After upset win, Penn State out to extend Rutgers' woesSupermarket urges customers to make donations to help hungry
Bol Bowen 3-4 1-2 7, Ewin 7-10 3-5 17, Holt 1-3 2-4 5, Jackson 3-7 2-2 8, Watkins 5-6 2-4 14, Davis 1-4 3-4 6, Deng 4-6 0-0 10, Swinton 3-4 1-1 8, Thomas 3-3 2-4 10, Maluk 2-7 0-0 4, Nitu 0-1 0-0 0, Mbatch 1-1 0-0 2, Rozakeas 0-1 1-2 1, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Simpson 0-0 0-0 0, Crawford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-58 17-28 92. Hankins-Sanford 1-3 2-4 4, Rivera 4-12 3-4 12, Muhammad 0-1 0-0 0, Curry 4-9 8-9 17, Diggins 2-13 0-0 4, Guerengomba 3-11 3-3 10, Watson 1-2 2-5 4, Ndjigue 1-2 0-0 2, Worthy 0-3 2-4 2, Abdelgowad 0-0 0-0 0, Damjanac 0-0 0-0 0, Doumbia 2-2 0-0 4, Foster 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-58 20-29 59. Halftime_Florida St. 37-27. 3-Point Goals_Florida St. 9-18 (Thomas 2-2, Watkins 2-3, Deng 2-4, Holt 1-1, Swinton 1-1, Davis 1-2, Bol Bowen 0-1, Crawford 0-1, Rozakeas 0-1, Jackson 0-2), UMass 3-24 (Curry 1-2, Rivera 1-4, Guerengomba 1-6, Ndjigue 0-1, Watson 0-1, Worthy 0-2, Diggins 0-8). Rebounds_Florida St. 28 (Ewin 7), UMass 31 (Hankins-Sanford 13). Assists_Florida St. 25 (Jackson 6), UMass 8 (Diggins 4). Total Fouls_Florida St. 24, UMass 20.
PACS LAWSUIT NOTICE: PACS Group Investors are Notified of the Upcoming January 13 Deadline in Class Action Lawsuit – Contact BFA Law (NYSE:PACS)NFL ends investigation into sexual assault allegations against Browns QB Deshaun WatsonWhether the NFL schedule makers intended it this way or not, Week 15 has the potential to set the tone for the final stretch of the 2024 regular season. There are impactful matchups all over the week's slate, starting with a huge NFC West matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers on "Thursday Night Football." Then comes Sunday, when late afternoon games featuring the Detroit Lions hosting the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers heading east across Pennsylvania to play the Philadelphia Eagles could wind up being Super Bowl previews. But those aren't the only games that could alter the NFL playoff race with just four weeks of games remaining in the regular season. Analysts are already weighing in on what might happen with postseason berths still up for grabs. Here is an early look at picks and predictions for every game on the Week 15 schedule : NFL WEEK 14 WINNERS, LOSERS: Falcons in free fall after latest loss NFL Week 15 game predictions, picks Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Monday, Dec. 9 NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more. Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers ∎ Arizona Republic : 49ers 24, Rams 23 "The Rams beat the 49ers at home in Week 3, 27-24. We expect a similar game this week. This is a must-win game for the 49ers are we expect them to play like it." ∎ Pro Football Network : 49ers 30, Rams 27 "This game has taken on a very different complexion after the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers ’ two important wins in Week 14. Both teams remain very much in the fight for the NFC West, which could go down to the final week. ... This game has the feeling of being won by whoever has the ball last." Dallas Cowboys at Carolina Panthers ∎ ESPN : Pick the Panthers "If (the Panthers) close as a favorite over the Cowboys , it will be the first game in which Carolina is favored in the last 34 contests. ... The Panthers have an excellent running game, which has given the Cowboys' defense fits all season. Bryce Young has gone from total liability to pleasant playmaker." ∎ Bookies.com : Panthers win "Bryce Young revitalized his career – or at least his progress in terms of a QB – in the second half of this season. The Panthers have only won twice since September 22. But they covered in five straight games after nearly beating Philly (in Week 14)." Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns ∎ ESPN : Cleveland can cover this spread "The Browns have gone 2-1 in their past three home games, all against playoff-level competition, defeating the Steelers and Ravens and losing to the Chargers . The Chiefs have now gone five straight games without winning by more than three points." ∎ Arizona Republic : Chiefs 27, Browns 20 "The Chiefs just find ways to win, somehow, some way. Patrick Mahomes will find another way to win in Cleveland." Miami Dolphins at Houston Texans ∎ BetMGM : Go with Houston "Miami lives and dies by the pass. This season, Mike McDaniel’s side is 2-6 straight up when passing for under 250 yards. Otherwise, they’re 4-1. ... This season, only two teams have passed for more than 250 yards against Houston’s defense." ∎ Covers.com : Bet on the Texans Houston is "the healthiest it's been since Week 1, thanks to the (bye). C.J. Stroud and the Texans are also one of the most capable offenses the Dolphins have faced in a