After winning an NBA-record 73 games during the regular season, the Golden State Warriors?battled back from a 3-1 deficit to overcome Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference finals.?Now with Durant on their side, is a third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals a foregone conclusion for the Warriors? Or could teams like the San Antonio Spurs or LA Clippers give Golden State a run for its money?We asked our ESPN Forecast panel to predict which team will emerge as Western Conference champions in 2016-17. Then we totaled up the ballots, with a first-place vote receiving five points, a second-place vote receiving three and a third-place vote receiving one. (Heres how ESPN Forecast works.)To participate in the discussion, #ESPNForecast is the Twitter hashtag to use.?So who will be best in the West? Read on.Western Conference champ projections1. Golden State Warriors Projected record: 67-15 First-place votes: 47 Points: 2352. San Antonio Spurs Proj. record: 57-25 First-place votes: 0 Points: 1083. LA Clippers Proj. record: 52-30 First-place votes: 0 Points: 634. Utah Jazz Proj. record: 45-37 First-place votes: 0 Points: 95. Portland Trail Blazers Proj. record: 46-36 First-place votes: 0 Points: 5T-6. Oklahoma City Thunder Proj. record: 44-38 First-place votes: 0 Points: 1T-6. Memphis Grizzlies Proj. record: 43-39 First-place votes: 0 Points: 1T-6. Dallas Mavericks Proj. record: 40-42 First-place votes: 0 Points: 1Nelson Cruz Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Al Cowens Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. https://www.cheapmariners.com/ . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Matt Magill Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Kyle Lewis Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals.STILLWATER, Okla. -- A mistake by the officials that extended the game when it should have been over allowed Central Michigan to score the winning touchdown on a desperation pass and lateral for an astonishing 30-27 upset of No. 22 Oklahoma State on Saturday.Oklahoma State tried to kill the final 4 seconds by throwing the ball away on fourth down, but the Cowboys were penalized for intentional grounding, which is a loss of down penalty. Rules state that the game cannot end on an accepted live-ball penalty, referee Tim ODey of the Mid-American Conference, CMUs league, said.Theres an exception to the rule that says if enforcement of the foul involves a loss of down, then that brings the game to an end, ODey told a pool reporter after the game.ODey said after conferring with NCAA rules committee secretary Rogers Redding after the game, the crew determined the extension should not have happened.But the final result stood. Article 3b of the NCAA rulebook states: When the referee declares that the game is ended, the score is final.Corey Willis scored the winning touchdown after grabbing a lateral from Jesse Kroll at the 12. Cooper Rush lofted the pass that hit Kroll just inside the 10. As Kroll was being taken down, he pitched it back to Willis, who cut across the field and barely managed to score while being dragged down.Oklahoma State (1-1) thought it had won when Mason Rudolph threw the ball away on fourth down as the clock expired, but after the officials conferred, they assessed an intentional grounding penalty and gave Central Michigan (2-0) another play.ARKANSAS 41, NO. 15 TCU 38, 2OTFORT WORTH, Texas -- Austin Allen ran 5 yards for the winning score in the second overtime, and Arkansas pulled out a wild victory over TCU.Allen led the Razorbacks (2-0) to the tying score in the final 2 minutes of regulation, throwing a touchdown pass to Keon Hatcher and then catching the tying 2-point conversion from Hatcher with 1:03 left.The Horned Frogs (1-1) rallied from 13 down in the fourth quarter to take a 28-20 lead, but couldnt hang on as their 14-game home winning streak ended in the first meeting of these former Southwest Conference rivals since 1991. That was the year before Arkansas started play in the SEC.Allen threw three touchdowns passes, including a 19-yarder to Jeremy Sprinkle to start overtime.TCUs Kenny Hill threw for 377 yards and an overtime TD to Taj Williams and also had 93 yards rushing and two scores. But he couldnt get the Horned Frogs in the end zone in the second OT, and they settled for Ryan Grafs 37-yard field goal.NO. 9 GEORGIA 26, NICHOLLS 24ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia scored two quick-strike touchdowns -- one on offense, one on defense -- in a span of about two minutes after Nicholls took a third-quarter lead.Georgia (2-0) opened the game with a fast touchdown drive capped