AP Top 25 College Basketball Rankings 2015 Poll Standings
AP 9:23 a.m. EST November 2, 2015
(Photo: The Associated Press)
One of the most bizarre finishes in sports history and a startlingly perplexing coach"s decision.
Aside from those things not much happened in college football this week, proving yet again that even dullest Saturdays can be eventful.
Miami"s miracle (or fiasco) and Minnesota"s mishap did not have much effect on the AP Top 25 as half of the top 10 was off.
Before the College Football Playoff selection committee weighs in for the first time this season, Heat check breezes through a mostly unchanged AP Top 25.
No. 1 Ohio State (8-0)
The Buckeyes third-string quarterback is redshirt freshman Stephen Collier from Georgia, just in case you were wondering. He has yet to throw a pass.
Next: Minnesota.
Heat check: Too hot.
No. 2 Baylor (7-0)
Freshman QB Jarrett Stidham makes his first start for the Bears.
Next: at Kansas State, Thursday.
Heat check: Too hot.
No. 3 Clemson (8-0)
The Tigers" defense had a bad day against North Carolina State and Clemson still won going away. Good sign.
Next: No. 17 Florida State.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 4 LSU (7-0)
The Tigers have toughest November in the SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Arkansas.
Next: at No. 7 Alabama.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 5 TCU (8-0)
QB Trevone Boykin is gaining on LSU TB Leonard Fournette in the Heisman Trophy race.
Next: at No. 12 Oklahoma State.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 6 Michigan State (8-0)
Speaking of the Heisman race: Michigan State starting to push QB Connor Cook for the award.
Next: at Nebraska.
Heat check: Too hot.
No. 7 Alabama (7-1)
Since Nick Saban took over in Tuscaloosa, no rivalry in the SEC has been more consistently competitive and nationally relevant than Alabama-LSU.
Next: No. 4 LSU.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 8 Notre Dame (7-1)
No, the Fighting Irish did not play their best against Temple. Yes, beating the Owls was a good win.
Next: at Pittsburgh.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 9 Stanford (7-1)
The Cardinal got lucky against Washington State. It happens.
Next: at Colorado.
Heat check: Just right.
No. 10 Iowa (8-0)
For all the grief the Hawkeyes get about their soft schedule, consider: Iowa"s opponents" record is 36-29. Alabama"s opponents" record is 37-29.
Next: at Indiana.
Heat check: Still, too hot.
No. 11 Florida (7-1)
Gators beat Georgia about as badly as Alabama beat Georgia and Florida beat Ole Miss, which beat Alabama. So, yes, Gators fans, feel free to complain.
Next: Vanderbilt.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 12 Oklahoma State (8-0)
Heat check is just about ready to start buying in on the Cowboys, but might as well wait a few more days to see how they do against the Frogs.
Next: No. 5 TCU
Heat check: Too hot.
No. 13 Utah (7-1)
We"re not arguing about the Utes anymore, but they are still in great shape to get to the Pac-12 title game.
Next: at Washington.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 14 Oklahoma (7-1)
Having your fate in any way tied to the fortunes of Texas is just not a great place to be. The Sooners are there now.
Next: Iowa State.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 15 Memphis (8-0)
The American Athletic Conference schedule upticks now for the Tigers.
Next: Navy.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 16 Michigan (6-2)
The Wolverines got a little lucky, too. But maybe that was Karma trying to balance out the Michigan State loss.
Next: Rutgers.
Heat check: Just right.
No. 17 Florida State (7-1)
Seminoles rested banged-up stars (TB Dalvin Cook and QB Everett Golson) and still rolled Syracuse. Now they should be ready for Clemson.
Next: at No. 3 Clemson.
Heat check: Just right.
No. 18 Houston (8-0)
The Cougars still have not beaten a team with a winning record.
Next: Cincinnati.
Heat check: Too hot.