while, and we’ve watched Miami suffer losses to elite QBs like Jordan Love and Josh Allen." New York Jets at Jacksonville Jaguars ∎ Pro Football Network : Jets 20, Jaguars 13 "We’ve seen some signs of life from Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets offense in recent weeks. In their last three games, they are averaging 24.7 points per game. Unfortunately, they’ve been let down by a defense that has allowed 28.7 points per game in the same span. Still, they should be too much for a Mac Jones-led Jacksonville Jaguars team." ∎ Bookies.com : Take the Jaguars as underdogs "The 3-10 Jags have performed admirably against the spread at 7-6. That's two games better than Kansas City on the line. By the way, (Mac) Jones is 5-0 straight up and against the spread against the Jets in his career (all as a member of the Patriots)." Washington Commanders at New Orleans Saints ∎ Arizona Republic : Commanders 27, Saints 17 "This is a must-win game for New Orleans, which does benefit from playing at home. Problem is, the Saints are just 3-4 at home this season and Washington is coming off a bye." ∎ Pro Football Network : Commanders 30, Saints 10 "After what we just saw from the New Orleans Saints in Week 14, plus the added uncertainty around Derek Carr, the Washington Commanders very much appear to be the play this week. They have the advantage regarding the metrics, ranking well ahead of the Saints on offense and just below them defensively." Baltimore Ravens at New York Giants ∎ BetMGM : Ravens win big "Baltimore has covered this number only once this season, but New York isn’t well-equipped to exploit the Ravens defensive weakness." ∎ Arizona Republic : Ravens 27, Giants 13 "The Ravens are the biggest favorite of the week in NFL Week 15 odds and for good reason. They should roll over the Giants, but that point spread is very large." Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans ∎ Pro Football Network : Bengals 24, Titans 17 "This is a really weird game because there’s a lot at play here, but likely very little for either side to actually play for. Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan will face his former team, one he knows very well. However, that goes both ways and could mean we see a really intriguing chess match ... The line feels lopsided to the Bengals, but they have beaten four teams ranked in the bottom 10 of our rankings by over 10 points per game." ∎ Bookies.com : Lay 3.5 points with Cincinnati "The Titans have the worst record of any NFL against the spread this season. ... The Bengals had the No. 1 passing offense in the NFL, and the Titans had the No. 1 passing defense ahead of Week 14. But both teams allow points. The Titans will give up a few more this time." New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals ∎ Arizona Republic : Cardinals 24, Patriots 20 "The Cardinals' postseason chances are hanging by a thread. They'll find a way to keep them alive at least for another week." ∎ Pro Football Network : Cardinals 27, Patriots 16 "The Arizona Cardinals ’ season is falling apart since their bye, with three straight losses, including two to the Seahawks . They have to stop the rot this week with the New England Patriots coming to town, or their playoff hopes are all but done. ... The Patriots have been a tough out for teams this season, but the Cardinals have proven in the last six weeks that they can beat up below-average teams." Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos ∎ Bookies.com : Ride the Broncos "The Colts need a win here and a loss by the Texans to keep their long-shot hopes alive in the AFC South. The Broncos (8-5) have delivered for bettors all season. Denver is tied with Pittsburgh with an NFL-best 10-3 against the spread record. The Broncos have covered in 7 straight games. ... Defense remains the hidden story with the Broncos." ∎ Arizona Republic : Broncos 27, Colts 21 "This is a must-win game for the Colts, but the Broncos have won three in a row and are tough to beat in Denver." Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions ∎ Pro Football Network : Lions 35, Bills 33 "The metrics say that the Detroit Lions are the better team across the board, with the Buffalo Bills lagging behind them by some distance defensively and on special teams. The Lions have also played a slightly tougher schedule. This game has the makings of being a high-scoring one, which makes the line tough to judge." ∎ Arizona Republic : Lions 31, Bills 28 "We really wanted to pick the Bills in this game, but the Lions have won 11 games in a row and Buffalo is just 4-3 away from Highmark Stadium this season. Josh Allen will impress again, but the Lions will win in a thriller." Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Los Angeles Chargers ∎ BetMGM : Go with Tampa Bay "While recognizing it has come against an easy set of defenses, the Bucs' offense has radically improved with Mike Evans back in the lineup. ... Los Angeles’s defensive metrics have taken a dive as they’ve begun to face better offenses." ∎ Pro Football Network : Buccaneers 24, Chargers 21 "The game in SoFi Stadium will be one of those strength-on-strength and weakness-on-weakness matchups. The Buccaneers’ offense will have to try and crack a very good Chargers’ defense, while Tampa’s defense (which has struggled for most of the year) will get its biggest test since the bye." Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles ∎ ESPN : Take the points with Pittsburgh "The fact that the Eagles wide receivers were so critical of the passing game after Philadelphia's win over the Panthers caught my attention. On one hand, maybe it's just a realistic self-critique. On the other, maybe it's a sign of more trouble than their 11-2 record would suggest." ∎ Bookies.com : Steelers cover "Philly has the second-worst passing offense in the NFL (180.6 YPG). Russell Wilson and the Steelers have – surprise – the No. 10 scoring offense in the NFL at 24.8 PPG. This one might come down to an aerial show between Wilson and Hurts. The fewest mistakes win." Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks ∎ Arizona Republic : Packers 28, Seahawks 20 "The Seahawks have won four straight games to take the NFC West lead, but are just 3-4 at home. The Packers are 4-2 on the road and will be motivated after their close loss to the Lions." ∎ Pro Football Network : Packers 27, Seahawks 20 "The metrics give the edge to the Packers, who have a superior offense but trail behind the Seahawks in defense and special teams. Green Bay has faced the second-hardest schedule to date, though, while Seattle’s played the 13th-hardest. Those numbers reinforce why the Packers are narrow road favorites." Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings ∎ Bookies.com : Lay the points with Minnesota "Sam Darnold hasn’t gotten much love from oddsmakers in the chase for 'Comeback Player Of The Year.' But the Vikings don’t care. His newly discovered steady hand has led the Vikings to unexpected success ... Thomas Brown got no bounce Sunday as the Bears got walloped 38-13 by the 49ers in his interim coaching debut." ∎ Arizona Republic : Vikings 28, Bears 17 "Sorry, Chicago fans. We just can't pick a team that is 0-6 on the road, with seven straight losses overall, to beat a team that is 6-1 at home with a six-game winning streak." Atlanta Falcons at Las Vegas Raiders ∎ Pro Football Network : Falcons 24, Raiders 13 "Atlanta should win, and facing their former QB (Desmond Ridder) won’t hurt them, given that he didn’t play for them in this current scheme. If the Falcons don’t win this game and do so convincingly, they will virtually crown the Buccaneers as the NFC South winners if Tampa Bay wins in Los Angeles on Sunday." ∎ Arizona Republic : Falcons 27, Raiders 14 "The Falcons have lost four straight games to go from 6-3 to 6-7 on the season. But the Raiders? They have lost nine straight. If Kirk Cousins and company can't win this game, the Falcons really should consider switching to Michael Penix Jr. at QB." We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
OpenAI said Monday it’s releasing its buzzy AI video-generation tool, Sora, later in the day. The AI video-generation model works similarly to OpenAI’s image-generation AI tool, DALL-E: A user types out a desired scene, and Sora will return a high-definition video clip. Sora can also generate video clips inspired by still images and extend existing videos or fill in missing frames. The Microsoft -backed artificial intelligence startup, which burst into the mainstream last year thanks to the viral popularity of ChatGPT, introduced Sora in February. It’ll debut to U.S. users as well as to “most countries internationally” later today, according to OpenAI’s YouTube livestream, and the company has “no timeline” yet for launching the tool in Europe and the U.K., as well as some other countries. OpenAI said users don’t need to pay extra for the tool, which will be included in existing ChatGPT accounts such as Plus and Pro. Employees on the livestream and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman demonstrated features like “Blend” (i.e., joining two scenes together at the user’s direction), as well as the option to make an AI-generated video endlessly repeat. Until now, Sora has mainly been available to a small group of safety testers, or “red-teamers,” who test the model for vulnerabilities in areas such as misinformation and bias. Reddit users asked OpenAI executives in October about Sora’s release date, questioning whether it was being delayed “due to the amount of compute/time required for inference or due to safety.” In response, OpenAI’s product chief Kevin Weil wrote, “Need to perfect the model, need to get safety/impersonation/other things right, and need to scale compute!” “We obviously have a big target on our back as OpenAI,” Rohan Sahai, OpenAI’s Sora product lead, said on the livestream, adding that the company needs to prevent illegal use of the technology. “But we also want to balance that with creative expression.” OpenAI closed its latest funding round in October at a valuation of $157 billion, including the $6.6 billion the company raised from an extensive roster of investment firms and Big Tech companies. It also received a $4 billion revolving line of credit , bringing its total liquidity to more than $10 billion. It’s all part of a serious growth plan for OpenAI, as the Microsoft -backed artificial intelligence startup battles Amazon -backed Anthropic, Elon Musk’s xAI, Google , Meta , Microsoft and Amazon for the biggest slice of the generative AI market, which is predicted to top $1 trillion in revenue within a decade. Earlier this month, OpenAI hired its first chief marketing officer , indicating plans to spend more on marketing to grow its user base. And in October, OpenAI debuted a search feature within ChatGPT that positions it to better compete with search engines like Google , Microsoft ’s Bing and Perplexity and may attract more users who otherwise visited those sites to search the web. With Sora, the ChatGPT maker is looking to compete with video-generation AI tools from companies such as Meta and Google , which announced Lumiere in January . Similar AI tools are available from other startups, such as Stability AI’s Stable Video Diffusion. Amazon has also released Create with Alexa, a model that specializes in generating prompt-based short-form animated children’s content. Video could be the next frontier for generative AI now that chatbots and image generators have made their way into the consumer and business world. While the creative opportunities will excite some AI enthusiasts, the new technologies present serious misinformation concerns as major political elections occur across the globe. The number of AI-generated deepfakes created has increased 900% year over year, according to data from Clarity, a machine learning firm. OpenAI has made multimodality — the combining of text, image and video generation — a prominent goal in its effort to offer a broader suite of AI models. News of Sora’s release follows protestors’ decision to leak what appeared to be a copy of Sora over concerns about the ChatGPT maker’s treatment of artists. Some members of OpenAI’s early access program for Sora, which it said included about 300 artists, published an open letter in late November critiquing OpenAI for not being sufficiently open or supporting the arts beyond marketing. “Dear corporate AI overlords,” the protestors’ open letter stated, “We received access to Sora with the promise to be early testers, red teamers and creative partners. However, we believe instead we are being lured into ‘art washing’ to tell the world that Sora is a useful tool for artists.” The letter added that hundreds of artists provided unpaid labor for OpenAI through bug testing and feedback on Sora, and that “while hundreds contribute for free, a select few will be chosen through a competition to have their Sora-created films screened — offering minimal compensation which pales in comparison to the substantial PR and marketing value OpenAI receives.” “We are not against the use of AI technology as a tool for the arts (if we were, we probably wouldn’t have been invited to this program),” the open letter stated. “What we don’t agree with is how this artist program has been rolled out and how the tool is shaping up ahead of a possible public release. We are sharing this to the world in the hopes that OpenAI becomes more open, more artist friendly and supports the arts beyond PR stunts.” In late November, an OpenAI spokesperson responded to the protestors’ actions in a statement to CNBC. “Hundreds of artists in our alpha have shaped Sora’s development, helping prioritize new features and safeguards,” the OpenAI spokesperson said at the time. “Participation is voluntary, with no obligation to provide feedback or use the tool. We’ve been excited to offer these artists free access and will continue supporting them through grants, events, and other programs.”Rarely does a college basketball game provide such stark contrast between the sport's haves and have-nots as when Jackson State faces No. 9 Kentucky on Friday in Lexington, Ky. While Kentucky claims eight NCAA Tournament crowns and the most wins in college basketball history, Jackson State has never won an NCAA Tournament game and enters the matchup looking for its first win of the season. Impressive tradition and current record aside, Kentucky (4-0) returned no scholarship players from last season's team that was knocked off by Oakland in the NCAA Tournament. New coach Mark Pope and his essentially all-new Wildcats are off to a promising start. Through