by Nick Chubbs 6-yard run and appeared headed for the easy win over the FCS Colonels in Kirby Smarts home debut as coach.Smart called the sloppy win disappointing.Nicholls (0-1) led 14-13 midway through the third after freshman quarterback Chase Fourcade, a surprise starter, threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jarrell Rogers.Georgia freshman quarterback Jacob Eason, also making his first start, threw a 66-yard scoring pass to Isaiah McKenzie less than a minute later. The Bulldogs rally continued on Lorenzo Carters 24-yard fumble return for a score. A fumbled punt return by McKenzie inside the Georgia 10 set up a late Nicholls touchdown on Fourcades 6-yard pass to C.J. Bates, cutting the Bulldogs lead to two points.Eason completed 11 of 20 passes for 204 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Greyson Lambert took over late in the game.NO. 1 ALABAMA 38, WESTERN KENTUCKY 10TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Freshman Jalen Hurts passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start to lead Alabama past Western Kentucky.Hurts likely nailed down the quarterback job with a 23-of-36 passing performance. The Crimson Tide (2-0) piled it on with big plays from the defense and receivers Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart.Hurts is the first true freshman quarterback to start at Alabama since Vince Sutton started four games in 1984. He also had two likely touchdowns dropped. Blake Barnett got the nod in the opener against Southern California and completed 2 of 6 passes for 64 yards in this one.Western Kentucky (1-1) was outgained 475-239 in total yards against a defense that has allowed 16 points in the first two games. Ridley had nine catches for 129 yards, Stewart five for 90.NO. 2 CLEMSON 30, TROY 24CLEMSON, S.C. -- Deshaun Watson threw three touchdown passes and Clemson avoided a host of mistakes -- including an embarrassing early celebration punt-return gaffe by Ray-Ray McCloud that cost the Tigers a touchdown -- to hold off pesky Troy.The Tigers (2-0) were out of synch on offense and could not break away from the Trojans (1-1) until the fourth quarter. Watson hit beefy defensive lineman Christian Wilkins for a 1-yard score in Clemsons jumbo goal line package, then connected with Deon Cain on a 23-yard pass for a 27-10 lead.Troy rallied with two touchdowns in the last five minutes, the second one with 44 seconds to go. But Cain grabbed the on-side kick attempt and Clemson ran out the clock.The Tigers couldnt get out of their own way much against Troy -- most notably on McClouds 75-yard punt return right before halftime where he apparently was so excited, he flipped the ball away before crossing into the end zone to start the celebration. Troy recovered in the end zone for a touchback.NO. 3 FLORIDA STATE 52, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 8TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Deondre Francois threw three touchdown passes and Dalvin Cook ran for two more score in Florida States victory over depleted Charleston Southern.Florida State (2-0) led 28-0 at the end of the first quarter. It scored on the first three drives and Bobo Wilson had an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown.Francois completed 10 of his first 12 passes, including two for touchdowns to Travis Rudolph.Francois, a redshirt freshman, was 25 of 32 for 262 yards and an interception. Rudolph had seven receptions for 105 yards. Cook had 83 yards on 11 carries, including a 37-yard TD run in the third.FCS Charleston Southern (1-2) was without 14 players -- 10 starters -- serving one-game suspensions for violating NCAA rules by using financial aid meant for books to purchase other items.NO. 4 OHIO STATE 48, TULSA 3COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State overcame a sluggish offensive start, a lightning delay and a driving rainstorm in the second half to beat Tulsa.After piling up a school-record 776 yards of offense last week against Bowling Green, Ohio State (2-0) didnt score an offensive touchdown against Tulsa (1-1) until quarterback J.T. Barrett ran in from 16 yards with 9:42 left in the third quarter. Tailback Mike Weber, Barrett and back Curtis Samuel added scoring runs later in the second half to put the game out of reach.Ohio States defense stepped in the first half as its offense floundered. The Buckeyes intercepted four of quarterback Dane Evans passes, including pick-sixes by safety Malik Hooker and cornerback Marshon Lattimore late in the first half.Barrett was 14 for 22 for 149 yards and no touchdowns.NO. 5 MICHIGAN 51, UCF 14ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Wilton