No. 19 Mississippi (6-2)
QB Chad Kelly plays like a more physically gifted Bo Wallace. Greater upside, but still prone to big mistakes.
Next: Arkansas.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 20 Toledo (7-0)
The Rockets face their MAC nemesis, Northern Illinois, trying to break a five-game losing streak to the Huskies.
Next: Northern Illinois, Tuesday.
Heat check: Just right.
No. 21 North Carolina (7-1)
Welcome to the rankings, Tar Heels. You earned it.
Next: Duke.
Heat check: Just right.
No. 22 UCLA (6-2)
For all the injuries and inconsistency, the Bruins still control their road to the Pac-12 South crown.
Next: at Oregon State.
Heat check: UCLA has Heat Check stumped.
No. 23 Temple (7-1)
If you liked the Owls before Notre Dame, there is no reason to like them less after.
Next: at SMU, Friday.
Heat check: Too cold.
No. 24 Mississippi State (6-2)
The Bulldogs can still be a spoiler in the SEC West with game against Alabama and Ole Miss left.
Next: at Missouri.
Heat check: Too hot.
No. 25 Texas A&M (6-2)
It was a while ago, but the Aggies did beat Mississippi State.
Next: Auburn.
Heat check: Too cold.
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AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAp
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
FanDuel Insider 11/1: Steelers RB Le"Veon Bell leaves game with knee injury
Pittsburgh Steelers running back LeVeon Bell is out for the rest of theseason with a badly torn MCL.
The loss thing that Pittsburgh Steelers fans wanted to hear was that an offensive weapon was out for the season just when Big Ben was returning to action. The absolute last thing fans or the team wanted to hear was for said player to be running back LeVeon Bell.
Thats the case though, as Bell left Sundays loss to the Bengals with what is now being called a badly torn MCL. Its an injury that according to Ian Rapoport from NFL Network, might probably end up costing Bell the rest of his season.
Theres no definitive word on whether hes out for the season or not, but the Steelers arent making things sound optimistic when they describe the injury as badly torn when telling anyone about it. He might come back near the end of the year, but hes out for the foreseeable future which is something that drastically changes things for the Steelers as they try to stay afloat in the AFC Wild Card picture.
One of Blues clues should probably be used to find Steve Burns dead body. Nevermind, hes alive and has spoken about the rumor to the contrary. Likewise, he recalled his experience of learning about his own death.
A viral report states that Steve Burns was pronounced dead on October 31, 2015, approximately around 7 p.m. According to MSMBC (Not MSNBC), he was involved in a one-car accident which left him overturned on Route 422, in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Supposedly, Steve Burns sustained severe head trauma during the wreck. Once authorities arrived at the scene, they tried as best as possible to save him. However, it was said that he died when he arrived to the Reading Hospital and Medical Center.
The report also mentions that Nickelodeon spokesperson James Vanderbilt sent his condolences.
This is obviously a tragedy. Were shocked and saddened by this news. Steve was a positive role model to millions of children who invited him into their homes everyday. His passing is a great loss to countless fans and to all of us here.
Moreover, as for the accident, he was driving a Dodge Challenger, according to the source.
Well, things arent as they seem. Steve read the article, himself. After doing so, he mentioned that the part about the Charger was the worst part of his death rumor.
I think the worst part about the latest rumor of my demise is that in it I was driving a Dodge Charger. Still arguably #alive, folks. Sorry.
Steve Burns (@SteveBurnsAlive) November 1, 2015
According to Steve Burns, himself via his Twitter profile, Mr. Blues Clues stated that the article, as well as his death situation, is arguable. He tweeted that hes still alive and well. However, the information in the initial article was slightly inaccurate. Only slightly (sarcasm).
This seems to have happened to him before as well. Epoch Times reports that he came under similar allegations years ago, rumors yelled that Steve had died due to a heroin overdose. Even then, he went through similar speculation. People were tweeting and posting, R.I.P. Steve, just like this time.
