With Baylor and West Virginia both undefeated halfway through the season, there could still be playoff hopes for the Big 12 Conference.The eighth-ranked Bears and 10th-ranked Mountaineers have to keep winning.While many wrote off the Big 12s chances for a return to the playoffs after Oklahomas two nonconference losses in September, Baylor and West Virginia are among seven teams from Power Five leagues still without a loss before the first College Football Playoff rankings of this season are released next week.When West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen was asked about talking to his players about their 6-0 start, he initially answered, I can assure you I am not going to respond to a College Football Playoff question.Because there is a long way to go, with six more Saturdays of games before the four playoff teams will be determined with the final CFP rankings on Dec. 4.Those final rankings will come a day after Baylor and West Virginia play in a regular-season finale that could become a de facto Big 12 championship game. It could also determine if one of them gets in the playoff, though there is no guaranteed spot for the winner.The Big 12 is reinstating its actual title game next season, and that will at least provide league teams a 13th data point for the playoff selection committee to consider like the other Power Five conferences already have.When Ohio State won the Big Ten championship game 59-0 two years ago, the Buckeyes ended up the fourth playoff team ahead of Big 12 co-champions Baylor and TCU, and went on to win the national championship.SOONER FACTOROklahomas quest for its 10th Big 12 title could impact the leagues CFP chances, but it still remains unlikely that the two-loss Sooners can get back into playoff contention.The 16th-ranked Sooners (5-2, 4-0 Big 12), coming off a a href(equals)https://apnews.com/63d95f5753554b5f8711e...tor-brotherwild 66-59 win and allowing a school-record 854 total yards/a at Texas Tech, play consecutive games in November against Baylor and West Virginia, and losses by either one of those teams will hurt their chances.Oklahoma last year was 14th in the initial CFP rankings, and 13th at that point in the AP poll. While it is possible that the Sooners could be near those same positions next week, assuming they beat Kansas at home, there hasnt yet been a two-loss playoff team.It also hurts the Sooners that Houston and Ohio State, the non-conference teams they lost to, have since lost.The Cougars are even unranked after losing two of three. The sixth-ranked Buckeyes are coming off a loss to Penn State, though they still have a chance to bolster their playoff case with games left against No. 2 Michigan and No. 7 Nebraska.DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS, RIGHT?West Virginia has a href(equals)https://apnews.com/afc74a9d7749424487501...ts-strengthswon its last two games by holding high-scoring Texas Tech and TCU to a combined 27 points/a.A week after its 48-17 home loss to the Mountaineers, Texas Tech piled up 854 total yards in a 66-59 loss to Oklahoma.The Mountaineers play Saturday at Oklahoma State, which is still in Big 12 title contention, and also have games against Kansas and Texas before the Sooners visit Morgantown on Nov. 19. WVU then goes to Iowa State before the finale against Baylor.We have goals ahead of us, and we are not anywhere close to being in a position to meet any of them, Holgorsen said, without being specific.BAYLORS TOUGH STRETCHThe Bears are the only FBS team to be 6-0 for the fourth consecutive season, but they havent really been tested yet.Oklahoma State is the only team with a winning record that Baylor has played, and the Cowboys had a turnover late when it looked like they were able to take the lead.The other five teams the Bears have played so far have a combined 7-28 record. That includes a 5-16 mark by their non-conference opponents, a very negative factor for the CFP committee. (Their remaining six opponents are a combined 25-16).Baylor plays four of its last six games away from home, including the Nov. 12 trip to Oklahoma between home games against TCU and Kansas State. 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The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. PHOENIX -- The New York Mets picked things up after manager Terry Collins lit into them Thursday afternoon.Maybe it is Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hales turn.New York left-hander Steven Matz took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of a 5-1 victory over San Diego on Sunday, marking the first time the Mets had won consecutive games before the All-Star break, July 6-7 against Miami and Washington.After sweeping the Mets to draw Collins ire early in the week, the Diamondbacks lost the final three contests of the six-game road trip in Boston by a combined score of 31-9. The Red Sox finished it off with a 16-2 victory over Zack Greinke on Sunday, as Mookie Betts had three homers -- one off Greinke in each of the first two innings -- and Dustin Pedroia had five hits.It was one of those days, Hale told reporters. Weve all been there. Weve all been on the good side. Weve all been on the bad side. Its a tough day. Its a tough day for the pitching staff. Its one of those days you deal with. Thats our ace, our No. 1 guy. They got him. We win as a team, we lose as a team. Today was a tough one.The Mets and Diamondbacks will begin a three-game series Monday at Arizona, a quick turnaround after the Tuesday-Thursday series in Citi Field last week.Collins challenged the Mets effort after they were outscored 17-5 in the series. Arizona trailed in only one of the 27 innings, thats when the Mets scored in the first inning of the series opener.I know one thing -- theres got to be a passion to come and play, Collins told reporters after the Diamondbacks finished the sweep in a 9-0 shutout Thursday behind rookie right-hander Braden Shipley.You owe a responsibility to our fan base, the organization and yourself to respect this game to come out and grind it out. ... Youre going to get beat and youre going to get beat bad sometimes. But you need to pick yourselves up and move on. ... Starting (Monday), were going to get after it. AAnd those who dont want to get after it, I will find somebody else who does, because in Las Vegas theres a whole clubhouse filled with guys who want to sit in this room.ddddddddddddArizona left-hander Robbie Ray will face right-hander Bartolo Colon in the first game of the series Monday, a rematch of Arizonas 3-2, 12-inning victory last Wednesday and the next start for each. Ray gave up three hits with no walks in seven scoreless innings in that one. He did not walk a batter, a career first in games he had pitched into the seventh.Colon gave up only one run, that coming after Jean Segura stole second base in the third inning, took third on a throwing error by the catcher and scored on Paul Goldschmidts single.Colon is attempting to become the 18th pitcher in major league history and the third this season to beat all 30 teams. The D-backs are the only team he has not beaten in a career that began in 1997. Cubs right-hander John Lackey and Nationals right-handed Max Scherzer did it this season. Colon is 0-1 with a 3.20 ERA in three career starts against the Diamondbacks.Arizona stole 13 bases in 15 attempts in the series, tied for the third-most in the majors in a three-gamer series since the Diamondbacks began play in 1998. Only Miami (17, 2000) and Texas (14, 2010) had more.The Diamondbacks got three quality starts in the Mets series, the first time that had happened since they had four quality starts in a four-game sweep at Philadelphia from June 17-20.Arizona starters gave up 23 runs (17 earned) in 8 2/3 innings against Boston, and left-hander Patrick Corbin was moved to the bullpen after giving up eight runs (four earned) Friday. Corbin (4-12) leads the majors in losses and earned runs (82) in his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery that cost him the 2014 season. ' ' '
