bly play in deeper or two-quarterback leagues, where the impact was more severely felt. It was an unusually poor performance for the game-managing, typically-low-risk Smi

The College Football Playoff selection committee showed us Tuesday that a team can drop from No. 11 to out of the rankings entirely with one bad loss, as Florida did.It showed us that a top-four team can suffer a bad loss to an unranked opponent, as Texas A&M did to Mississippi State, and fall just four spots because of the high regard the committee has for a head-to-head result, such as the Aggies win over No. 9 Auburn.More than anything, Tuesdays rankings were a reminder that there are 12 people -- not computers -- deciding the top four teams in the country, and quite simply, they are free to change their minds on a weekly basis (hello, No. 4 Washington).All the more reason for the top contenders to leave no doubt they deserve a spot in a semifinal game by avoiding an upset with just three weeks remaining in the regular season. No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Michigan are all playing unranked opponents. No. 4 Washington is playing a ranked opponent only because the committee put USC in at No. 20 this week, and deservedly so, after the Trojans have reeled off five straight wins.No. 5 Ohio State faces an unranked opponent, and so does No. 6 Louisville. Each of the top six teams, with the exception of Washington, are favored by at least 20 points.So what happens if -- gasp! -- theres an upset this week?Lets take a look at the possible scenarios:If No. 1 Alabama loses to Mississippi State: Not going to happen, but if it does, Alabama remains in the same must-win situation its in now, meaning it has to beat Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Nov. 26. Regardless of what happens to Alabama on Saturday, if Auburn wins out, the Tigers will win the SEC West. One loss didnt kept the Tide out of the playoff in each of the past two years, and it would not do so this year. But a loss could drop Alabama out of the top four next week, just as it did Texas A&M. Ohio State (No. 10 Penn State) and Louisville (to No. 2 Clemson) would each have a better loss, and who you lose to matters. Thats why the Aggies, having lost to the Tide, were ahead of Washington last week, and why Ohio State didnt get the same treatment Tuesday. Then again, one thing that hasnt been up for debate in the committee room is Alabamas status as No. 1. It might not drop out of the top four at all.If No. 2 Clemson loses to Pitt: The Tigers would still be on the fast track to the ACC championship game, and they would still have the head-to-head win over Louisville -- two criteria in the committees protocol that would be strikes against Louisville. Its unlikely Clemson would fall behind Louisville, especially considering the committee didnt drop No. 8 Texas A&M behind No. 9 Auburn on Tuesday in spite of a bad loss, specifically because it wanted to continue to honor the Aggies win in their head-to-head matchup. The question is whether Clemson would fall behind Ohio State. The Tigers would have better wins than the Buckeyes (Auburn, No. 18 Florida State and Louisville) but a worse loss.If No. 3 Michigan loses to Iowa: The Wolverines would probably drop out of the top four in the committees third rankings, but it wouldnt keep them out of the Big Ten championship game, which keeps their playoff hopes alive. Michigan owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Penn State, but it would have to win out (including a victory over Ohio State in Columbus) to win the Big Ten East.If No. 4 Washington loses to No. 20 USC: Do not -- repeat, do not -- write off the Huskies. If their only loss is to a ranked USC team, and Washington goes on to win the Pac-12 championship, it would still have three wins against Top 25 teams (No. 15 Utah, No. 23 Washington State and the winner of the Pac-12 South in the title game). However, in that scenario, without a conference title, Washington would be compared against the other one-loss teams and probably fall behind Ohio State and possibly Louisville in the committees next rankings. There would still be enough left on Washingtons schedule, though, to potentially close that gap in the end. Washington plays the 12th-most-difficult remaining schedule, according to ESPNs Football Power Index. The only game Washington absolutely cannot afford to lose is the Apple Cup, because if Washington State enters that game undefeated in league play (or even with one loss) and beats the Huskies, it captures the Pac-12 North.If No. 5 Ohio State loses to Maryland: Buh-bye, Buckeyes. Forget about Michigan for a minute. Ohio State would then need Penn State to lose two more games, an unlikely scenario considering the Nittany Lions remaining schedule includes Indiana, Rutgers and Michigan State. ESPNs FPI favors PSU in each of its remaining games by at least 80 percent.SuperlativesPlayer in the spotlight: Washington WR John Ross. QB Jake Browning gets all the ink for the Huskies, but Ross 14 touchdown catches leads all Power 5 players. An FBS-best 10 of those have come in the red zone, and Ross is four touchdowns away from tying the schools single-season record for receiving touchdowns.Matchup to watch: Washington defense vs. USC QB Sam Darnold. The Huskies have one of the best defenses in the country, but how much will they miss their leading pass-rusher, Joe Mathis, in this matchup? Mathis has missed the past three games and is out for the season with a foot injury, and Darnold has been integral to the Trojans five-game winning streak, throwing 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions during that span. His mobility is a big reason no Power 5 player has been sacked at a lower rate (1.4 percent).Upset watch: This is only the Wolverines second trip outside their home state all season. Its also the second time under Kirk Ferentz that Iowa has faced an opponent thats 9-0 or better. The last time? 2008, when Iowa upset No. 3 Penn State. The Hawkeyes were 5-4 then, too.Remember when: The Oregon-Stanford game was big? Theres still plenty at stake for both teams, but this is the first time since 2008 that neither team will win the Pac-12 title.Dont forget about: No. 16 West Virginia at Texas. Mountaineers fans want to know why their one-loss team is ranked so low, and selection committee chair Kirby Hocutt said its because they have played only one team ranked in the Top 25, No. 13 Oklahoma State, and lost. Texas is coming off back-to-back wins and will have home-field advantage against a Big 12 team that clearly has no margin for error.Under-the-radar game: No. 9 Auburn at Georgia. The focus has already shifted to the Iron Bowl, but wait a minute: This isnt a gimme road trip. The last top-10 team to visit Sanford Stadium? No. 9 Auburn, which lost 34-7 in 2014. Georgia has won eight of the past 10 games in this series.Dubious distinction: Notre Dame plays Army on Saturday in San Antonio, and the only year in which Notre Dame lost to both Army and Navy was 1944, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Each of those games was played at a neutral site.Hand it over: Clemson can clinch the Atlantic Division with a win against Pitt. Clemson hasnt lost to an unranked team at home since October 2008, when it lost to Georgia Tech.Cheap Authentic Air Max . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Air Max Cheap Australia . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. http://www.airmaxwholesaleaustralia.com/ .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Air Max Wholesale Australia . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. Air Max Clearance . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball.Shall we rename the Winners section the Newtons?Cam Newton seems to have a stranglehold on the fantasy leaderboard these days, but Sunday didnt present only good news for Week 1s members of the 20-point club, as Antonio Brown, A.J. Green, Carlos Hyde and Alex Smith let their owners down.As we do each Sunday right here, we recap the weeks winners and losers from a fantasy perspective, complete with applicable game and historical data. Check back after the conclusion of the 1 and 4 p.m. ET (and, when applicable, Sunday Night Football) games for our picks of the weeks best and worst.WinnersCam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers: Ho-hum. Another week, another spot atop the fantasy leaderboard, as Newtons 29 fantasy points were tops through the Sunday 4 p.m. ET games. If his lead holds, it would mark the fourth time in the past seven regular-season weeks that he has been the top scorer, as he also led in 2015 Weeks 13 (tied with Marcus Mariota), 15 and 17. Since the beginning of last season, the only other players to top the leaderboard multiple times have been Devonta Freeman (2015 Weeks 3-4), Matthew Stafford (2015 Weeks 6 and 12, though he was tied for the lead in Week 12) and Russell Wilson (2015 Weeks 12 and 14, tied with Stafford in Week 12).Fantasy owners who made Newton the No. 1 quarterback off the board -- many of them bold enough to spend as high an overall selection as the No. 13 indicated by his ESPN ADP -- have been pleasantly rewarded thus far.Travis Benjamin, WR, San Diego Chargers: No Keenan Allen, no problem. Benjamin, signed to a four-year, $24-million contract by the Chargers during the offseason, became the teams de facto No. 1 wide receiver in the wake of Allens season-ending injury. In Week 2, he made a statement in his first full game in the role, topping all wide receivers through the 4 p.m. ET games with 23 fantasy points. It sure seems that Benjamin has a thing for Week 2s, as his career-best score, and only one greater than his total on Sunday, came with the Cleveland Browns, 29 fantasy points in 2015 Week 2. He also made the most of his targets, catching all six for a 29-point PPR day. To put that into perspective -- and perhaps cast some light on the Chargers wide receiver pecking order going forward -- Benjamin saw at least six targets in eight of his 16 games for the Browns in 2015, and he matched teammate Tyrell Williams (12 fantasy points on six targets) for the team lead in the category.Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Panthers: Benjamin has played a big part in Newtons success these first two weeks, following up his 15 fantasy points in the NFL Kickoff game with 22 on Sunday, matching Corey Coleman for second among wide receivers through the 4 p.m. ET games. After whispers that Benjamin might be on a snap count to begin his first season since recovering from a torn ACL, he played 49 of 68 offensive snaps in Week 1. Well soon get a final snap count for his Week 2, but the 37 fantasy points he has in consecutive weeks shattered his previous best of 35, set in Weeks 10-11 of 2014. Its quite an encouraging comeback so far for the 2014 first-rounder.Corey Coleman, WR, Cleveland Browns: He certainly justified his No. 15 overall selection -- first among wide receivers -- in the 2016 NFL draft on Sunday, scoring 22 fantasy points to match Benjamin for the positions second-best score through the 4 p.m. ET games. To put Colemans effort into perspective, only six different Browns wide receivers (rookies or not) have scored more than that in a game since the team rejoined the NFL in 1999: Travis Benjamin, Antonio Bryant, Braylon Edwards (four times), Josh Gordon (four times), Quincy Morgan (twice) and Dennis Northcutt.Jimmy Garoppolo, QB, New England Patriots: One could make the claim that Garoppolos week warrants more of a negative spin, but he did score 21 fantasy points for his owners who were bold enough to start him in 9.6 percent of ESPN leagues, that all before getting injured roughly four minutes shy of halftime. In doing so, Garoppolo, still a free agent in 83.8 percent of leagues, exceeded the magic 20 threshold we demand from the position. Its the most scored by a quarterback in the first half of a game since three managed more in 2015 Week 15: Brock Osweiler (27, en route to 28), Cam Newton (24 of 41) and Kirk Cousins (22 of 35).Isaiah Crowell, RB, Browns: Through two games, its apparent that Crowell is the Browns starting/go-to running back, and he concluded Sundays 4 p.m. ET games with 20 fantasy points, second so far for the week and tops among Sunday players. More importantly, though, he had 18 carries and 19 touches to Duke Johnson Jr.s three and seven, after winning those battles in Week 1 by margins of 12-3 and 15-6. Three of Crowells best single-game fantasy-point totals have come in his past six regular-season games (26 in 2015 Week 14 was his best; this weeks 20 is now tied for his second-best; 14 during 2015 Week 16 was his fifth-highest total).Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons: After dropping 24 fantasy points on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1, Ryan followed it up with another 27 in Week 2, giving him a league-leading 51 through two weeks. Scaling the 25 point fantasy plateau is a rarity for Ryan, as he had gone 20 games between performances of at least that many (2014 Week 144 was his last one).dddddddddddd Perhaps more importantly for future-matchup evaluation, Ryans game came at the expense of the extremely disappointing Oakland Raiders defense, which has now afforded a league-leading 57 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks (they allowed 30 to Drew Brees in Week 1).Melvin Gordon, RB, San Diego Chargers: For the second consecutive week, Gordon scored a touchdown -- remember that he didnt have a single score in 2015 -- and he managed exactly 17 fantasy points for the second straight game. That gives him 34 for the season, which is more than he had in any six-game span in 2015. He might also be in line for a more