In the opening crawl of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, we learned that Rebel forces had stolen the blueprints of the Empires Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Alex Pietrangelo Canada Jersey .Thanks to Princess Leia, the Rebels found a weakness in the Death Star and blew it to smithereens, restoring freedom in the galaxy. Last week, Wake Forest all but accused Louisville of stealing its plays before a 44-12 loss to the Cardinals on Nov. 8.Thursday night, we learned Louisvilles weakness in a 36-10 loss at Houston: theyre not nearly as good -- and Darth Vader, er, Bobby Petrino, isnt nearly as smart -- when theyre actually playing good teams.After losing for the second time this season, the Cardinals were one of three teams eliminated from consideration for the College Football Playoff by The Eliminator this week. Utah and West Virginia -- both lost on Saturday -- also were eliminated from consideration for one of the four spots in the playoff.With two weeks to play in the regular season, 117 of the 128 FBS teams have been eliminated, leaving 11 in contention for the four spots.Heres where the FBS stands after Week 12:Jump to sections: Whos in??| Still in contention | On the fence | Better luck next season | Previously eliminatedWhos in?There wasnt nearly as much chaos this past weekend, although No. 5 Louisville made things easier for the CFP selection committee by failing to show up at Houston on Thursday night. No. 1 Alabama, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Clemson still have the clearest paths to the playoff. If those teams win out, theyll be among the four teams in the playoff. If No. 2 Ohio State beats Michigan at the Horseshoe on Saturday, things might get a little tricky for the selection committee. Even if the Buckeyes knock off the Wolverines, theyll still need Penn State to lose to Michigan State to win the Big Ten East. If the Nittany Lions win the East and the Big Ten championship game, can the committee take Ohio State without taking the Nittany Lions? Probably not. Washington remains in the hunt for a playoff spot as long as it beats Washington State in Fridays Apple Cup and wins the Pac-12 championship game the next week.Still in contentionAlabama Crimson TideTrending: EVENSee Rock City? Im surprised Alabama coach Nick Saban didnt make his team climb to Rock City at halftime of Saturdays 34-3 win over FCS foe Tennessee-Chattanooga.Clemson TigersTrending: UPCountry singer Darius Rucker said hed play a free concert at South Carolina if the Gamecocks won six games this season. If they upset Clemson on Saturday, hell probably write a song about it.Michigan WolverinesTrending: EVENThe Detroit Lions play their annual Thanksgiving Day game against the Vikings on Thursday. Im guessing Jim Harbaugh will have them running Michigans scout team in practice on Friday.Ohio State BuckeyesTrending: EVENUrban Meyer was born to coach the Buckeyes against Michigan in The Game. His initials are U.M.Washington HuskiesTrending: UPThe head coaches for Fridays highly anticipated Apple Cup should have a side bet. If Washington State wins, Huskies coach Chris Petersen has to talk to the media. If Washington wins, Cougars coach Mike Leach has to stop talking to reporters.Wisconsin BadgersTrending: UPSomebody pinch Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. The No. 5 Badgers are one of three Big Ten teams ranked in the top five of the AP top 25 poll. Its the first time this has happened since Nov. 7, 1960, when Minnesota was No. 1, Ohio State was No. 3 and Iowa was No. 5.On the fenceColorado BuffaloesTrending: UPOur apologies, Buffaloes. We pulled the trigger on your elimination too early. Colorado can win the Pac-12 South if it defeats Utah at home on Saturday. If the Utes win, USC will play the Apple Cup winner in the Pac-12 championship game.Oklahoma SoonersTrending: UPOf course Sooners coach Bob Stoops agrees that Oklahoma State didnt lose to Central Michigan. He needs the Cowboys to be ranked as high as possible when he beats them again.Oklahoma State CowboysTrending: UPWe brought you back from the dead, Pokes. No, were not giving you 10 wins.Penn State Nittany LionsTrending: UPIm sure Penn State wont catch any flak if it wins the Big Ten East and keeps Ohio State from reaching the Big Ten championship game. Americans usually react pretty well when their side doesnt win.Western Michigan BroncosTrending: UPRow the boat. Row the Fleckin boat.Better luck next seasonLouisville CardinalsTrending: DOWNIm guessing Louisville didnt have Houstons game plan in advance of last weeks game.Utah UtesTrending: DOWNHey, at least you didnt lose to Kansas.West Virginia MountaineersTrending: DOWNIm starting to think Dana Holgorsen might have been a stunt double for Ralphie when he beat up the bully in A Christmas Story.Previously eliminatedEliminated in Week 11:?Auburn Tigers, North Carolina Tar Heels, Texas A&M Aggies, Virginia Tech HokiesEliminated in Week 10: Baylor Bears, Florida Gators, LSU Tigers, Nebraska CornhuskersEliminated in Week 9: Boise State Broncos, Pittsburgh Panthers, Tennessee VolunteersEliminated in Week 8:?Houston Cougars,?Miami HurricanesEliminated in Week 7: Arizona State Sun Devils, Maryland Terrapins, Ole Miss Rebels, Wake Forest Demon DeaconsEliminated in Week 6:?Air Force Falcons,?Arkansas Razorbacks,?Colorado Buffaloes,?Indiana Hoosiers,?Minnesota Gophers,?Stanford Cardinal,?Texas Tech Red Raiders,?UCLA BruinsEliminated in Week 5:?Arizona Wildcats, Cincinnati Bearcats, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Iowa Hawkeyes, Kansas State Wildcats, Memphis Tigers, Michigan State Spartans, Navy Midshipmen, Oregon Ducks, San Diego State Aztecs, TCU Horned Frogs, Texas Longhorns, Toledo RocketsEliminated in Week 4: Army Black Knights, Central Michigan Chippewas, East Carolina Pirates, Georgia Southern Eagles, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Oregon State Beavers, Penn State Nittany Lions, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, South Carolina Gamecocks, South Florida Bulls, USC TrojansEliminated in Week 3: Boston College Eagles, Duke Blue Devils, Illinois Fighting Illini, Marshall Thundering Herd,?Missouri Tigers, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, Syracuse Orange, Texas State Bobcats, Vanderbilt CommodoresEliminated in Week 2: Akron Zips, Ball State Cardinals, BYU Cougars, California Bears, Connecticut Huskies, Eastern Michigan Eagles, Florida Atlantic Owls, Idaho Vandals, Kansas Jayhawks, Louisiana Monroe Warhawks, Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, Nevada Wolf Pack, New Mexico Lobos, NC State Wolfpack, Old Dominion Monarchs, Purdue Boilermakers, SMU Mustangs, South Alabama Jaguars, Texas San Antonio Roadrunners, Troy Trojans, Tulsa Golden Hurricane, UCF Knights, UNLV Rebels, Utah State Aggies, UTEP Miners, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Wyoming CowboysEliminated in Week 1: Appalachian State Mountaineers, Arkansas State Red Wolves, Bowling Green Falcons, Buffalo Bulls, Charlotte 49ers, Colorado State Rams, Florida International Golden Panthers, Fresno State Bulldogs, Georgia State Panthers, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, Iowa State Cyclones, Kent State Golden Flashes, Kentucky Wildcats, Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, Massachusetts Minutemen, Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, Mississippi State Bulldogs, New Mexico State Aggies, North Texas Mean Green, Northern Illinois Huskies, Northwestern Wildcats, Ohio Bobcats, Rice Owls, San Jose State Spartans, Temple Owls, Tulane Green Wave, Virginia Cavaliers, Washington State Cougars Patrice Bergeron World Cup Jersey . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Rick Nash Team Canada Jersey . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom.http://www.hockeyteamcanadajerseystore.com/ryan-getzlaf-Canada-jersey/ . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- The moment Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro saw a gap opening along the offensive line, he raced through it at full speed, slamming into the first offensive player who tried to block him.Vaccaro knocked fullback Sione Houma off his feet and into ball carrier Tim Hightower, who was forced to change course. His momentum lost, Hightower was soon enveloped by the Saints converging defense.The play, which occurred during a training camp practice over the weekend, exemplified Vaccaros description of what its like to play for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who is trying to shore up a unit that was among the NFLs most porous last season.His thing is, its not about scheme. Its about the 11 players you put on that field and how fast youre playing, Vaccaro said.He always tells us, `The only advantage