Ironically, on October 22, 2015, Steve updated his Twitter, tackling an unrelated-but-relevant issue which would seem to show itself only days later.
Beware those who replace complicated questions with comforting answers and claim to have learned something.
Steve Burns (@SteveBurnsAlive) October 22, 2015
Ideally in this situation, the complicated questions could be understood as the concerns over his death rumors, and the comforting answers could be understood as people believing the report, as it is. As well, the learned something could be understood as people spreading the rumor further.
People dont generally share material that goes against their own thoughts. If people think something is funny, they share it. If they think something is horrible, they share it to get opinions from others who would think the same thing and relate, right?
Well, people relate with growing up in the Blues Clues era. During those times, Steve Burns was a part of nearly every household during childhood mornings. When Steve left, it felt like someone moved out. However, when Joe came on the scene, it just wasnt the same. You almost wanted to hold your childs hand in front of this new stranger. In the back of your head, while watching Blue struggle with the new owner, you wondered, Where the heck is Steve?? Come back!
Parts of #Pennsylvania are not #Walmart parts. pic.twitter.com/vLLAs8JfYO
Steve Burns (@SteveBurnsAlive) June 23, 2015
Did you not feel the same? Once Nickelodeon switched out Face and brought on Steve, it was quite the transition. But families learned to appreciate him. Well, at least hes alive and well. This rumor was debunked by Burns, himself.
Also, according to Epoch Times, MSMBC is a satirical news website. And given the viral story, their claim is understandable.
What are your thoughts? Feel free to share them in the comments section.
NEW YORK (AP) James Blake had success at another iconic New York sporting event.
The retired tennis star finished the New York City Marathon in 3 hours, 51 minutes on Sunday.
""It"s a little different, but both are amazing,"" Blake said of playing in the U.S. Open and running the marathon. ""Here they are cheering for so many people. The Open they are cheering for just you.""
He was greeted by his family at the finish line as well as two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who had promised on Twitter to bring Blake a milkshake when he finished.
The 35-year-old, who was known on the court for his quick, high-intensity style, said earlier in the week that endurance running was something new for him.
""I had fun, but will leave this for the professionals,"" he said. ""I was nervous at the start and halfway through didn"t think I"d make it under four hours.""
Blake was running for his foundation, which raises money for early detection cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
He was in the news in September when he was standing in front of a Manhattan hotel and a New York Police Department officer grabbed his arm and tackled him to the ground in an arrest caught on surveillance video. Police said Blake, who was ranked as high as No. 4 in the world before retiring after the 2013 U.S. Open, had been mistakenly identified as a suspect in a cellphone fraud scheme. The mayor and police commissioner have apologized to Blake, and the city"s police watchdog agency has substantiated the excessive-force complaint Blake filed.
A Typical Day on Weight Watchers! - Lost 146 Pounds and Counting!
Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) has suffered years of scrutiny amid reports of poor quality meat and questionable supplier practices in China. In light of these reports, some investors have been hesitant to risk ruffling their feathers and prefer to stick in their comfort zone. But a recent move might turn those investors bullish once again.
Meanwhile, Weight Watchers International (NYSE:WTW) has made history with its recent announcement regarding a high profile partnership that could get their numbers up and push them out of a slump.
A full transcript follows the video.
The next billion-dollar iSecret The world"s biggest tech company forgot to show you something at its recent event, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn"t miss a beat: There"s a small company that"s powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
Dylan Lewis: Investors say "Yum!" to Weight Watchers on this episode of Industry Focus.
Greetings, Fools! Today is Oct. 20, 2015. I"m your host, Dylan Lewis, and I"m joined in the studio today by Motley Fool consumer goods analyst, Vincent Shen. Vincent, how you doing today?
Vincent Shen: How are you, Dylan?
Lewis: Doing all right. Perhaps not as good as some of the stocks we"re going to be talking about today. A lot of big moves in the market. Why don"t we start out talking about Yum! Brands and some news about the stock?