prominent role in the coming weeks following Danny Woodheads early departure due to a knee injury.LosersFantasy owners of Doug Martin, Thomas Rawls, Arian Foster, Danny Woodhead and Ameer Abdullah: All five running backs made early exits from Sundays games due to injury, with none reaching 10 carries and only Rawls totaling 10 touches before his departure. For suggestions on who to pick up and/or how to deal with this rash of running-back injuries, check out Eric Karabells blog later this evening.Rawls stat line was the one that stood out: He ran seven times for minus-7 yards, finishing with one fantasy point merely thanks to his three catches for 15 yards. Thats the worst rushing yard total by a running back who had at least five attempts in a game since LaRod Stephens-Howling had minus-14 yards on eight carries in 2012 Week 3, and Rawls three stuffs (held to a loss) matched his 2015 Week 4 career high.Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams: Well, at least he wasnt one of the many running backs injured in Week 2, but Gurleys six fantasy points on Sunday were only three more than Abdullah (the leader from the previous group), and they gave him back-to-back games in single digits for only the second time in his career (2015 Weeks 12-13). Queue the panic amongst Gurleys owners, and while its seemingly outrageous to remind them that this was a wretched matchup for him on paper and that they should remain patient, there are some who might have their doubts about him.To give you a sense of how special a talent Gurley is, consider that even with these two stinkers, he now has 186 fantasy points through his first 15 career games, comparing favorably to the running backs in the chart to the right.Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers: Queue panic among Browns fantasy owners who made him the No. 1 consensus pick during the preseason. OK, OK, thats exaggerating -- no one should be that reactionary -- but after he was started in 99.9 percent of ESPN leagues, Browns mere three fantasy points (seven in PPR) mightve sunk a lot of his teams. He managed 11 targets in this one, and only one other time in his career did he score so few or fewer fantasy points in a game where he was targeted at least that much: two (six in PPR) on 11 targets in 2012 Week 6.A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals: Browns counterpart across the field didnt fare much better, converting his eight targets into three fantasy points (and just five in PPR). Such a low score is even more unusual for Green than it is for Brown, as this was only the 10th time in Greens 78 career games (12.8 percent) than he scored three or fewer fantasy points; Browns was his 18th in 88 career games scoring three or fewer (20.5 percent).Carlos Hyde, RB, San Francisco 49ers: One of five running backs to reach the 20-point fantasy threshold during Week 1 -- he had exactly 20 -- Hyde was promptly started by owners in 58.4 percent of ESPN leagues on Sunday, but provided his teams one-tenth of that, or two points. Hyde takes a lot of flak for playing on a losing team, a point more strongly made in 2015, but bear in mind that in only one of his eight games played last season was he held to as few as two fantasy points (Week 4).Alex Smith, QB, Kansas City Chiefs: Only a handful of fantasy owners -- he was started in 7.6 percent of ESPN leagues -- absorbed Smiths three-point fantasy disaster on Sunday, but those who did probably play in deeper or two-quarterback leagues, where the impact was more severely felt. It was an unusually poor performance for the game-managing, typically-low-risk Smith, as he hadnt had a game with that few fantasy points since 2012 Week 6 (two) when he was a member of the 49ers.Golden Tate, WR, Detroit Lions: Known more for his PPR-scoring prowess rather than in standard, Tate let owners down in both formats on Sunday, scoring only one fantasy point (and three in PPR) for the owners who started him in 52.8 percent of ESPN leagues. Through two games, Tate has just five fantasy points on 16 targets; he had scored more than five points in 18 of his 32 career Lions games entering the 2016 season.Jameis Winston, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Though Andrew Lucks Weeks 1-2 drop-off ended up being the greater of the two (a 24-point decline), Winstons fantasy point total dropped from 25 in Week 1 to a mere three this week, fueled by four interceptions and a lost fumble. It was by far a career-worst for the sophomore, who never scored fewer than 12 fantasy points in a game in 2015 (Weeks 3, 4 and 10). ' ' '