25 against Washington State, which popped into the AP rankings this week.It was no surprise that Washington coach Chris Petersen said he was in favor of uniformity across the conference landscap

Its that time of year -- the final stretch -- when the Pac-12s nine-game conference schedule comes up.Washington is undefeated, at No. 4 in the AP Top 25 , and at No. 5 in the first College Football Playoff rankings. The Huskies appear to have a good shot at one of the four playoff spots -- if all the pieces fall into place.Last season, Stanford, with one loss on the road in the opener against Northwestern, looked like a possible contender for one of the four playoff spots, if only the Cardinal could finish strong. The Ducks proved to be spoilers, upsetting the Cardinal 38-36 at Stanford Stadium on Nov. 14.That sparked discussion about the leagues nine-game schedule. In the Power Five conferences, the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference play eight-game slates. The Big Ten went to nine games this season.The nine-game schedule has been criticized because its obviously more difficult, and theres less likelihood that a team will finish undefeated -- which therefore lowers the odds of getting coveted playoff berths. That challenges a conference where some key matchups are played late, impacting visibility.On the other side, there are those who say the tougher schedule, paired with a conference championship, creates better teams.We discuss it every couple of years, it comes up, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said this weekend. I think with the new college football playoff we were thinking, `Is this the best model? Is there a different model? But I think we all believe strength of schedule will be rewarded by the selection committee if there are teams with similar records.That said, Scott said hed like to see the other conferences rise to the nine-game level.Across the league, coaches said theyd just like it to be equal -- at either eight or nine games -- across all conferences.If I just give you my own opinion of it, its pretty simple for me: All Power 5 teams should do the exact same thing. If they dont, its not fair. That being said, they all dont. Because its very, very difficult when you say youre going to play nine games within your schedule and then youre going to go beat each other up. But if everybody else is beating each other up, then I think its fine, Oregon State coach Gary Andersen said.Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham agreed: I dont lobby for it, but in my opinion all the Power 5 conferences should play the same amount of conference games and make it a level playing field and some standardization there. Because when you play a ninth game that gives everyone in the conference a chance to get another loss.Whittingham took it a step further, saying that hed like to see the playoffs expanded so that all the conference champions get in.To me it doesnt make any sense to not have a level playing field and then not have every champion get in. It doesnt make sense to me at all, he said.If were all feeding into a playoff system lets just play by the same rules, said Stanford coach David Shaw, who also suggested across-the-board consistency in non-conference scheduling against lower-tier teams.Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said playing fewer games certainly hasnt hampered the SEC -- raising the point that the conference likely wont fix something that isnt broken for them.I think its a good thing that we do it, but I dont know if its really an advantage or not. I think its more talk that they keep playing those eight games and nothing happens, MacIntyre said.Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said the nine-game schedule means that theres uneven home and away games, which also seems inequitable.The only thing about nine is there are five on the road and four at home, so its uneven every year and not every Power 5 conference has that, he said. That, and the championship game, makes the road to the playoffs so much harder in our league than maybe in others.The Huskies play at California this weekend, then host USC and Arizona State. The key game for Washington could turn out to be the Apple Cup rivalry game on Nov. 25 against Washington State, which popped into the AP rankings this week.It was no surprise that Washington coach Chris Petersen said he was in favor of uniformity across the conference landscape.I think so. And I know everyones conference is different, but I think you just look at the NFL and its pretty cut and dry. Theres only 32 teams, but everybodys doing the same thing, he said. And so how can you make it as much the same thing? Well, lets play the same amount of conference games, at least, so were on the same page there.---AP Sports Writer Tim Booth in Seattle, AP Sports Writer Kareem Copeland in Salt Lake City, and AP freelancers Monica Costello in Colorado and Michael Wagaman in California, contributed to this report. Retro 5 Air Jordans For Sale . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Wholesale Jordan Retro 5 . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. http://www.cheapairjordan5.com/ . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Cheap Jordan 5 For Sale . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Air Jordan 5 Retro For Sale .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. CHICAGO -- Just when the White Sox thought they had started to turn the corner, Jose Quintana got back on the mound and the lineup was mostly silent once again.Quintana served up a pair of homers by Brian Dozier and Chicago had just six hits in a 4-0 loss to the last-place Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.The White Sox had won two straight series after a 10-26 stretch, but it was shut down by Kyle Gibson (1-5) and two relievers. They have scored a total of 10 runs in Quintanas eight losses this year.Yeah, you got to pick it up in your division, manager Robin Ventura said. But any time we got something going, it got snuffed out.Dozier homered in his third straight game and extended his hitting streak to 10 games as the Twins beat the White Sox for first time in seven tries. He has hit more home runs (11) against them and the Cleveland Indians than any other team.Gibson pitched seven innings of five-hit ball for his first victory of the season, improving to 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA in eight career starts against the White Sox.Its contagious, Dozier said. I know thats a boring answer, but it really is. Guys heat up around you and you kind of feed off another. I got a couple good pitches to hit tonight.Dozier pulled both homers off Quintana (5-8), a solo shot off a fastball in the second and a three-run drive off a curveball in the sixth for his third career multihomer game. Doziers 12th homer of the season drove in Eduardo Nunez, who had singled, and Joe Mauer, who walked.I try to back-door (him on a) curveball, said Quintana, who struck out eight in seven innings. Hes a good hitter.It was the ninth straight game with an extra-base hit for Dozier, the longest streak for the franchise since it moved to Minnesota in 1961. Dozier added an infield single off Chris Beck in the eighth.As usual, Chicago struggled to score with Quintana on the mound. After a 5-1 start, the left-hander is 0-7 in his last nine outings despite a 3.18 season ERA.We know about (the lack of support), teammate Todd Frazier said. It has been going on for two or three years.ddddddddddddMaybe we try a little harder. Im not saying pressing like `We got to, we got to. But maybe we go after it more (aggressively) rather than just see pitches.Gibson (1-5) struck out seven and walked one in his best performance since coming off the disabled list this month.Ryan Pressly and Brandon Kintzler each got three outs to finish the six-hitter for Minnesotas first shutout of the season. The Twins won for the fifth time in eight games.Anytime we seemed to get something going against Gibson, he just started going soft and using your aggressiveness against you, Ventura said.Frazier went 0 for 4 and struck out twice, lowering his average to .198, and Melky Cabrera was 0 for 3 before leaving with a sore left wrist after six innings.Rookie Tim Anderson had two hits for the White Sox.MORNEAU CLOSERRecent White Sox signing Justin Morneau (elbow surgery) said he feels more like a baseball player as he takes daily batting practice. The 2006 AL MVP with the Twins could start a minor league rehab stint next week -- he said hell need at least 30 at-bats -- before a possible Chicago debut after the All-Star break.That would put Morneau in line to play at Minnesota as an opponent for the first time July 29-31.Itll be weird, he said.TRAINERS ROOMTwins: RHP Phil Hughes will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. He was already out with a broken bone above his left knee. . 3B Miguel Sano (strained left hamstring) homered Monday for Triple-A Rochester, but manager Paul Molitor said he still has a ways to go before hell be ready to end his rehab assignment.White Sox: Cabrera aggravated his sore left wrist and was replaced by LF Jason Coats in the seventh. He suffered the injury while diving for a ball on June 18.UP NEXTRHP James Shields (2-9, 6.22 ERA) makes his fifth start for Chicago and faces Minnesota RHP Ricky Nolasco (3-5, 4.95 ERA) on Wednesday night. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '