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Were almost at the halfway point of the season, the time of year when the top teams in the country start to separate by rising to the top of their conference standings.Clemson has emerged as the clear frontrunner to win the ACC, Washington has proven to be the team to beat in the Pac-12, and Alabama is still ... Alabama. In the Big Ten, the Ohio State-Michigan game cant get here soon enough, and the Big 12 is simply playing from behind, once again depending upon a backloaded league schedule to impress the selection committee when it matters most.In the Group of 5, Houstons top four dreams were shattered on Saturday with an American Athletic Conference West Division loss to Navy.Conference play has that effect, as teams knock each other out of the postseason picture and undefeated ranked teams -- gasp! -- lose. There are still 11 undefeated teams remaining, including nine from the Power 5 conferences. At this point last year, there were 16 unbeaten teams, and only one - Clemson - stayed that way.Can this years Power 5 frontrunners stay the course until Dec. 4 when the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its final ranking? The sport has a tendency to sort itself out.In many ways, it already has.Heres a closer look at the College Football Playoff pecking order heading into Week 7. For more, watch tonights College Football Playoff: Top 25 (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET).Tier I: Alabama stands aloneUntil proven otherwise, Alabama remains king. Not even Ole Miss, which was the only team to beat the Tide in each of the past two seasons, was able to finish the job on its home turf this year. Heres the tricky part: Alabama is beginning its toughest three-game stretch of any season since 2005, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. The Tide will travel to Tennessee this weekend, come home to face Texas A&M on Oct. 22, then have a bye week to prepare for a road trip to LSU on Nov. 5.According to ESPNs Sharon Katz, an average FBS team would have a .05 percent chance to win all three games, which includes three opponents ranked in the top 12 of ESPNs Football Power Index (two on the road). Alabama isnt exactly average. ESPNs FPI gives the Tide a 29 percent chance to win its next three games.If it does? Alabama stands alone -- again.Tier II: Win and youre inCandidates: Ohio State, Clemson, Michigan, Washington, Texas A&MThis group likely features the Big Ten champ, Pac-12 champ and ACC champ -- a forecast of three of the top four playoff spots. Add in the SEC champ (See: Tier I) and theres your top four.Only one question here: Whos the Big Ten champ?No, we cant fast-forward to Nov. 26, when Ohio State hosts Michigan, but that will be The Answer to the Big Tens playoff question. Its possible -- but extremely unlikely -- for the runner-up to get into the top four, especially if the other candidates here run the table and win their leagues. According to ESPNs FPI, Clemson has a 36 percent chance to enter bowls undefeated, Michigan 34 percent and Washington 31 percent. We will know a lot more about the Buckeyes on Saturday after their trip to Wisconsin, an opponent Michigan already defeated.And then theres Texas A&M. The Aggies already have wins over UCLA, Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee, but none of it will amount to a top-four spot if the Aggies cant win at Alabama on Oct. 22 (See: Tier I). ESPNs FPI gives A&M a 29.3 percent chance at the upset. If the Aggies can pull it off, it will change the playoff picture instantly.?Tier III: Playoff worthy but needs helpCandidates: LouisvilleThe ACC appears to be the Power 5 conference with the best chance to get two teams in the top four in spite of the Cardinals narrow, thrilling loss at Clemson on Oct. 1. The only reason this scenario isnt far-fetched is because Louisville has looked like a top-four team with Lamar Jackson at quarterback, and its favored to win each remaining game by at least 70 percent.The problem is Houston is the only ranked team remaining on the Cardinals schedule, and Houston just lost to Navy. Now, Houston might not even win its own West Division in the American Athletic Conference. It would still be a respectable win for Louisville, but it wont carry as much weight with the committee as it would have had the Cougars been fighting for a spot in the top four. Louisvilles best hope is not only to win out, but to have another conference champion with a weaker strength of schedule slip up and have two losses.Tier IV: The Power 5 undefeatedsCandidates:?Baylor, Nebraska, West VirginiaBaylor has almost no margin for error, as it faces the same nonconference strength-of-schedule questions it had in the first two years of the CFP. With wins against SMU, Northwestern State and Rice, an undefeated season is the Bears only realistic hope at cracking the top four.Nebraska has quietly gotten off to a 5-0 start, but the Huskers have back-to-back road trips at Wisconsin (Oct. 29) and Ohio State (Nov. 5) -- the only two games on their schedule ESPNs FPI doesnt project them to win. If they escape those trips, its time for a more serious conversation. The same can be said for West Virginia, which has played only one FBS team (Kansas State) with a winning record. If the Mountaineers are still undefeated heading into November, after road trips to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, thats only half the battle. Texas, OU and Baylor still await. Kevin Durant Jersey .