h and Trevor Bayne. Hornish and Dillon had nothing

Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork. Fran Tarkenton Jersey .com) - A glass half-full Baylor fan sees the Bears appearance in a New Years Day bowl game as an accomplishment. One with a half-empty mindset views it as a slight of the highest order. Regardless of their opinion, they will be tuning in to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1 to watch the fourth-ranked Bears take on the seventh-ranked Michigan State Spartans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. While Baylor is ranked No. 4 in the AP poll, the College Football Playoff committee saw it appropriate to rank Ohio State in the final spot in the CFP rankings, with the 11-1 Bears falling in at No. 5. Since the Big 12 does not have a championship game, the conference opted to name co-champs at the end of the regular season, with both Baylor and TCU each sharing the crown even though the former beat the latter. The only blemish on Baylors record came in a 41-27 loss at West Virginia on Oct. 18, a game that saw the Bears commit 18 penalties for 215 yards -- the most ever by a Big 12 team. They recovered to win their final five games, including a 38-27 win over nationally-ranked Kansas State in the finale. Still, it was not enough, and Baylors head coach took the high road rather than complain about the process. I certainly would have liked to be in (the final four), but it didnt work out that way so what am I going to do? You know, moan and wine, Art Briles lamented, Its a decision that was made that we have no control over, so we will live with it, its what we do. We are fighters, competitors, we will live to fight another day. Its what we are doing. Bryce Petty was one of those fighters and was a finalist for all of the major quarterback awards after guiding the No. 1 offense in the country, one that averaged 58.8 points and 581.3 yards per game. The senior ranked eighth in the country with 300.5 passing ypc and produced a sensational 26-to-6 touchdown- to-interception-ratio. Corey Coleman was Pettys No. 1 target and finished with 57 catches for 969 and 10 touchdowns in nine games. Antwan Goodley, K.D. Cannon and Jay Lee all had six TD receptions, while Shock Linwood ran for 102.2 ypc and 16 scores as a sophomore. The offense justifiably gets most of the headlines, but the Bears defense ranked first in the Big 12 against the run, allowing 107.7 ypg. That usually stems from teams needing to throw after falling in an early hole, and Baylor has been able to force 24 turnovers as a result. Bryce Hager led the way with 101 tackles, Orion Stewart intercepted four passes and Shawn Oakman had one of the best seasons in school history on the defensive line. Oakman needs one sack and two tackles for loss to set the BU record in both categories. He has posted 10 sacks and 18 TFLs so far. A win Thursday would give the Bears a school-record 12 victories and improve their postseason record to 11-10. They lost in the Cotton Bowl in 1975 and 81 to Penn State and Alabama, respectively. Michigan State was also predicted to be in the title hunt, what with finishing the 2013 season with only one loss and a Rose Bowl win over Stanford. The Spartans though, dropped an early-season test at Oregon and later lost at home to Ohio State, which all but sealed their fate outside the CFP. MSU won three straight after the OSU loss to finish the season at a respectable 10-2, including a 7-1 mark in Big Ten play. Since the two setbacks were both to teams playing in the CFP, Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio figures his team is ready for another stiff test. Baylor would have, could have been in the top four in the country. Weve already played two of those top-four teams, so why not play another one, Dantonio said. When you go to a bowl game, youre always trying to move forward. You want to play the best team you can. Known for its hard-nosed defense coming into the season, the Spartans offense rose to the occasion nearly every week and set school single-season records for points (517), total offense (5,958 yards), offensive touchdowns (64), rushing touchdowns (40) and made point-after attempts (66). Jeremy Langford carried the load out of the backfield, rushing for 1,360 yards and school-record nine consecutive 100-yard games and counting. The senior accounted for 19 of a team-record 40 touchdowns on the ground. Connor Cook was no slouch under center, with the junior QB leading the Big Ten in passing (241.7 ypc) and ranking 14th in the FBS in passing efficiency (152.4). Half of his 22 touchdown passes went to wide receiver Tony Lippet, who totaled 60 receptions for 1,124 yards in his senior campaign. The defense took a slight step back this season but still ranked seventh in the FBS in total defense (293.5 ypg) and sixth in rushing defense (97.5 ypg). The opportunistic bunch forced 33 turnovers, which led to an FBS-best plus-20 turnover margin. Kurtis Drummond made second-team All American after leading the Spartans in tackles (65), interceptions (4) and pass breakups (11). Trae Wayne recorded three interceptions, while Shilique Calhoun anchored a line with 11 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. MSU has never appeared in the Cotton Bowl and is just 10-14 all-time in the postseason, though the Spartans have won their last three bowl games. They also hold an impressive 19-2-1 record against teams currently in the Big 12 and won their only previous matchup against Baylor way back in 1968. The Cotton Bowl was first played in 1937, and this is the first top-10 battle it has seen since 1994 when No. 4 Notre Dame beat No. 7 Texas A&M. John Randle Jersey . Kadri was dressed in a green jersey at Thursdays practice and skated as an extra forward on the teams fourth line as the Leafs. Alan Page Jersey . The Islanders own the fifth pick in the 2014 draft but had until June 1 to decide whether to keep it or defer to 2015. The selection was packaged in the teams deal for Thomas Vanek on October 27, 2013. http://www.vikingsauthenticshop.com/Vikings-Randy-Moss-Draft-Jersey/ . - Nikita Jevpalovs scored 6:22 into the second overtime as the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada edged the visiting Rimouski Oceanic 2-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action.HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- With tears in eyes and three fingers in the air, Richard Childress hardly had words to describe his latest NASCAR championship. His grandson, Austin Dillon, won the Nationwide Series title in the famed No. 3 and by three points. "Hard to believe," Childress said. "I couldnt be more proud of Austin. He drives with his heart every lap. What can you say? Hes just a great competitor, a great grandson. Im proud, really proud of him. He ran good and hard tonight." Sprint Cup regular Brad Keselowski won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, moving up 10 spots in the closing few laps to give an otherwise typical race a wild and wacky finish. But the night belonged to Dillon, who overcame a sluggish start and a scrape against the wall to finish 12th. It was good enough to hold off Sam Hornish Jr. by three points. Hornish crossed the line eighth. "It was ugly," said Dillon, who won the Truck Series title in 2011. "Probably the worst car we had all year. But we fought. My guys kept me positive in the car." Hornish looked as if he would overcome an eight-point deficit in the standings for much of the 200-lap race, but a lengthy caution late posed problems. NASCAR slowed the race for 12 laps -- tied for the longest caution of the year -- and it turned out to be a setback for Hornish. He dropped from third to ninth on the final restart with five laps to go, ending his chances at getting a title in what was his final race for Penske Racing. "I felt very sorry for Sam," Penske said. "And I have to say Ive never seen a race that was so important give away 15 or 16 laps before you have five laps to go. To me, that is very disappointing from the standpoint of the fans and (us) as competitors. When I think about it, it could have gone either way." NASCAR defended its decision to keep the race under caution. "When youre in situations like that, the most important thing is getting the track race ready," said Robin Pemberton, NASCARs vice-president of competition. "You know, you can look at, you can use your hindsight every chance that you want to, but in this particular time, we did the best we could to do, and it was more important to get the track ready." Keselowski got new tires during the final caution and used them to weave his way through traffic. He went from 11th to first in a two-lap span after the restart. And once hee was out front, no one was catching him. Anthony Barr Jersey. Certainly not Dillon and Hornish, who were stuck on old tires because they had used their allotment. "I dont even remember what happened," Keselowski said. "We were going to win the race or I was going to bring back the steering wheel. With five laps to go, thats the only attitude that can win the race. Sometimes you make it through, sometimes you dont. Today we did. A lot of aggressive moves. "It almost felt like a video game passing 10 or 12 cars in two or three laps. Thats what youve got to be able to do to win at this level." Keselowski finished the season with seven victories, all in the last 10 of his 16 series starts. Rookie Kyle Larson finished second, followed Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Trevor Bayne. Hornish and Dillon had nothing for the leaders down the stretch. Having worn tires made passing difficult, if not impossible, in the final few laps. It didnt help Hornish that Kyle Busch spun his tires on the restart. "Couldnt get far enough ahead of those guys who had taken four tires," Hornish said. "Thats how it worked out for us tonight. We gave away points throughout the season, between the driver making mistakes, from everybody on this team making the car better. We win as a team, we lose as a team. Just needed a little bit more." Keselowskis victory wasnt the only thing to celebrate for Penske Racing. The team won the owners title for Roger Penske -- edging Joe Gibbs Racing by a point -- and landed Ford the manufacturers championship. Joey Logano finished sixth in the title-winning No. 22 car. "We had four goals coming in here: win the manufacturer championship for Ford, help Sam win the driver title, win the owners title and then win the race. We got three out of the four," Keselowski said. "Sam did a great job, even though he didnt get the fourth one done. He did an awesome job, and Im really proud of his effort." But the biggest celebration was saved for Dillon, whose fondest memory as a kid was seeing late NASCAR great Dale Earnhardt win the 1998 Daytona 500. Dillon knew all he had to do was stay close to Hornish. "I knew if I could see him and see where he was, then I wasnt going to give up all the way to end," Dillon said. "He was a great competitor. Sam, he brought his stuff tonight. We were able to pass one at the end, and it was a hell of a race." 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