four games, Kentucky is averaging 94.3 points per game, and with 11.5 3-pointers made per game, the team is on pace to set a school record from long distance. The Wildcats boast six double-figure scorers with transfer guards Otega Oweh (from Oklahoma, 15.0 ppg) and Koby Brea (from Dayton, 14.5 ppg) leading the team. The Wildcats defeated Duke 77-72 on Nov. 12 but showed few signs of an emotional letdown in Tuesday's 97-68 win over a Lipscomb team picked to win the Atlantic Sun Conference in the preseason. Kentucky drained a dozen 3-pointers while outrebounding their visitors 43-28. Guard Jaxson Robinson, held to a single point by Duke, dropped 20 points to lead the Kentucky attack. Afterward, Pope praised his team's focus, saying, "The last game was over and it was kind of on to, ‘How do we get better?' That's the only thing we talk about." Lipscomb coach Lennie Acuff also delivered a ringing endorsement, calling Kentucky "the best offensive Power Four team we've played in my six years at Lipscomb." Jackson State (0-5) and third-year coach Mo Williams are looking for something positive to build upon. Not only are the Tigers winless, but they have lost each game by nine or more points. Sophomore guard Jayme Mitchell Jr. (13.8 ppg) is the leading scorer, but the team shoots just 35.8 percent while allowing opponents to shoot 52.3 percent. The Tigers played on Wednesday at Western Kentucky, where they lost 79-62. Reserve Tamarion Hoover had a breakout game with 18 points to lead Jackson State, but the host Hilltoppers canned 14 3-point shots and outrebounded the Tigers 42-35 to grab the win. Earlier, Williams, who played against Kentucky while a student at Alabama, admitted the difficulties of a challenging nonconference schedule for his team. "Our goal is not to win 13 nonconference games," Williams said. "We're already at a disadvantage in that regard. We use these games to get us ready for conference play and for March Madness." Jackson State has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2007. The Tigers had a perfect regular-season record (11-0) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2020-21 but lost in the league tournament. Kentucky has never played Jackson State before, but the game is being billed as part of a Unity Series of matchups in which Kentucky hosts members of the SWAC to raise awareness of Historical Black Colleges and Universities and provide funds for those schools. Past Unity Series opponents have been Southern in December 2021 and Florida A&M in December 2022. --Field Level MediaMONTREAL — Laurentian Bank of Canada reported fourth-quarter profits that were up from a year ago, while it reported a loss for 2024 as a whole. The Montreal-based bank said Friday its quarterly profits amounted to $40.7 million, up from $30.6 million a year ago. For the fiscal year, it reported a loss of $5.5 million, compared with a net income of $181 million the year before, as it took charges related to its turnaround efforts. Impairment charges for the year totalled $228.4 million, including a $155.9 million writedown on the value of its personal and commercial banking segment, and $72.5 million in restructuring charges. In the fourth quarter, the bank reported $7.8 million in severance charges and a $5.7 million writedown in the value of its software and licences, plus impairments on its office space and leases. The efforts are part of a turnaround that chief executive Éric Provost said in a statement was going well. "Six months after presenting our strategic plan, I am pleased with the progress we’ve made." Profits in the fourth quarter amounted to 88 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from a profit of 67 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year. Revenue for the quarter totalled $250.8 million, up from $247.4 million a year earlier. The bank's provision for credit losses for the quarter amounted to $10.4 million compared with $16.7 million a year ago. On an adjusted basis, Laurentian says it earned 89 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $1 per diluted share in the same quarter last year. The average analyst estimate had been for an adjusted profit of 87 cents per share, according to data provided by LSEG Data & Analytics. Scotiabank analyst Meny Grauman said the bank's low provisions for credit loss were impressive, especially given its commercial-heavy loan book as businesses face pressure. "It should highlight for investors the underlying quality of this bank’s commercial franchise at least from an underwriting perspective," he said in a note. Laurentian shares were up nine per cent in early trading Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange while they were up around 4.6 per cent by late afternoon. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:LB) The Canadian PressExpanded CFP field draws more bets and on more teams