just 37 seconds in the first-round finale over Toronto. "Whe

Alabama is the undisputed top dog, but the Big Ten is the Big Show in the third College Football Playoff rankings, which followed a stunning weekend of losing among highly ranked teams.Ohio State climbed from No. 5 to No. 2, while Michigan stayed put at No. 3 after losing to unranked Iowa. Of course, those two play on Nov. 26, with the stakes being both huge and curious.?Along with No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Penn State, the Big Ten leads all conferences with four teams in the top eight. It also leads all conferences with intrigue.If Ohio State beats Michigan State and Michigan, and Penn State also wins out, the Nittany Lions capture the Big Ten East crown by virtue of handing the Buckeyes their only loss, and they would play for the Big Ten title, most likely against Wisconsin. That either sets the stage for two Big Ten teams in the playoff, or the committee leaving out Ohio State because it didnt win its conference title. Or the committee could dump Penn State, which lost by 39 at Michigan, or Wisconsin, and go with the Buckeyes.Yeah, its complicated. But what could anyone expect after three of the top four and six of the top 14 teams lost in a single weekend?There obviously are a lot of critical games ahead, and the only seemingly safe team is No. 1 Alabama, the only remaining unbeaten Power 5 squad, which has almost certainly earned a mulligan after dominating a tough schedule.Two weekends remain in the regular season, including many rivalry showdowns, and then conference championship games. No. 9 Oklahoma plays two ranked teams -- No. 14 West Virginia and No. 11 Oklahoma State -- to conclude its season,?while No. 6 Washington can reverse its downward course against Arizona State, No. 22 Washington State and against a highly ranked team in the Pac-12 title game (No. 13 USC, No. 10 Colorado or No. 12 Utah).More good news for Washington, which owns the weakest schedule among the contenders: Stanford re-entered the rankings at No. 24, meaning the Huskies now have two wins over ranked teams.Ohio State is back at No. 2 due to a strong overall résumé, with three top-20 wins (Wisconsin, Oklahoma and No. 18 Nebraska). The Buckeyes could add Michigan to that list, but they also could end up sitting out the Big Ten title game.While No. 4 Clemson is no longer unbeaten, it also has quality wins over No. 15 Auburn, No. 5 Louisville and No. 17 Florida State.Louisville owns a five-game winning streak, and its lone loss was a nail-biter at Clemson. On the other hand, its only quality win came against three-loss Florida State. The Cardinals play unranked Houston on Thursday and conclude their regular season against Kentucky.Wisconsins only losses came in consecutive games with Michigan and Ohio State, while it owns quality wins over No. 16 LSU and Nebraska. The Badgers are at Purdue this weekend and conclude their season at home against Minnesota.In other words, there are a lot of present and future data points that the committee will be considering over the final three weekends. In fact, myriad seemingly off-the-radar games could play roles in how things play out, such as Florida State-Florida and Nebraska-Iowa.Or what about more upsets? Is South Carolina a potentially tricky matchup for Clemson? Or might Michigan State catch the Buckeyes looking ahead?Theres a lot of football left, and last weekend taught us that believing that clarity might be on hand was a foolish conclusion. 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BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins have three rookie defencemen in the lineup for the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Rangers. Its not because they want to. Its because they have to. "As you know, were getting thin here," Bruins coach Claude Julien said on Friday, a day after Torey Krug, in his first career NHL playoff game, scored to send the game into overtime and Boston defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 in Game 1 of their best-of-seven, second-round playoff series. With veterans Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference and Wade Redden injured, the Bruins used first-round draft pick Dougie Hamilton along with Krug and Mart Bartkowski on defence. Hamilton assisted on Krugs goal with 2:55 left in regulation, and Bartkowski played a career-high 26 minutes in the 3-2 victory over the Rangers. "For a coach, you couldnt ask for a better situation," Julien said on Friday, when his team took the day off to rest up for Sundays Game 2. "A lot of credit goes to the coaching staff down there (in the minor leagues) thats done a great job at preparing those guys." Julien would not say whether any of his injured players would be able to return for the second game. If not, hell continue to rely on his rookies. Hamilton, who made the team out of training camp and played 42 games in the lockout-shortened season, said it helps to know that he wont be yanked out of the lineup with one bad shift. Even if its only because the Bruins have no choice. "For all of us, its not just trying to belong, but getting that opportunity to get regular shifts. It helps you stay focused," he said. "It makes it easier when you have that confidence that you can just stay in the game and focus on the game." Hamilton, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2011 draft, had five goals and 11 assists this season while averaging about 17 minutes per game. But he moved up the depth chaart when injuries stripped the Bruins of three of their top six defencemen.dddddddddddd "Weve got to remember that hes 19 years old," Julien said. "Hes made some unbelievable plays on some goals; we saw that early when he came in and we seemed in awe of that. Playoffs is another step and hes taken that step extremely well, to me." To help fill in, the Bruins called Bartkowski up from the AHL for the third time this year; he had two assists and six penalty minutes in 11 games for Boston this year. And Krug, whos played three NHL games in the past two seasons, was brought up from Providence on Tuesday after Seidenberg lasted just 37 seconds in the first-round finale over Toronto. "What weve seen from (Krug) the few games hes played with us, he doesnt seem to be intimidated by anything, or any circumstances," Julien said. "I didnt see a guy that was nervous at all. If anything, I saw a guy that was extremely confident at making the executions that he needed to make." The other change the Bruins made on defence was to rely even more heavily on Zdeno Chara. The 2009 Norris Trophy-winner, who averaged about 25 minutes per game in the regular season, has played about 30 minutes per game in the playoffs, including 35 minutes in Game 7 against the Maple Leafs and more than 38 in the opener of the Rangers series. "Hes in great shape, and hes got a couple of days here to recover. So I dont see that being an issue," Julien said. "To be honest with you, right now we dont have a choice. You deal with it the best way you can." And so do the Rangers. "With all the minutes he has, the more tired hes going to get," New York defenceman Steve Eminger said. "At the end of the day, it doesnt matter if they have six veterans (on defence). We just have to put even more pressure on them and generate more offensively." ' ' '