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The new, 12-team College Football Playoff brings with it a promise to be bigger, more exciting, more lucrative. Perfect or 100% fair? Well, nobody ever believed that. The first expanded playoff bracket unveiled Sunday left a presumably deserving Alabama team on the sideline in favor of an SMU squad that finished with a better record after playing a schedule that was not as difficult. It ranked undefeated Oregon first but set up a possible rematch against Ohio State, the team that came closest to beating the Ducks this year. It treated underdog Boise State like a favorite and banged-up Georgia like a world beater at No. 2. It gave Ohio State home-field advantage against Tennessee for reasons it would take a supercomputer to figure out. It gave the sport the multiweek tournament it has longed for, but also ensured there will be plenty to grouse about between now and when the trophy is handed out on Jan. 20 after what will easily be the longest college football season in history. All of it, thankfully, will be sorted out on the field starting with first-round games on campuses Dec. 20 and 21, then over three succeeding rounds that will wind their way through traditional bowl sites. Maybe Oregon coach Dan Lanning, whose undefeated Ducks are the favorite to win it all, put it best when he offered: "Winning a national championship is not supposed to be easy.” Neither, it turns out, is figuring out who should play for it. The Big Ten will lead the way with four teams in the tournament, followed by the SEC with three and the ACC with two. The lasting memory from the inaugural bracket will involve the decision that handed the ACC that second bid. Alabama of the SEC didn't play Saturday. SMU of the ACC did. The Mustangs fell behind by three touchdowns to Clemson before coming back to tie. But they ultimately lost 34-31 on a 56-yard field goal as time expired. “We were on pins and needles,” SMU coach Rhett Lashley said. “Until we saw the name ‘SMU’ up there, we were hanging on the edge. We're really, really happy and thankful to the committee for rewarding our guys for their total body of work." The Mustangs only had two losses, compared to three for the Crimson Tide. Even though SMU's schedule wasn't nearly as tough, the committee was impressed by the way the Mustangs came back against Clemson. “We just felt, in this particular case, SMU had the nod above Alabama,” said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, the chairman of the selection committee. “But it’s no disrespect to Alabama’s strength of schedule. We looked at the entire body of work for both teams.” Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne was gracious, up to a point. “Disappointed with the outcome and felt we were one of the 12 best teams in the country,” he said on social media. He acknowledged — despite all of Alabama’s losses coming against conference opponents this season — that the Tide’s push to schedule more games against teams from other major conferences in order to improve its strength of schedule did not pay off this time. “That is not good for college football," Byrne said. Georgia, the SEC champion, was seeded second; Boise State, the Mountain West champion, earned the third seed; and Big 12 titlist Arizona State got the fourth seed and the fourth and final first-round bye. All will play in quarterfinals at bowl games on Dec. 31-Jan. 1. Clemson stole a bid and the 12th seed with its crazy win over SMU, the result that ultimately cost Alabama a spot in the field. The Tigers moved to No. 16 in the rankings, but got in as the fifth-best conference winner. The conference commissioners' idea to give conference champions preferable treatment in this first iteration of the 12-team playoff could be up for reconsideration after this season. The committee actually ranked Boise State, the Mountain West Champion, at No. 9 and Big 12 champion Arizona State at No. 12, but both get to skip the first round. Another CFP guideline: There’s no reseeding of teams after each round, which means no break for Oregon. The top-seeded Ducks will face the winner of Tennessee-Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Oregon beat Ohio State 32-31 earlier this year in one of the season’s best games. No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas, Dec. 21. Clemson is riding high after the SMU upset, while Texas is 0-2 against Georgia and 11-0 vs. everyone else this season. The winner faces ... Arizona State in the Peach Bowl. Huh? No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State, Dec. 21. The biggest knock against the Mustangs was that they didn't play any big boys with that 60th-ranked strength of schedule. Well, now they get to. The winner faces ... Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. Yes, SMU vs. Boise was the quarterfinal we all expected. No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame, Dec. 20. Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti thought his team deserved a home game. Well, not quite but close. The winner faces ... Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs got the No. 2 seed despite a throwing-arm injury to QB Carson Beck. But what else was the committee supposed to do? No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State , Dec. 21. The Buckeyes (losses to Oregon, Michigan) got home field over the Volunteers (losses to Arkansas, Georgia) in a matchup of programs with two of the biggest stadiums in football. The winner faces ... Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Feels like that matchup should come in the semifinals or later. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-footballThis ASX All Ords stock is undervalued and could rocket 60%+Nonespin casino 。