Shen: A major announcement just came out before the market opened, that the company will be spinning off its business in China. The initial response has been very positive, like you mentioned. It"s up over 4%, last I checked.
Lewis: For listeners that aren"t as familiar with Yum!, what"s driving management to make such a big decision?
Shen: Ultimately, this all centers around its China division, which makes up about half of revenue and operating profits. The issue there is that China"s previous major growth vehicle has seen revenue stagnate over the past two years, or so. To illustrate that, for the full year 2012, China division saw revenue of about $6.9 billion. Two years later, for full year 2014, it was just over $6.9 billion.
The problem is, there"s a huge shift from previously when, in 2011 to 2012, you"d see anywhere from 25% to 35% annual growth.
Lewis: Okay, so there"s a big drop off there.
Shen: Big drop off.
Lewis: What"s the reason for that shift?
Shen: For investors who don"t follow Yum! as regularly, it"s just been plagued by terrible publicity as a result of some food quality scandals.
Lewis: I remember a couple months back when they had some issues with meat sourcing.
Shen: Yes. They get hit back to back, really. That"s just resulted in this longer slide. In 2012, CCTV reported at the end of 2012 that local a KFC supplier was treating chickens with excess antibiotics after they did some testing in the previous two years. Management forecasted a 25% same-store sales decline as a result from that negative publicity. It actually came down just around 20%, but the pain continued.
Restaurant margin declined 7% points, operating profit fell a very significant 41%. The next quarter was more of the same. Same-store sales were down 20%, margin down 5% points, operating profit plummeted 63%. At that point it"s possible -- they hit it with a lot of marketing to try and get customers back in their stores, but right after that happened there was an avian flu situation, too. So they were hurt by that as well.
It"s this ongoing pain that management was feeling in their China division. When things started to pick back up over the next year or so, they got hit again recently -- last summer -- when there were reports that came out that one of their suppliers, this time at an American owned factory, was basically continuing to use tainted and expired chicken.
As you can imagine, this actually hit McDonald"sand Starbucksas well, but same-store sales fell 14%, margin declined 4.6% points, operating profit down 30%. For full year 2015, the most recent quarter, management indicated that same store sales were going to come in slightly negative.
After years of suffering through this really poor recovery, and being hit by these scandals, investors are very unhappy and management has been going through this long, strategic review trying to determine what they can do to revitalize that business.
Lewis: Basically, it was issue after issue after issue, and they weren"t able to rally long enough to reinstill that consumer confidence.
Shen: Yeah. They were probably picking up some momentum and looking like they would at least return somewhat to their previous growth and their success there, but they got hit by this other scandal.
Lewis: I"ve seen this name in some of the articles I"ve been reading about the issues: Keith Meister. Can you talk a little bit about his role in all this?
Shen: He"s a big player here because he"s an activist investor from Corvex Management. They"re one of Yum! Brands biggest shareholders. I think they have a 5% stake. They made an announcement last week that he had been appointed to the board of directors. He"s been very public with his view that Yum! Brands should be spinning off its China business entirely.
He presented that in a speech that he made in May of this year. The stock has traded down about a quarter since then as a result of its recent earnings reports, but it"s kind of interesting to see, since that slide he got appointed to the board and then not even a week later they"re making this announcement and this stock is seeing a big boost as a result.
Lewis: Yeah. This is the nudging of an activist investor.
Shen: Oh, I think it"s a huge part of that.
Lewis: Okay. What are these two new companies going to look like? What can investors expect?
Shen: Yum! China operates about 6,900 total restaurants, and that"s just KFC and Pizza Hut. Taco Bell has no presence in China yet. They"re working on it. Under the current structure those are primarily company owned. What"s going to happen is, Yum! Brands overall is targeting over 95% franchise model for their whole network of restaurants. Then Yum! China will just become an overall franchisee and it will be Yum! Brands" largest one by far.