the defense has is fear. All the rules are skewed for the offense to have success, so if they dont fear you, youre not going to win. So if you can fly around, you can play fast -- with a scheme that everybody knows -- you can be successful.The Saints ranked 31st in yards allowed last season with 413.4 per game, effectively cancelling out much of the production of New Orleans second-ranked offense.The Saints are hoping for better results with Allen, who coached the secondary on the Saints 2009 championship team.Technically, Allen is approaching what would be only his second full season as an NFL defensive coordinator. He left New Orleans for his first such post with Denver in 2011, then made an ill-fated decision to become Oaklands head coach in 2012.He rejoined the Saints as a senior assistant after New Orleans had ranked second-to-last in defense in 2014, then took over as coordinator when Rob Ryan was fired 10 games into last season.During his first full offseason in his current post, Allen has been simplifying New Orleans defensive scheme.He also has paid particular attention to organizational details such as substitutions and pre-snap alignment, which head coach Sean Payton repeatedly cited as one of his teams most glaring deficiencies last season.Half the battle is getting the call, getting your alignment ... knowing the call, and playing the defense, Payton said. That obviously has been an emphasis.Allen, who played safety in college at Texas A&M, articulates a clear vision for how he wants his unit to look on the field.We have total control over how fast we play and how hard we play, Allen said. There are going to be times where the offense is going to do some things that might dictate some different matchups; they might catch us in a bad situation. But how we get out of thhose situations is that we have 11 guys hustling to the football. Chris Kunitz Team Canada Jersey. It is really a philosophy and culture of how we are going to play and not as much of what (scheme) we are going to play, Allen added.The Saints expect veteran middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, acquired as a free agent this offseason, to be an ideal fit to lead Allens defense -- not only because of his reputation for grasping defensive concepts and alignments, but also because he agrees that, for a defense, a psychological edge can be more important than a schematic advantage.A lot of times, its more about your mentality as a defensive player and really as a unit than it is about Xs and Os, Laurinaitis said. Every play that the offense draws up is blocked for a touchdown. Every play that we draw up is supposed to be a tackle for a loss.This is all about, how can we play as fast as we can, as physically as we can, Laurinaitis added.Now that Allen has simplified the Saints scheme, however, he expects his players to understand their assignments on both individually and holistically.Third-year outside linebacker Kasim Edebali, whose five sacks ranked second on the club last season, explained Allens approach this way: The last couple years, I was a young player, so I was very worried about my position and what Ive got to do. But coach really preaches that everybody understands whats going on around you, so you really know where you are in the defense and where everybody else is, so you can play smart.Through the first five practices of training camp -- three of them in full pads -- the defense has come up with its share of highlights, from safety Roman Harper stripping running back Mark Ingram to a couple of interceptions of star quarterback Drew Brees. But the Saints offense has produced some big plays as well during 11-on-11 drills.Payton said after Mondays practice that it will take until the first couple of regular-season games to see whether the Saints defense is meeting goals of being better at communicating, thwarting third-down plays and tightening inside its own 20.But he added, I expect us to be, because itll be hard not to be, right?Game notes Payton announced after practice that the Saints have signed veteran offensive lineman Tony Hills, who was with the club for part of last season, and assigned a waived-injured designation to rookie Ryker Mathews. ... The Saints have Tuesday off from practice and resume Wednesday.---AP NFL websites: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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