The NBA got viewers for Christmas, even while going up against NFL games. The NBA's five-game Christmas lineup was the league's most-watched in five years, with the games averaging about 5.25 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and its platforms, the league said Thursday based on Nielsen's preliminary numbers. It's an 84% rise over the NBA's Christmas numbers from 2023. The Los Angeles Lakers’ 115-113 victory over the Golden State Warriors — a game pitting Olympic teammates LeBron James and Stephen Curry — averaged 7.76 million viewers and peaked with about 8.32 million viewers toward the end of the contest, the league said. Those numbers represent the most-watched NBA regular season game in five years. “I love the NFL,” James said in his televised postgame interview Wednesday night. “But Christmas is our day.” The NBA said all five Christmas games on its schedule — San Antonio at New York in Victor Wembanyama's holiday debut, Minnesota at Dallas, Philadelphia at Boston, Denver at Phoenix and Lakers-Warriors — saw year-over-year viewership increases. Wednesday's numbers pushed NBA viewership for the season across ESPN platforms to up 4% over last season. The league also saw more than 500 million video views on its social media platforms Wednesday, a new record. For the NBA, those are all good signs amid cries that NBA viewership is hurting. “Ratings are down a bit at beginning of the season. But cable television viewership is down double digits so far this year versus last year," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month. “You know, we’re almost at the inflection point where people are watching more programing on streaming than they are on traditional television. And it’s a reason why for our new television deals, which we enter into next year, every game is going to be available on a streaming service.” Part of that new package of television deals that the NBA is entering into next season also increases the number of regular season games broadcast on television from 15 to 75. AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBANone

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As they get ready to say goodbye to Vera, plenty of viewers have already become thoroughly invested in a brand new drama, with people taking to social; media in shock at the 'big twist' in the show that boasts a cast led by Liar and Downtown Abbey star Joanne Froggatt. Next week will truly be the end an era for ITV , all involved with Vera and the show's legions of fans across the world, when the much loved show, led by Brenda Blethyn, comers to an end after 14 years, with its last ever series kicking off on Wednesday, January 1. Reeling from the announcement earlier this year that it would be coming to an end, Vera fans were then dealt a further blow when it was announced tha t the 14th and final series would consist of just two episodes. That means that the Vera finale is now less than a week away, with the show's two hour conclusion, The Dark Wives, airing just 24 hours after episode one, Inside. And those who are on the look out for another crime drama to fill the void left by Vera, might want to check out ITV's latest crime series - North Shore. While Vera is set very much in the UK, with each one of its series set all over the North East since 2011, North Shore is set right across the other side of the world in Sydney Harbour, with acclaimed actress Joanne, also the star of ITV''s Angela Black, central to the story of a British and Aussie detective duo, who team up to solve a complex murder mystery and uncover a conspiracy with international political consequences, after the death of a UK politician's daughter Down Under. The full boxset of North Shore's first series was released onto streaming service ITVX on Sunday and ir didn't long for viewers to not only tune in, but share their opinions on it over on social media. And it would b fair to say, it's already proven quite a hit, with one impressed fan taking to X after binging it all, to write: "Binged North shore on itv great series and twist at the end would never of thought!! Excellent" Equally impressed by the new drama, a second enthused: "Watching North Shore, Joanne Froggatt is exceptionally beautiful and such a good actress"

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Prince William brings Donald Trump out of 'alpha mode' in 'most relaxed' meeting ever for presidentOur community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info The results are in and TOWIE’s Pete Wicks has missed out on a place in the Strictly Come Dancing final after becoming the eleventh celebrity to leave the show. Pete and his partner Jowita Przystal faced the dance-off against Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and her professional dance partner Aljaz Skorjanec. The stars faced their biggest challenge yet with two dances in the semi-final. For the dance-off, Tasha and Aljaz performed their waltz whilst Pete and Jowita danced their tango again - but it wasn’t enough to save them. Judges Craig Revel Horwood , Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all chose to save Tasha who had received a perfect score during Saturday night’s show. When asked about his time on the competition, Pete told Tess Daly : “It’s been wild. I’ve been quite honest about the fact that I didn’t necessarily want to do this in the first place, but everyone else wanted me to do it, and I am so, so glad that I did it. You don’t always have to be the best, but if you enjoy something then why shouldn’t you have a go at it? I’ve tried my best from day one, I said I was in for a penny, in for a pound and I’ve done it – it’s been beautiful.” Pete continued to talk about his partner Jowita, who he had nothing but high praise for. “There’s a lot of things I’m going to take away from this, but one of the most special things is you, and I mean that, because you’re one of the most incredible people – not just as a dancer – but as a person. You’ve been a ray of sunshine for me. You’ve helped me through things in the past three months that I didn’t think I could do and you made me believe in myself and that means more to me than anything.” Jowita praised the reality star for all his “hard work and commitment” every week calling every dance “special”. Fans took to social media after the results and most were pleased to see who had made it through to the last week. One wrote: “Finally the correct result and we have our correct final 4 for the final. Pete can leave with his head held high for how far he's come in this competition. This week was his best week but sadly his standard of dancing just wasn't as high as the others.” Another added: “Tasha being in the dance off is wrong but so happy he’s gone”. A third wrote: “Finally. The right final 4.” However one was sad to see Pete go, they said: “I'm gutted! Pete has done so extremely well. Chris for the win now!” The remaining four celebrities, JB Gill , Tasha Ghouri , Sarah Hadland and Chris McCausland will take to the dance floor next weekend with their partners for the competition’s grand final where they will each perform three dances; their favourite dance of the series, the judge’s pick and a show dance. Watch the Strictly Come Dancing final on Saturday December 14, 6pm, BBC One.