Speight threw two of his four touchdown passes to Jake Butt, and Khalid Hill ran for two scores in Michigans victory over Central Florida.The Wolverines (2-0) have won their first two games by a combined total of 97 points.The Knights (1-1) got off to a relatively good start before getting blown out. They ran for a first down on the first snap and forced Michigan to punt after its first three plays.Butts second TD reception early in the second quarter gave Michigan a 31-0 lead.Hill, a 6-foot, 2, 263-pound fullback, plunged into the end zone for his second score early in the third to pad the Wolverines lead to 41-7.NO. 6 HOUSTON 42, LAMAR 0HOUSTON -- Houston easily overcame the absence of injured quarterback Greg Ward Jr. and a 3 1/2-hour lightning delay to rout Lamar.With Ward on the sideline nursing an injured right shoulder, backup Kyle Postma ran 39 yards for a score in the first quarter in a game that lasted 6 hours, 18 minutes.The Cougars (2-0) had three players top 100 yards rushing for the ffirst time since 1971, and piled up 381 yards on the ground.dddddddddddd Kevrin Justice had 111 yards and two touchdowns, freshman Mulbah Car added 109 yards and a score in his debut, and Postma scrambled for a career-high 106 yards with two TDs.Dark clouds descended on the stadium soon after Postmas score, and a lightning strike forced the game to be suspended at 11:36 a.m. with 3:13 left in the first quarter. FCS Lamar is 0-2.NO. 8 WASHINGTON 59, IDAHO 14SEATTLE -- Jake Browning matched Washingtons school record with five touchdown passes -- two each to Dante Pettis and John Ross -- and finished with 294 yards in the Huskies victory over Idaho.Browning has helped Washington (2-0) to its highest ranking since 2001. After throwing for 287 yards and three touchdowns last week against Rutgers, Browning was nearly flawless against Idaho.Following a fumble on the opening kickoff by Lloyd Hightower that was recovered by Washington, Browning threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Pettis on his first attempt of the game. He completed 13 consecutive passes at one point as the Huskies marched through the Vandals en route to a 35-0 halftime advantage. Browning joined Keith Price (2012), Jake Locker (2010) and Chris Rowland (1973) as the only Huskies to throw five touchdown passes in a game.Idaho is 1-1.NO. 10 WISCONSIN 54, AKRON 10MADISON, Wis. -- Corey Clement ran for two scores before leaving with an injury, Jazz Peavy had two touchdown catches and Wisconsin stuffed Akrons spread offense.The Badgers (2-0) didnt slack off in their 2016 debut at Camp Randall Stadium, a week after outmuscling SEC power LSU 16-14 in the opener.Bart Houston threw for 231 yards, showing chemistry with Peavy against the porous Zips (1-1). Peavy finished with seven catches for 100 yards. Wisconsins defense had a safety, and the secondary accounted for two second-quarter turnovers. The Badgers led 30-10 at halftime.Clement senior rushed for 111 yards before departing with a left leg injury suffered on the last of his 21 carries, late in the second.NO. 11 TEXAS 41, UTEP 7AUSTIN, Texas -- Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele passed for 244 yards and four touchdowns and Texas backed up its first national ranking since 2013 with a victory over UTEP.Buechele also showed some skills running the zone read option, giving the Longhorns (2-0) another wrinkle in their new offense. Buechele threw touchdown passes of 29 and 7 yards to Jerrod Heard, who started at quarterback most of 2015 but moved to wide receiver this season. He also connected with Dorian Leonard for a 46-yard score in the third quarter that made it 34-7.The Longhorns avoided a big letdown after their 50-47 overtime victory over Notre Dame that eased some of the pressure off coach Charlie Strong after two losing seasons.Aaron Jones ran for 123 yards and a 51-yard touchdown for UTEP (1-1).NO. 14 OKLAHOMA 59, LOUISIANA-MONROE 17NORMAN, Okla. -- Baker Mayfield passed for 244 yards and three touchdowns in a half of work and Oklahoma beat Louisiana-Monroe in a warmup for its showdown with Ohio State.Joe Mixon rushed for 117 yards, and Samaje Perine ran for two touchdowns. The Sooners (1-1) outgained the Warhawks (1-1) 640 yards to 350.Oklahoma lost its opener to Houston and dropped from third to 14th in the AP poll, but its home matchup with fourth-ranked Ohio State next week offers Oklahoma a chance to return to its place among the nations top teams.Garrett Smith passed for 251 yards and two touchdowns for Louisiana-Monroe. R.J. Turner caught seven passes for 135 yards.NO. 16 IOWA 42, IOWA STATE 3IOWA CITY, Iowa -- C.J. Beathard threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns and Iowa throttled Iowa State for its biggest win over the rival Cyclones in 18 seasons under coach Kirk Ferentz.LeShun Daniels rushed for 112 yards and a TD to help the Hawkeyes (2-0) beat Iowa State in consecutive seasons for the first time in six years.Beathard put the game out of reach with the three TD passes in the first half -- including a brilliant 12-yard toss to a heavily defended Matt VandeBerg. VandeBerg finished with 129 yards receiving, and Allen Lazard caught seven passes for 111 yards.Joel Lanning was 8 of 20 for 86 yards and an interception for Iowa State (0-2).NO. 18 NOTRE DAME 39, NEVADA 10SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- DeShone Kizer threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, Josh Adams rushed for 106 yards and Notre Dames defense rebounded from a disappointing performance a week ago.After being held scoreless in the first quarter by Nevada (1-1), the Irish (1-1) took control with a 25-point second quarter -- the most points in the quarter for Notre Dame since scoring 28 points against Pittsburgh in Charlie Weis debut as coach in 2005. Kizer was 15 of 18 for 156 yards with one interception and Equanimeous St. Brown led Irish receivers with six catches for 85 yards with Torii Hunter Jr. out with a concussion sustained against Texas.Malik Zaire, who lost the quarterback competition with Kizer, entered late in the third quarter and completed 4 of 9 passes for 49 yards.NO. 19 MISSISSIPPI 38, WOFFORD 13OXFORD, Miss. -- Chad Kelly threw for 219 yards and three touchdowns to lead Mississippi.Ole Miss (1-1) played just five days after losing to Florida State 45-34 on Monday night. The Rebels didnt appear tired, though, scoring on all four of their first-half drives to take a 24-3 halftime lead.Kelly completed short touchdown throws in the first half to Markell Pack, D.K. Metcalf and Quincy Adeboyejo, and Gary Wunderlich made a 40-yard field goal as the Rebels methodically moved the ball against overmatched Wofford of the Football Championship Subdivision level.It was an efficient, mistake-free performance from Kelly, who threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in the Florida State loss. He completed 20 of 27 passes against Wofford.NO. 20 TEXAS A&M 67, PRAIRIE VIEW A&M 0COLLEGE STATION, Tex. -- Trevor Knight threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score in Texas A&Ms romp over Prairie View.Knight was 21 of 37 and threw touchdowns of 8 yards to Speedy Noil and 34 and 64 yards to Christian Kirk in the second quarter to help the Aggies (2-0) build a 38-0 halftime lead. Knight also rushed for a game-high 78 yards on seven carries in just over a half of play.The Aggies extended their home nonconference winning streak to 23 games. Texas A&M outgained the FCS Panthers (1-1) 672-205 in its largest shutout since beaying Missouri 73-0 in 1993.NO. 23 BAYLOR 40, SMU 13WACO, Texas -- Seth Russell threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score, and Baylor recovered from a slow start to rout SMU.Russell and the Bears (2-0) struggled offensively in the first half and had to settle for a 6-6 tie at intermission, but broke through with a 20-point third quarter on their way to a 13th straight victory over their former Southwest Conference rival.Baylor missed on several deep shots in the first half, but Blake Lynch capped its opening march after halftime by breaking free in the right seam for a 31-yard touchdown reception from Russell, who added a 19-yard scoring burst on a scramble on the Bears next possession. Russell was 26 of 47 with two interceptions. Orion Stewart intercepted two passes for Baylor. The first was in the end zone to stop a promising SMU (1-1) threat, and he returned the second 33 yards for a TD to make it 26-6.NO. 25 MIAMI 38, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 10MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Mark Walton ran for 155 yards and four touchdowns, and Miami shook off a slow start to beat Florida Atlantic.Mark Richt improved to 2-0 at Miami, becoming the 10th coach to win his first two games on the Hurricane sideline.Walton scored on runs of 7, 3, 16 and 30 yards. He became the sixth Miami runner to run for at least four TDs in a game, and has seven in two games against FAU (1-1).Joe Yearby ran for 121 yards and a score and Brad Kaaya completed 17 of 31 passes for 191 yards for the Hurricanes, getting picked off twice. Still, Miami set a school record with 108 points in the seasons first two games, breaking the previous mark of 104 set in 1998 and matched in 2002.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '
