kijiji barrie
College Football Playoff's first 12-team bracket is set with Oregon No. 1 and SMU in, Alabama out SMU captured the last open spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff, bumping Alabama to land in a bracket that placed undefeated Oregon at No. 1. The selection committee preferred the Mustangs, losers of a heartbreaker in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game, who had a far less difficult schedule than Alabama of the SEC but one fewer loss. The inaugural 12-team bracket marks a new era for college football, though the Alabama-SMU debate made clear there is no perfect formula. The tournament starts Dec. 20-21 with four first-round games. It concludes Jan. 20 with the national title game in Atlanta. Alabama left out of playoff as committee rewards SMU's wins over Crimson Tide's strong schedule The College Football Playoff committee took wins over strength of schedule, taking SMU over Alabama for the final at-large spot in the field. The field was expanded from four to 12 teams this season, but that didn’t save the committee from controversy. SMU showed it could compete against a traditional power, losing to Clemson 34-31 on a 56-yard field goal in the ACC title game on Saturday. Alabama had some ups and downs in its first season under coach Kalen DeBoer. The Crimson Tide had quality wins against Georgia and South Carolina, but lost at Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Big Ten wins playoff selection derby, followed by SEC despite notable Alabama omission College football’s conference shakeup left concerns about two super conferences dominating the playoff field. They weren’t totally unfounded, or 100% born out. The Big Ten, not the Southeastern Conference, was the biggest winner. The ACC scored, too. The Big Ten led the initial 12-team playoff field with four making the cut, topped by a No. 1 Oregon team that was part of the Pac-12 exodus. Then came the SEC — and one notable omission. ACC runner-up SMU got the nod over college football blue-blood Alabama, another blemish in Kalen DeBoer’s first season as Nick Saban’s championship-or-bust successor. Darnold delivers for Vikings with career-high 347 yards and 5 TDs to beat Falcons, Cousins 42-21 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sam Darnold threw for 347 yards and five touchdowns, both career highs, and the Minnesota Vikings pulled away from Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons 42-21 for their sixth straight victory. Darnold added another highlight to his brilliant first season with the Vikings following Cousins' departure in free agency to Atlanta with a 22-for-28 performance and no turnover-worthy plays despite heavy first-half pressure. Jordan Addison had eight catches for 133 yards and three scores and Justin Jefferson racked up seven receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Cousins threw two more interceptions without a touchdown in his return to Minnesota. Saquon Barkley sets Eagles season rushing record and has Dickerson's NFL mark in his sights PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley has broken LeSean McCoy's Eagles franchise record for rushing yards in a season. Barkley has 1,623 yards. He surpassed McCoy's mark of 1,607 yards with a 9-yard run in Sunday's 22-16 win over Carolina. Barkley finished the game with 124 yards, within a yard of his season average. He has four games left and is on pace to break Eric Dickerson's 40-year-old NFL record of 2,105 yards. Dickerson set that record in a 16-game season and Barkley has one more game. Eagles fans serenaded Barkley with “MVP!” chants and McCoy congratulated him on social media. Saints QB Derek Carr injures left hand on dive in 4th quarter of win over Giants EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr injured his left hand late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 14-11 victory over the New York Giants when he went airborne while trying for a first down and crashed to the turf. Carr tried to leap over a Giants tackler and landed at the New Orleans 39-yard line, extending his non-throwing hand to break his fall. He was on the turf for a minute or two before walking to the medical tent. He was examined and slowly walked to an area where X-rays are done. The injury could hurt the already slim playoff hopes of the Saints. Tamar Bates scores 29 points to help Missouri beat No. 1 Kansas 76-67 COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Tamar Bates had 29 points and five steals to help Missouri beat Hunter Dickinson and No. 1 Kansas 76-67. Mark Mitchell scored 17 points in Missouri’s first win over Kansas since a 74-71 victory on Feb. 4, 2012. Anthony Robinson II had 11 points and five steals for the 8-1 Tigers. Dickinson had 19 points and 14 rebounds, but he also committed seven turnovers. The 7-2 Jayhawks have lost two straight on the road after falling 76-63 against Creighton on Wednesday night. Scottie Scheffler ends his big year in the Bahamas with his 9th victory NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Scottie Scheffler ended his biggest year with another victory. Scheffler was coming off a two-month break and looked as good as ever. He shot 63 in the Hero World Challenge and set tournament records at Albany with a 72-hole total of 263 and a six-shot victory. Tom Kim was the runner-up and Justin Thomas finished third. Scheffler ends his year with nine victories in 21 tournaments. That includes the holiday tournament in the Bahamas and the Olympic gold medal in Paris. It's the third-highest winning percentage in the last 40 years. Tournament host Tiger Woods had two better years. Lindsey Vonn is encouraged by how close she is to being competitive in ski racing return at age 40 COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. (AP) — Lindsey Vonn is encouraged by how close she is to being competitive again in her ski racing return at 40 years old. Vonn is still getting her ski equipment dialed in and getting used to going full speed again on her new titanium knee. That’s why all that she's reading into being more than two seconds behind in a pair of lower-level super-G races Sunday is that she’s right there. This after nearly six years away from ski racing and an abbreviated prep period. She was 2.19 seconds behind in the first race and 2.06 in the second. Both were won by her American teammate Lauren Macuga. Plane circles MetLife Stadium with message to co-owner John Mara to fix the Giants' 'dumpster fire' EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — A small plane circled MetLife Stadium roughly 90 minutes before New York was to play host to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, asking Giants co-owner John Mara to overhaul the team that has made the playoffs twice since winning the Super Bowl in February 2012. “Mr. Mara, enough. Please fix this dumpster fire!” the message read as it was towed behind the rear of a small plane.FREIBURG, Germany (AP) — Freiburg survived a late comeback to beat Wolfsburg 3-2 and move into fifth place in the Bundesliga on Friday. The sides started the day equal on points and Wolfsburg had won its last five games in the league and cup. But Lukas Kübler scored an opportunist opener three minutes before the break and added a second with his head six minutes into the second half to put Freiburg in the driving seat. Michael Gregoritsch added the third in the 62nd. Jonas Wind came off the bench to score his third goal in two games and Mattias Svanberg cut the deficit seven minutes from time as Wolfsburg desperately looked for a way into the game. But it was too late, and Freiburg moved above Wolfsburg to fifth place on the table and equal on points with Leipzig, which has a game in hand. The match was an important one for two teams vying for a Champions League place next year. Although Bayern Munich have a six-point advantage over second-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, only eight points separate the next nine clubs. ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer The Associated Press
Mumbai: One of the architects of Mahayuti’s clean sweep in Maharashtra, Amit Shah, recently came under fire for announcing “Mahayuti in ’24, Kamal ki Sarkar in ’29”. One can say now that his belief isn’t, after all, ill-founded. Looking at the assembly election results, it has been the biggest success in the past two decades for the BJP in the state. With 133 seats of its own from the winning basket of 229, the party is all set to have a say in who will be the chief minister. Since 2019, Maharashtra has seen an unprecedented politically charged atmosphere with defections, party splits, unnatural alliances, Maratha vs OBC conflict, and polarisation of religious and caste-based votes, raising doubts about the Mahayuti government’s chances of even a fair run. Its alliance leaders may not agree now but they themselves were doubtful all along. The vindication in the form of a shower of votes makes one sit back and analyse what led to this almost-surreal victory. Ladki Bahin Scheme The BJP faced setbacks in Maharashtra during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning only nine out of 28 seats it contested, a sharp drop from the 23 out of 25 in 2019. Following this loss, the Eknath Shinde-led government launched the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, aimed at women voters. Under this scheme, women aged 18 to 60 from families with an annual income below Rs2.5 lakh or less now receive Rs1,500 per month. The Mahayuti alliance further promised to increase this amount to Rs2,100 if re-elected. According to political experts, this initiative was a significant factor in swaying the vote of female citizens. In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, 2.63 crore women electorate in Maharashtra exercised their franchise, accounting for 59% of the registered female voters. In comparison, 63% of male voters exercised their right to vote. When comparing the 2019 and 2024 elections, the gap between male and female voter turnout reduced by 3.75%. Since 2014, there has been a noticeable rise in awareness and participation among women in elections. Maharashtra has a total of 4.64 crore registered women voters, out of which approximately 65.22% participated in the state assembly elections; an overall increase of 6% in comparison to the 2019 elections, highlighting their crucial role. In Madhya Pradesh, despite the anti-BJP sentiment, the Ladli Behna Yojana, launched in March 2023, became a game-changer. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan openly acknowledged this after the assembly elections, stating that the scheme helped the BJP overcome all challenges. According to various reports, nearly 50% of women voters supported the BJP after the implementation of the scheme. A similar trend appears to have unfolded in Maharashtra. Ahead of the Haryana assembly elections, surveys conducted by the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra indicated an unfavourable outcome. However, the scenario changed dramatically within 45 days, with the Ladki Bahin scheme. This has been admitted by all three key leaders of the alliance. Saving Hindu Votes With Ek Hain To Safe Hain Before the Lok Sabha elections, there were visible conflicts between Marathas and OBCs, as well as Dhangars and tribals in the state. As a result, the issue of reservations became a significant topic in the assembly election. In the Lok Sabha polls, Muslim voters collectively went against the BJP. However, Hindu voters did not appear as unified. This affected the BJP in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The Maha Vikas Aghadi appeared to benefit from caste-based polarisation in Maharashtra, with no apparent strategy devised by the BJP for Hindu unity. Top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath, used slogans like “Ek hain toh safe hain (together we are safe)” and “Batenge toh katenge (divided we fall)” during this term’s campaign. The main message behind these slogans, despite the controversy, was to promote Hindu unity and to rally support from the OBCs for the ruling alliance. These slogans were designed to counter the opposition’s claims that the BJP wanted to end reservation policies. They also addressed the Congress’ slogan, “Constitution is in danger”, which had reportedly helped the Maha Vikas Aghadi perform better in the Lok Sabha polls. RSS Rallies All The Way After the disappointing performance in the Lok Sabha elections, RSS, the party’s ideological backbone, stepped in to keep the ground under their feet. The RSS organised a large meeting in Mumbai, attended by BJP leaders, including Devendra Fadnavis. In total, the RSS held 60,000 small meetings across the state, encouraging BJP supporters to turn out and vote. Additionally, it launched a campaign called ‘Sajag Raho’ (Be Vigilant, Be Awake) through its network of 65 affiliated organisations, further boosting the BJP’s performance. Housing Society Polling Booths Though the initiative of setting up polling booths in the housing societies across cities in the state was the Election Commission’s, the ruling alliance is said to have played a key part in the arrangement. This helped saffronised WhatsApp groups within housing societies to mobilise the electorate to come out and vote by shunning the apathy. The ease combined with the motivation to have the BJP in power is said to have brought in more lower and upper middle-class votes for the party.Manchester United to battle Chelsea, Juventus for Premier League striker in summer transfer window?
The US dollar closed for the first time above the psychological R$ 6 barrier on another turbulent day in Brazil's markets, Agencia Brasil reported. The local scene continued to reverberate after the spending cut package announced earlier this week by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, also impacting the stock exchange scene during the day. The commercial dollar closed Friday at R$6.001, up just 0.19%, after reaching R$ 6.11 at around 10.15 am. It eventually went back down after statements from Haddad and Senate Speaker Rodrigo Pacheco. Friday's was the highest rate since the creation of the real, representing a 3.21% rise this week and 3.8% in November. The commercial euro ended the day up 0.41% at R$6.348. Brazil's Central Bank (BCB) did not intervene in the exchange rate. In the stock market, the day was marked by a recovery. After a turbulent morning, B3's Ibovespa index closed at 125,668 points, up 0.85%. At around 11.30 a.m., the indicator fell by 0.53% but reversed the movement and began to rise in the afternoon. Despite Friday's advance, the stock market lost 2.46% for the week, its worst weekly performance since mid-September. In November, the Ibovespa shrank by 2.9%. The dollar reached zero after Rodrigo Pacheco made raising the income tax exemption to R$5,000 conditional on the tax situation. Later, at an event organized by the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), Haddad said that the government could review measures in the tax package sent to Congress, if necessary.