Ohio State is 5 in second-to-last CFP rankings
Ohio State was No. 5 Tuesday night in the second-to-last College Football Playoff rankings, positioned to possibly take advantage if one of the top four slips up on championship weekend.
Georgia (12-0) was No. 1 again. No. 2 Michigan (120) and No. 3 TCU (12-0) both moved up a spot and Southern California (11-1) climbed two spots into the fourth slot.
The Buckeyes (11-1) dropped three spots after losing 45-23 to the rival Wolverines on Saturday at home.
Alabama (10-2) moved up a spot to No. 6 and was followed by Southeastern Conference rival Tennessee, which beat the Crimson Tide in October.
All play in their conference championships game this weekend. The undefeated teams might not need to win this weekend to lock up a spot.
Georgia plays LSU (93) in the SEC title game. Michigan plays Purdue (84) for the Big Ten championship. TCU faces Kansas State, which is 10th in the latest rankings and has already lost to the surprising Horned Frogs.
USC and Heisman Trophy frontrunner Caleb Williams face Utah, No. 11 in the rankings, on Friday night in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 championship.
WILLIAMS, STROUD, HOOKER FINALISTS FOR MAXWELL AS TOP PLAYER >>
Quarterbacks Caleb Williams of Southern California, C.J. Stroud of Ohio State and Hendon Hooker of Tennessee have been named finalists for the Maxwell Award as the player of the year in college football.
The Maxwell finalists were announced along with finalists for most of
the other awards that will be presented Dec. 8 on ESPN.
Williams is throwing for more than 300 yards per game and has 34 TD passes against just three interceptions.
Stroud has thrown for a nation-leading 37 touchdowns and has the highest passer rating.
Hooker was leader of the nation's No. 1 offense before an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee ended his season Nov. 19.
Soccer
WORLD CUP ROUNDUP
>> Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden both scored to put England into the last 16 of the World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Wales.
England coach Gareth Southgate opted to add both players in the starting lineup for the team's final Group B match and they responded with all three goals — two from Rashford and the other from Foden.
England will next face Senegal in the round of 16. Wales finished in last place in the group and has been eliminated.
• The Netherlands finished off the worst showing by any World Cup host nation by beating Qatar 2-0.
The Dutch advanced to the next round by winning Group A while the Qataris, who were already eliminated, became the first host to lose all three of its group matches at soccer's biggest event.
Cody Gakpo put the
Netherlands ahead midway through the first half with his third goal in as many matches and Frenkie de Jong doubled the advantage five minutes into the second half.
• Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly put his team into the last 16 by volleying home the winner in a 2-1 victory over Ecuador.
Koulibaly scored three minutes after Moises Caicedo had evened the score at 1-1.
In a must-win match for the African champions, Senegal took the lead after a first-half penalty by Ismaila Sarr.
Caicedo scored his goal in the 67th.
MLB
FREE AGENT ABREU SIGNS $58.5M. 3-YEAR DEAL WITH ASTROS >>
José Abreu and the World Series champion Astros agreed to a $58.5 million, three-year contract Monday, adding another powerful bat to Houston's lineup.
Abreu, the 2020 AL MVP, gets $19.5 million in each of the next three seasons.
He spent his first nine major league seasons with the Chicago White Sox. The first baseman became a free agent after batting .304 with 15 home runs, 75 RBIs and an .824 OPS this year.
With the Astros, he replaces Yuli Gurriel at first base in a batting order that also features All-Star sluggers Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and
Kyle Tucker.
NFL
RODGERS SAYS HE PLANS TO PLAY SUNDAY >> Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he expects to play Sunday at Chicago after a rib injury knocked him out of a 40-33 loss at Philadelphia.
“I got good news with the scans yesterday, so I plan on playing this week,” Rodgers said Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show” on YouTube and SiriusXM.
Rodgers left in the second half against the Eagles because of the rib injury. He already has been playing with a broken right thumb, an injury he sustained on the final play of a 27-22 loss to the New York Giants on Oct. 9.
High schools
$10M SETTLEMENT ANNOUNCED IN HEAT DEATH OF GEORGIA STUDENT >> The parents of a Georgia high school basketball player who collapsed while practicing outdoors in sweltering heat and later died announced that they have agreed to a $10 million settlement with the school district.
As part of the settlement, the Clayton County school system agreed to rename the gymnasium at Elite Scholars Academy for Imani Bell, who was a 16-year-old junior at the school when she died.
Imani collapsed on Aug. 13, 2019, after running up the football stadium steps during required conditioning drills for the girls' basketball team, her family said in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against administrators at the school. The temperature was in the high 90s Fahrenheit (more than 35 degrees Celsius) at the time and the area was under a heat advisory.