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. Terrance Ferguson Thunder Jersey .5 million, one-year contract on Friday. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will compete with Rex Brothers for the closers role at spring training. https://www.thunderrookiesshop.com/ . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . Kevin Hervey Jersey . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Shawn Kemp Jersey .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras.Head coach Trevor Bayliss admitted England are no closer to knowing their first-choice spin combination in the wake of the 1-1 draw with Bangladesh. Moeen Ali emerged from the series as the leading slow bowler with 11 wickets at 22.90 apiece but he, like Adil Rashid (seven at 29.85), Gareth Batty (four at 29.00) and Zafar Ansari (two at 56.00), conceded runs at over three-an-over.In contrast man-of-the-series Mehedi Hasan Miraz (19 at 15.63), Shakib Al Hasan (12 at 18.41) and Taijul Islam (seven at 22.85) all built pressure for Bangladesh by bowling with greater economy - helping to amass 49 maidens collectively in the series in comparison to 21 by their four England counterparts. Watch highlights of day three Asked if he is clear who his three best spinners are, Bayliss told Sky Sports: No. Its a close one and it will probably get down to the opposition batters - who were playing against, the left and right combinations.Most of all it will be down to who Cooky feels comfortable with. Im, sure well sit down over the next few days and have a long chat about it.England opted to rest Stuart Broad for the Test in Dhaka, which Bangladesh won by 108 runs to level the series, despite the injury-enforced absence of senior bowler James Anderson, who continues to recover from a shoulder injury. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. Bayliss confirmed that Anderson will spend the next week undergoing further tests at Loughborough, after which a decision will be made on when the seamer will join the tour of India but added that at this stage he hasnt ruled out playing a more seam-based attack in the first Test at Rajkot on November 9.We could do - thats what England have done in the past and on the subcontinent thats worked, he said.But even from a seam point of view we need to bowl good line and length and in the way its the seam bowlers that are holding up one end and putting scoreboard pressure on.In this Test we were probably a little wayward as well and let the pressure off and let them get away. Alastair Cook has insisted he has faith in his spinners England had won all of their previous nine matches against Bangladesh but folded from 100-0 to 164 all out to lose in spectacular fashion.ddddddddddddBayliss said his sides frailty against spin was just one area his team needs to improve on.Its one thing to say we lost 10 wickets in that final session, but throughout the three days there were a number of areas that could have been better, he said.We missed a number of chances this morning and we gave too many free four-balls in our bowling in general; thats where the Bangladesh spinners especially were good - they bowled a good consistent line and length and made it difficult for our batters to get away.Weve got some young, inexperienced bowlers in the team and even Moeen is probably a batter who bowls a little bit and hes still learning the craft. Weve got some improvements to do and were not going to hide behind that. We hear from Alastair Cook, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehedi Hasan The demands of playing seven Tests in eight weeks mean England currently have no scheduled warm-up matches before the opening skirmish with India and Bayliss said that situation is unlikely to change despite the early finish in Dhaka.Seven Test matches in eight weeks probably isnt a great programme but were looking forward to India; its obviously going to be a great challenge.We are going to have to dig deep - theres no two ways about it but weve seen these guys before. Weve lost Test matches against South Africa and Australia before and come back and won the next one so Ill look forward to an improved showing in the next Test.Watch England take on India in the first Test, live on Sky Sports 2 on Wednesday November 9. Also See: Bangladesh claim historic win Scorecard Commentary Cricket videos ' ' '