hael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning

The fourth edition of the College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed Tuesday night (7 ET, ESPN), and there are, at most, two more opportunities for contenders to impress the 12 members of the selection committee.On Dec. 4, the committee will release its final rankings, with the top four teams meeting in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31.There wasnt a lot of drama in Week 12, as 10 of the committees top 11 teams won, but there could be some movement, especially outside of the top four. Heres a look at the top questions facing the committee this week:1. How high can three-loss USC rise? If Colorado loses to Utah on Saturday, USC will win the Pac-12 South division and play for the conference title. If the Trojans win, would the committee consider a three-loss team that looks completely different from how it looked in September, when it lost to Alabama, Stanford and Utah -- three ranked opponents that they played either on the road or at a neutral site? Right now, USC sits at No. 13, so it has a lot of ground to make up, but with Louisville and Utah both losing, it should get at least a little boost this week. USC has improved drastically under quarterback Sam Darnold. According to ESPN Stats & Information, since the start of October, USC has the highest average game score in the country (87 out of 100). Game score accounts for quality of the opponent, location of the game, the final result and how well a team controlled the game. The Trojans have certainly impressed the five former coaches on the committee. As committee chair Kirby Hocutt said, Honestly, when you talk to the coaches that are in the selection committee room, I dont think any of them if they were coaching today would want to play that Southern California team right now.2. How will Wilton Speights injury affect Michigan? Saturdays game against Indiana was the first time the committee had a chance to evaluate Michigan with backup quarterback John OKorn, and while UM got the 20-10 win, it wasnt pretty. It was Michigans weakest passing performance in 15 years, as OKorn was 7-of-16 for 59 yards, the fewest yards passing for Michigan since 2001. Michigan ran the ball well, as DeVeon Smith had a career-high 158 yards, but the offense was one-dimensional and lacked the creativity it displayed with Speight. Because of that, its possible Michigan drops in this weeks rankings. The bigger issue will be Saturday in Columbus, where it will take more than a strong running game to beat the Buckeyes. If Michigan wins, it will clinch the Big Ten East division.3. How does Oklahoma stack up against the two-loss Big Ten teams? The Sooners earned their first win against a ranked opponent, and it came against West Virginia in Morgantown, a tough place to play. They also have two decent losses: to Houston, which could be ranked this week after beating Louisville, and Ohio State. The question is whether that win at West Virginia will be enough to bump OU ahead of Wisconsin this week. If it does, that would mean its time to take OUs playoff hopes more seriously, because then the committee might take a two-loss OU ahead of a two-loss Wisconsin if they were their respective conferences champions. As long as Wisconsin and Washington are both ranked ahead of the Sooners, though, Oklahoma remains on the outside looking in and will need the Huskies to lose.4. Whats Oklahoma States record again? Mike Gundy thinks he has 10 wins. His official record -- the one the committee is using -- has his team at 9-2. In spite of Gundys protests, the Cowboys controversial loss to Central Michigan stands, and Hocutt has repeated that for two weeks now. We treat it as a loss, he said, However, the selection committee is aware of what transpired in that football game. Thats not the Cowboys problem. The bigger issue is a weak strength of schedule that includes a loss to Baylor and a one-point win against Texas Tech at home. Right now, the committee thinks there are four two-loss teams better than the Cowboys, and they all won in Week 12. A win at 5-5 TCU is unlikely to sway the committees perspective on Oklahoma State.5. Where does the Group of 5 race stand? The highest-ranked champion from a Group of 5 conference is guaranteed a spot in a New Years Six bowl, and this year it would be the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Last week, one-loss Boise State was ranked one spot ahead of undefeated Western Michigan, a decision that went back and forth in our room, according to Hocutt. In the end, No. 20 Boise States win over Washington State carried more value than any opponent No. 21 WMU had beaten. Will that philosophy still stand now that Washington State lost? The committee also will consider the impact Wyomings last-second win against San Diego State had this week on a two-point attempt that failed. If the Cowboys had lost, Boise would have been in control of the division and favored to win the Mountain West. So now what? According to ESPNs Football Power Index, Western Michigan is the only Group of 5 team currently ranked by The Associated Press that is even favored to win its conference (71 percent chance to win the MAC). Boise State (25 percent), Navy (35 percent), South Florida (5 percent) and Troy (20 percent) are all long shots, according to FPI. 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Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Canadas Vincent de Haitre won the mens 1,000 meters at the Kazakh round of the speedskating World Cup on Saturday, forcing world champion Pavel Kulizhnikov of Russia to settle for second place.De Haitre won in 1 minute, 8.90 seconds, 0.09 ahead of Kulizhnikov.Takuro Oda of Japan was third, 0.16 behind De Haitre.In the mens 500, Dutch skater Daidai Ntab won in 34.52, just 0.05 seconds ahead of Ruslan Muraashov of Russia.dddddddddddd Kulizhnikov was 0.04 seconds further back.Japans Miho Takagi won the womens 1,000 ahead of Dutch skaters Jorien ter Mors, 0.11 seconds off Takagis pace, and Marrit Leenstra, who was 0.57 seconds behind.Japan also claimed victory in both the mens and womens team pursuits. ' ' '