised to a greater extent by the contraction of the general pool of available race horses.Consider the older male division, and recent overlapping opportunities for this group.On June 18, the Grade 1, $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap at 1-1/8 miles was run at Churchill Downs. The Foster drew a field of seven, and was won by Bradester. Bradester, a 6-year-old, is an admirable hard hitter, and on some level, it was nice to see his persistence finally rewarded with a score in a big spot. However, in 22 prior starts over four years, Bradester had never, ever been confused with a true Grade 1 performer.One week later, on June 25, the Grade 1, $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita at 1-? miles was run. The Gold Cup attracted a field of eight, and it was won by Melatonin. Before his 5-year-old season this year, Melatonin had made only two starts in stakes races, and was unsuccessful in both. But the Gold Cup was his second major victory this year; he earlier won the prestigious Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. Melatonins emergence is a welcome development regardless of tthe reason for it.dddddddddddd Still, its only natural to wonder if Melatonins ascendency is due more to a weakened division lacking quality depth than to considerable improvement on his part.One week later, on July 2, the Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap at 1-1/8 miles was decided at Prairie Meadows. The 5-year-old Smack Smack, another one of those admirable campaigners who had previously finished third or better in 18 of 25 career starts, beat eight opponents in the Cornhusker for his first career graded stakes win. Despite having plenty of opportunity during a very active career, Smack Smack had only taken his chance in three prior graded stakes races, and never finished better than fifth in those graded stakes attempts.On Saturday, one week after the Cornhusker, two weeks after the Gold Cup at Santa Anita, and three weeks after the Foster, which represents a fast turnaround for race horses these days, one of the undercard stakes at Belmont is the Grade 2, $300,000 Suburban Handicap at 1-1/4 miles for, you guessed it, older males. The Suburban drew a field of eight, but the only previous front line race winners in it are Noble Bird, and Effinex, one of two in the Suburban making that fast turnaround from the Foster.Look, I understand racetracks are in competition with each other, and realize that one way for a track to gain a competitive upper hand is to put on a better race than its competition. Santa Anita wouldnt think twice if it were able to poach a horse from the Foster, and Belmont wouldnt shed a tear if it did the same to the Gold Cup.However, the absence of a tangible incentive for tracks to fashion more cooperative -- hey, lets make that read logical -- stakes schedules paves the way for an unappealing diet of diluted stakes events that frankly dont do the sport much good.I mean, look at the four stakes I referenced above. They all drew from the same pool of talent -- older males going nine to 10 furlongs on dirt -- and that pool is shallow this year. But even in years when there is a bit more depth to the older male division, its difficult to see the sense of four so similar stakes races run in a three week window. Not when you could have done a mash up between the Foster, Gold Cup, Cornhusker, and Suburban, and wound up with two very nice, much better races. ' ' '