A8 BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2022
SPORTS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
Ducks among 14 teams with playoff hopes
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer
Even before the first College
Football Playoff rankings of the
season were unveiled Tuesday
night, Nov. 1, it was clear which
teams still have a chance to play
for a national championship.
A glance at the conference
standings reveals 14 contend-
ers, all in the Power Five. Sorry,
there will be no Cincinnati-style
interloper from the Group of
Five this season for the selection
committee to consider.
A conference-by-conference
assessment of who is in the race
and the paths to the CFP, with
AP Top 25 rankings.
PAC-12
No. 8 Oregon (7-1), No. 9
USC (7-1) and No. 10
UCLA (7-1)
They all need to run the table
to have a chance and even then
that might not be enough. The
Ducks will have to overcome
a 49-3 loss to Georgia in their
opener. The Trojans have a a
bad defense and won’t going to
get much of a bump by beating
Notre Dame. UCLA played one
of the weakest nonconference
schedules in the country.
What’s the best option for
the Pac-12? The guess here is a
12-1 USC with victories against
UCLA and Oregon and one-
point loss to a good Utah team.
ATLANTIC COAST
CONFERENCE
No. 5 Clemson (8-0)
The Tigers had their streak of
six straight playoff appearances
snapped last year, but are well
positioned to get back, with no
ranked opponents left before a
likely ACC title game against
North Carolina.
No unbeaten Power Five
champion has ever missed the
playoff. A glance at the Big Ten
and SEC suggests getting in as a
one-loss conference champion
could be dicey for the Tigers.
No. 17 North Carolina (7-1)
Run the table, beating un-
beaten Clemson in the ACC
title game, gets the Tar Heels
in the conversation, but they’ll
need some upsets in other
POWDER VALLEY
FOOTBALL
Badgers
earn
1st-round
playoff bye
BY JOHN BRAESE
EasternOregonSports.com
Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group-TNS
California Golden Bears quarterback Jack Plumme throws a pass against Oregon during the first quarter of their game at Memorial Stadium in
Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.
First Rankings Revealed
Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia, and Clemson were the top
four teams in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season
released Tuesday night, Nov. 1, four days before the Volunteers and
Bulldogs square off on the field.
Michigan was fifth, followed by Alabama and unbeaten TCU.
Oregon was eighth followed by Pac-12 rival Southern California
at ninth.
The highest ranked team from outside the Power Five conferences
was Tulane at No. 19. The highest ranked champion from the Group
of Five conferences earns a spot in New Year’s Six bowl.
The CFP semifinals are scheduled to be played at the Fiesta and
Peach bowls on Dec. 31, with the championship game set for Jan. 9 in
Inglewood, California.
leagues to clear the way.
BIG 12
No. 7 TCU (8-0)
See above, re: unbeaten
Power Five champions. The
Horned Frogs flirt with disaster
weekly and have some defensive
issues. That’s a profile the selec-
tion committee tends to look
upon skeptically.
They’ll probably need to stay
unbeaten to get in and it’s going
to be really tough for them to
stay unbeaten with the way they
have been playing.
BIG TEN
No. 2 Ohio State (8-0) and
No. 4 Michigan (8-0)
Both have been dominant.
Neither has played a particularly
strenuous schedule and that
won’t change much before they
meet Thanksgiving weekend.
Still, either is locked by winning
out.
Either would stay in the mix
by being a 12-1 conference
champion. And the loser of the
rivalry game at 11-1 probably
still holds out hope to get in.
No. 14 Illinois (7-1)
The Illini have a game against
Michigan the week before the
Wolverines play Ohio State.
That means Illinois could finish
12-1 with either two victories
against Michigan or one against
Michigan and one against Ohio
State.
It’s not likely to happen, but
that would put the Illini in the
playoff.
SOUTHEASTERN
CONFERENCE
No. 1 Georgia (8-0) and
No. 2 Tennessee (8-0)
The loser of Saturday’s show-
down in Athens is not elimi-
nated, especially if its the Vol-
unteers, with a victory over
Alabama already in hand.
No. 6 Alabama (6-1) and
No. 11 Mississippi (8-1)
The Crimson Tide and Reb-
els can’t afford another loss
— they play each other in two
weeks — but either would
breeze into the CFP by winning
out.
The most SEC-centric sce-
nario the rest of the country
needs to root against is Alabama
winning out, beating Georgia in
the SEC championship game,
and leaving the Tide and Bull-
dogs at 12-1 and Tennessee at
11-1 with a close loss to Geor-
gia.
No. 15 LSU (6-2)
A two-loss team has never
made the playoff, but the SEC
champion has never missed
the playoff. If the Tigers beat
Alabama and avenge a loss to
Tennessee on the way to a con-
ference title they could break
precedent.
PILOT ROCK — Every
Badger football player saw
the field as Powder Valley
wrapped up an unbeaten
regular season with a 59-8
victory over Pilot Rock on
Thursday, Oct. 27, in Pilot
Rock.
The Badgers, 9-0 and
ranked second in the
state, scored in multiple
ways, scoring four rushing
touchdowns, three touch-
downs through the air and
one kick returned for a
score.
“We were able to get our
younger kids in early in the
game and that was fun,”
said Powder Valley coach
Josh Cobb.
The win earned the Bad-
gers a bye in the first round
of the Class 1A playoffs.
Powder Valley will play
host on Nov. 11 to the win-
ner of the Cove-Enterprise
game on Friday, Nov. 4.
The Badgers didn’t play
Cove this season. They
beat Enterprise 60-12 on
Oct. 14. The time for the
Nov. 11 game hasn’t been
set.
In addition to scoring
at Pilot Rock, the Badgers
saw excitement in their
kicking game. Lizandro
Rodriguez converted all
but two of his extra points
and made the field long for
the Pilots the whole night
with touchbacks on all
kickoffs.
Rodriguez also picked
up a score of his own, a
pass play from quarterback
Cole Martin for the touch-
down.
“Pilot Rock is always
a great place to play with
good fans and a great at-
mosphere,” Cobb said.
SHANE ALDERSON
FOR
BAKER COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIR
My family has called Baker County home since 1935. We are enjoying raising our young daughter in this
beautiful community surrounded by small town values.
I promise to work hard for all citizens, do the work that needs to be done and
to provide the vital services taxpayer deserve.
I want to be your Baker County Commission Chair to mend the relationship
between Baker County and Baker City and other small cities and jurisdictions.
I pledge to:
• Work hard to to maximize fire and ambulance service throughout Baker County
• Continue to support local law enforcement agencies to reduce crime and hold
offenders accountable for their actions
• Be a strong supporter for water issues and other matters facing our local agricul-
tural producers
• Work to protect jobs at Ashgrove Cement and other mining entities
• Continue to work with all local entities (Chambers, Baker City Downtown,
Interpretive Center, local Museums, Economic Development Committee, etc.) to
provide resources to enhance our local tourism industry.
• Advocate and work with State and Federal agencies to provide affordable work-
force housing in our community.
• Work hard to bring traded sector jobs to our County that provide family wage
jobs for working families.
• Work with local entities to make sure that we have affordable day care for fami-
lies with working parents
I am not beholden to any special interest groups and will bring honest and open
communication to the County Commission. Please vote for Shane Alderson for Baker County
Commission Chair.
Paid for by Committee to elect Shane Alderson
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