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Georgia, Michigan, TCU and USC are all poised to make the College Football Playoff with wins in their conference championship games this weekend after the selection committee unveiled its penultimate rankings Tuesday night.

There was no change at the top, as Georgia (12-0) remained No. 1. But after Michigan (12-0) beat Ohio State 45-23 on Saturday, the Wolverines jumped one spot to No. 2. TCU (12-0) stayed at No. 3, and USC (11-1) made its first appearance in the top four after the Buckeyes and LSU lost.

“A lot of conversations about the top four,” CFP committee chair Boo Corrigan, the athletic director at NC State, said on ESPN’s rankings release show. “We didn’t see any reason to move Georgia out of the top spot.”

Ohio State dropped to No. 5, and now must hope for upsets and chaos in the upcoming title games to potentially get an opportunity to make it back into the playoff mix. But much of that will depend on not only the results, but how the committee would view an undefeated team that loses in the conference title game, because Ohio State will not be playing an extra game. Alabama landed just behind the Buckeyes at No. 6.

“It was a tough decision,” Corrigan said regarding the call to put Ohio State ahead of Alabama. “There’s four teams in front of them, and there’s plenty of games that still need to be played this weekend.”

Conference championship weekend could provide little drama if the top four teams win. It all begins Friday night when No. 11 Utah (9-3) and USC play in the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas. Utah handed USC its only loss of the season in October, 43-42, when quarterback Cam Rising ran for a 1-yard touchdown and converted the 2-point conversion attempt with 48 seconds left.

On Saturday, Georgia plays No. 14 LSU (9-3) in the SEC championship game; TCU plays No. 10 Kansas State (9-3) in the Big 12 championship game; and Michigan plays Purdue (8-4) in the Big Ten championship game. The top four CFP teams are favored to win.

If one or more teams lose, the committee might have tougher decisions to make. But consider this: Beyond the top five, every other ranked team has two or more losses, and no two-loss team ever has made the College Football Playoff.

“College football always delivers,” Corrigan said when previewing the weekend. “As a group, we’re excited to have the opportunity to get together and watch these games. We look forward to evaluating all of it.”

The highest ranked among the two-loss teams is Alabama, followed by Tennessee at No. 7. Penn State at No. 8, Clemson at No. 9 and Kansas State at No. 10 round out the top 10. Clemson plays No. 23 North Carolina (9-3) in the ACC championship game Saturday as well, but after the Tigers lost to South Carolina 31-30 last Saturday, they were essentially eliminated from playoff contention.

That win over Clemson helped South Carolina (8-4) go from unranked to the No. 19 spot this week. In addition to beating Clemson, the Gamecocks beat Tennessee 63-38 the previous week — becoming the first unranked team to win consecutive games against AP Top 10 opponents since Auburn in 2003.

Tulane (10-2) is just ahead of South Carolina at No. 18 and hosts No. 22 UCF (9-3) on Saturday in the American Athletic Conference championship game. The winner would almost assuredly be the highest ranked Group of 5 team, and earn a spot in a New Year’s Six game.

The final rankings will be released Sunday, followed by bowl announcements for the teams that don’t make it.

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3 tossed from Giants-Rockies after Devers homer

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3 tossed from Giants-Rockies after Devers homer

DENVER — Rafael Devers‘ 30th home run of the season was a weird one.

Colorado Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland along with San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman and shortstop Willy Adames were ejected from Tuesday night’s game following a benches-clearing incident that started after Devers hit a two-run homer in the first inning.

Devers hammered a sweeper over the right-field wall, and Freeland took exception to Devers’ celebration, shouting at him as he neared first base.

That caused several players to charge toward the infield, where Chapman appeared to make contact with Freeland. Adames also was in the middle of the scrum.

The umpires restored order before sorting out the situation and announcing the ejections. It did not appear that any punches were thrown.

Devers waited at first base while the umpires were meeting and then trotted around the bases several minutes after he actually hit the homer.

The Giants had to shuffle their defensive infield after the two ejections, moving Devers to third base for the first time since he was traded to the club from the Boston Red Sox in June. Christian Koss moved from second base to shortstop, Casey Schmitt entered the game at second base and Dominic Smith entered at first.

Antonio Senzatela came in the game to pitch for the Rockies.

Devers’ 30th homer also ended a skid for the Giants — sort of. He is the first San Francisco player to hit 30 homers in a season while wearing a Giants uniform since Barry Bonds in 2004, but he hit his first 15 long balls with the Red Sox.

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Ohtani belts 100th HR with Dodgers in record time

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Ohtani belts 100th HR with Dodgers in record time

PITTSBURGH — Shohei Ohtani hit his 100th home run with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Pittsburgh Pirates spoiled the milestone with a 9-7 win Tuesday night.

Ohtani’s solo shot off prospect Bubba Chandler (2-0) was the second-hardest hit homer in MLB this season at 120 mph. It was home run No. 46 for Ohtani this season and the hardest-hit ball of his MLB career, according to ESPN Research.

Playing his 294th game with the Dodgers, he became the fastest to reach 100 home runs in team history, ahead of Gary Sheffield (399). It took him 444 games to hit 100 home runs with the Angels.

After the home run, Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-out RBI single and Andy Pages led off the next inning with his 24th homer, tying it 4-4.

Henry Davis put the Pirates back ahead on an RBI single off Edgardo Henriquez (0-1) in the sixth. Jared Triolo added a two-out, two-run double.

Chandler gave up three runs and six hits in four innings of relief. The 22-year-old has two wins and a save in his first three major league appearances.

Dennis Santana walked Miguel Rojas and gave up Ohtani’s second double to start the ninth before retiring the next three batters for his 12th save.

Clayton Kershaw yielded four runs, four hits and a pair of walks in the first inning. He recovered to last five innings, denying the Pirates of another hit while giving up two walks over the final four.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Red Sox’s Anthony exits with oblique tightness

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Red Sox's Anthony exits with oblique tightness

Star Boston Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony left Tuesday night’s 11-7 win against the Cleveland Guardians because of left oblique tightness and will undergo an MRI on Wednesday, according to manager Alex Cora.

Anthony could be seen grabbing at his lower back on a swinging third strike in the bottom of the fourth inning. He did not take the field in the top of the fifth, with Nate Eaton replacing him in right field at Fenway Park.

Anthony’s absence would be significant for a Red Sox team that entered Tuesday night just 2½ games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. Anthony has been a catalyst to Boston’s resurgence since his June callup, with the 21-year-old hitting .291 with an .861 OPS, eight home runs and 31 RBIs entering Tuesday.

Anthony entered the season as baseball’s No. 1 prospect. He has since signed an eight-year, $130 million extension with the team.

Teammate Marcelo Mayer, who entered the season as baseball’s No. 6 prospect, joined the big league club before Anthony in May but has since had season-ending wrist surgery. Kristian Campbell, the third of Boston’s touted prospects, opened the season as the club’s starting second baseman but was sent down to Triple-A Worcester in June after some early struggles.

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