Yum! Brands overall has 41 thousand restaurants worldwide. They"ve been opening about 2000 more annually. That"s a pretty impressive rate of growth in terms of their number of restaurants, at least.
Lewis: When should we be looking for this deal to close out?
Shen: Deals should be completed by the end of 2016 and CEO, Greg Creed, described the deal in a way that"s not all that surprising. He said "Following the separation, each stand-alone company will be able to intensify focus on its distinct commercial priorities, allocate its own resources to meet the needs of its business, and pursue distinct capital structures and capital allocation strategies. This will provide a clear investment thesis and visibility to attract a long term investor base suited to each business."
Not surprisingly, this will give investors their choice to invest in the Yum! Brands model, which is high margin, very stable due to the franchisee model where they"re just getting that licensing revenue, and then more of the growth model through Yum! China, assuming they"re able to get things back on track.
Otherwise, Creed is going to continue running Yum! Brands and Micky Pant who took the senior role for China late last year is going to keep running that business.
Lewis: Great. We"re going to be talking about Weight Watchers in a minute, but before we do, I just wanted to remind our listeners that we have a special offer for The Motley Fool"s Stock Advisor newsletter, for all of our IF listeners. As a loyal Industry Focus listener you have access to a special discount on Stock Advisor that works out to $129 for a full two year subscription. Just go to Focus.Fool.com to take advantage of this offer. Again, that"s Focus.Fool.com.
You get a Weight Watchers membership, and you get a Weight Watchers membership, and you get a Weight Watchers membership. What is going on with Weight Watchers this week?
Shen: We talked about Yum! Brands jumping 4% on the news that they"d be spinning off the China business, whereas Weight Watchers has jumped well over 100% in a day and a half of trading.
Lewis: That"s insane! I don"t know if I"ve ever seen anything like it.
Shen: It all has to do with one pretty powerful celebrity, as you can see: Oprah Winfrey. Before the market opened yesterday, she announced that she would be taking a 10% stake in Weight Watchers. Basically, purchasing about 6.4 million shares for $43 million. This is part of a partnership that she"s forming with the company lasting five years where they get to use her for their marketing and in all of their promotional materials.
They describe her role as three parts: she"ll be a member herself. She"s talked about how Weight Watchers has helped her maintain her lifestyle. She"s also a board member and advisor, and lastly, as part owner as she takes on that stake.
Lewis: Very interesting stuff. This jump is positive, no doubt. It"s great to have someone that can be the face of the company, especially someone who"s using the product as a spokesperson. A lot of the rally that we"re seeing is gaining back the huge losses that have been experienced earlier in the year. Can you talk a bit about what"s been charging that?
Shen: Sure. You definitely got that right. The stock"s down 70% year-to-date and the slide hasn"t just been a recent thing. The shares peaked in May 2011 at $85, they"ve fallen over 95% since then, and this really has a lot to do with the rising popularity of mobile devices like smart phones and wearables, surprisingly enough.
The idea being that now you have all this new, technology driven resources for weight loss, for general wellness, tracking your diet, tracking your exercise, and that"s attracting a lot of people. So, Weight Watchers has struggled on the technological front to hold onto their memberships and their revenues have suffered as a result.
Full year 2014 revenue has fallen 20% from its 2011 levels and the company has just seen several years of consistently declining sales overall. Before this announcement was made and the stock traded up astoundingly so, 105% yesterday, I think it"s up another 30% today. The stock itself was valued about 10x its expected 2015 earnings.
The thing is, for the next five years or so, analysts were forecasting earnings to decline anywhere from 15% to 20% annually for that period. You definitely have a very down beaten stock where management has instituted things like cost cuts, changing up its management team itself, it"s had a hard time competing with this onslaught of new technology, and new options that people have when it comes to weight loss.
Lewis: One the one hand there"s tons of competition from mobile tech and wearable integrated products. Things like Jawbone, Fitbit, and things like that. No doubt it"s eating into market share, but weight loss isn"t exactly something that will be going away. It"s a major trend, I think people are becoming more health conscious and there"s definitely a place for a player like this.
How impactful do you think Oprah might be with her involvement in the company? Is this something that is irrational over exuberance by the market? Is there any justification for this stock raising as much as it has?
Shen: The market is obviously really enthusiastic about this. Incredibly so. Like you mentioned, I haven"t really seen a stock go on a bull run like this just from a singular endorsement from a celebrity before. I think the power here is that Oprah has a very strong track record where she"s proven her ability to make certain products, books, or even people extremely successful.
There are multiple people who were part of her show when it was still running, who now have their own shows. The books she recommends immediately shoot up to the top of the best seller list. Products she recommends sell out. I think one of her products, the owner didn"t see any success until Oprah mentioned it, and I think it turned her into a billionaire herself.
Lewis: Yeah, it just takes off like that.
Shen: Exactly.
Lewis: It"s really astounding how successful books become once they"re on her "Book of the Month" club.
Shen: In this case, I don"t think that Oprah is going to be able to solve all the company"s woes, and it"s not going to completely shift the competitive environment as it stands now; but where the company can benefit is first, a huge wave of increased interest, just from the stock run. Also, just from the positive publicity it"s getting.
Oprah and a lot of her fans hit the demographic that Weight Watchers wants. How far Weight Watchers can leverage, how far the company can leverage this partnership and this recent success -- at least with its stock price -- is really up to them. I know they"re going to at least expand into much more of an overall wellness company, rather than just focusing on weight loss as they already have begun to do.
This might be the kick they need as they have access to her huge fan base.
Lewis: It"s almost like a platform play for them, really. They"re getting access to this established person with this devout following, and this ready-made market that people are ready to follow pretty much anything she recommends.
Shen: It hasn"t taken long. If you go to their website now she"s already on there with a pretty catchy slogan. It basically says "I"m ready. Are you ready to join me?" I"m very curious to see if the enthusiasm that investors have had for Weight Watchers shares in this past day and a half will actually amount to real bottom line and topline growth.
Lewis: It will be fun to watch. Thank you for your time, Vincent.
Shen: Thanks, Dylan.
Lewis: Always a pleasure. If you"re a loyal listener and have questions or comments we would love to hear from you. Just email us at IndustryFocus@Fool.com. Again, that"s IndustryFocus@Fool.com. As always, people on this program may have interests in the stocks that they talk about, and the Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against those stocks. So, don"t buy or sell anything based solely on what you hear on this show. Thanks for listening, and Fool on!
9/11/15: Orioles score 10 in the 8th to sink Royals Your access to this site has been limited
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Batman Arkham City: New behind the scenes feat Mark Hamill as the Joker
One of the greatest casting gets for The CW series The Flash last year was landing Mark Hamill as the role of James Jesse, The Trickster, the same role he played in the original Flash TV show.
It isnt the only big role that Hamill has returned to in the past year last night especially, Star Wars has been big on the minds of the general public with the release of a new trailer and very recently, Hamill reprised his Trickster role once again for an episode of The Flash Season Two that has recently been filming.
So what was it like for Grant Gustin, star of The Flash and self-professed Star Wars fan, to be reunited with the once and future Luke Skywalker?
Actually, I have, like, four Star Wars t-shirts in my t-shirt collection, Gustin admitted to us on the set of The Flash last night, during our press tour that will soon involve more interviews from the set. I wear them all the time, and I happened to have one on when he was working, but I didnt know he was working, because we werent working together that day. he gets out of his car, and this time I didnt have to introduce myself and I said Yo! Mark! and I have, like, a Dark Side shirt, and he was like why are you wearing a Dark Side t-shirt? Grant recalled.
Its fun. You know, its Mark Hamill! Its really cool to have him on the show.
The Flash has a new episode airing tonight on The CW, and Mark Hamill returns in an episode airing later in 2015. See photos from tonights episode HERE!
