Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork. china jerseys .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. cheap china jerseys . Abduraimova had not won a tour-level match since 2009 but was a wild-card entry in Tashkent and broke her opponent twice in each set to reach the second round. Second-seeded Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania advanced easily by beating Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1, while No. replica jerseys china . Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema scored two goals each Wednesday night in a 6-1 rout of Schalke in the first leg of their second-round matchup. "We played a very, very good match," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "We got well into the match, scored two early goals and that opened the game and left us able to counter and to use the speed of our players. https://www.chinajerseysreplica.us/ Part of handling fantasy advice, when it comes to the NHL, is answering inevitable questions about whether a certain player will bounce back or keep up his current pace. One of the first things I want to do is find out whether or not a player is getting chances and one of the first places Ill look is to shots on goal per game. For some players, this can be revealing of a change in role -- more ice time, better linemates, power play time, whatever -- and an indication that, indeed, that offensive breakout is supported by underlying stats or, on the other hand, that there is jusfication for lowering expectations. Comparing last season to the current season, I picked out 114 players that have played at least 10 games in each season and had more than a half-shot-per-game difference, either positively or negatively. Some of these players played little bits in either season, which present sample size issues (for example, Erik Karlssons 4.65 shots on goal per game in 17 games last year was going to be crazy difficult to maintain over a larger sample of games), but the indicator is the objective here -- finding out whether the change in production might be supported by taking a step further back to gauge shots generated. Among those recording the largest per-game increases, David Perron, Chris Kreider and Ryan Kesler have been tremendous contributors to their teams, but scanning through the list, players like Mike Santorelli, Jaden Schwartz, Andrej Sekera, Jason Garrison and Alex Ovechkin are among those whose improved production is supported by their increased shot output. Perron has been even better than expected for the Oilers, and has been one of their leaders lately, but hes generating far more than he ever did in St. Louis. Santorelli and Schwartz are playing more significant roles this season (Schwartz in part because of Perrons departure), while Sekera has been asked to handle more puckhandling responsibility on Carolinas shallow blueline. Ovechkin is back to launching shots at the rate that made him the games premier goal-scorer. On the other hand, there are players that have struggled to this point in the year and their shot numbers suggest thats to be expected. David Clarkson, Matt Moulson, Alexander Semin and Jiri Tlusty are among those forwards to see the biggest declines in their shots per game compared to last season. No surprise, then, that their goal and point production is down too. The move to Buffalo has not been kind to Matt Moulson and David Clarksons decision to sign in Toronto has come with some pains as he has been suspended for a dozen games and, due to injuries, hasnt established a steady combination of linemates. Semin and Tlusty were part of one of the leagues best lines last season, with Eric Staal, but Staals production has improved this year only once they were no longer playing together. There are some surprises on these respective ends of the shooting spectrum, because their production hasnt been dramatically affected. Matt DAgostini has been getting an opportunity to play in a scoring role since he was picked up by the Buffalo Sabres, but is sitting on one point in 15 games this season, despite a respectable shot total. Anaheims Matt Beleskey is generating more shots than ever before, but has just one goal thanks to scoring on just 2.9% of his shots thus far. The Blues T.J. Oshie has been rolling along for much of the season, racking up points alongside Alexander Steen and David Backes, but Oshie also has just four goals in 31 games, thanks to both a career-low shooting percentage (7.8%) and career-low in shots per game (1.65). I cite these examples to show that changes in shot production dont automatically mean a players point production is automatically destined to follow. Nevertheless, I like shots on goal as an indicator, a first place to look before digging deeper, if necessary. The players with the widest shot-per-game differences from last season (minimum 10 games played in both seasons): Player Pos. Team 12-13 Sh/GP 13-14 Sh/GP Differential David Perron Edmonton LW 1.75 3.45 1.70 Chris Kreider N.Y. Rangers LW 0.83 2.44 1.61 Ryan Kesler Vancouver C 2.12 3.66 1.54 Nathan Gerbe Carolina LW 1.52 3.03 1.51 Tyler Johnson Tampa Bay C 0.79 2.18 1.39 Chris Higgins Vancouver LW 1.88 3.17 1.29 Jeff Carter Los Angeles RW 2.77 3.83 1.06 Mike Santorelli Vancouver C 1.03 1.97 0.94 Matt DAgostini Buffalo RW 1.14 2.07 0.93 Jamie Benn Dallas LW 2.68 3.61 0.93 Andrej Sekera Carolina D 0.89 1.81 0.92 Jaden Schwartz St. Louis LW 1.11 2.03 0.92 Lee Stempniak Calgary RW 2.40 3.31 0.91 Matt Beleskey Anaheim LW 1.45 2.33 0.88 Brad Richards N.Y. Rangers C 2.39 3.26 0.87 Philip Larsen Edmonton D 0.94 1.79 0.85 Mark Giordano Calgary D 1.23 2.07 0.84 Mathieu Perreault Anaheim C 1.21 2.03 0.82 Ryan Smyth Edmonton LW 1.47 2.28 0.81 Ryan Garbutt Dallas LW 1.64 2.44 0.80 Eric Nystrom Nashville LW 1.00 1.80 0.80 Jason Garrison Vancouver D 2.00 2.80 0.80 John Carlson Washington D 2.02 2.82 0.80 Matt Gilroy Florida D 0.93 1.69 0.76 Phil Kessel Toronto RW 3.35 4.09 0.74 Matt Read Philadelphia RW 1.72 2.44 0.72 Brandon Dubinsky Columbus C 1.72 2.44 0.72 Corey Perry Anaheim RW 2.91 3.63 0.72 Alex Ovechkin Washington RW 4.58 5.29 0.71 Patrick Sharp Chicago LW 3.14 3.83 0.69 Logan Couture San Jose C 3.15 3.82 0.67 Dan Hamhuis Vancouver D 1.30 1.97 0.67 James Neal Pittsburgh RW 3.40 4.06 0.66 Adam Pardy Winnipeg D 0.35 1.00 0.65 Marian Hossa Chicago RW 2.90 3.55 0.65 Chris Kunitz Pittsburgh LW 2.35 3.00 0.65 Kris Russell Calgary D 1.24 1.88 0.64 Reilly Smith Boston RW 0.92 1.55 0.63 Ryan Johansen Columbus C 2.10 2.73 0.63 Patrick Marleau San Jose LW 3.13 3.76 0.63 Martin Hanzal Phoenix C 2.38 3.00 0.62 Pavel Datsyuk Detroit C 2.28 2.89 0.61 Craig Smith Nashville RW 1. cheap jerseys from china. 89 2.50 0.61 Mike Cammalleri Calgary LW 2.32 2.92 0.60 John Moore N.Y. Rangers D 0.97 1.56 0.59 Dan Boyle San Jose D 2.11 2.69 0.58 David Schlemko Phoenix D 1.17 1.75 0.58 Clarke MacArthur Ottawa LW 1.55 2.12 0.57 Mason Raymond Toronto LW 1.72 2.29 0.57 Jonathan Ericsson Detroit D 0.76 1.32 0.56 Andrew Shaw Chicago RW 1.33 1.88 0.55 Matt Irwin San Jose D 2.08 2.62 0.54 Duncan Keith Chicago D 1.94 2.47 0.53 Ryan OReilly Colorado LW 2.28 2.81 0.53 Anze Kopitar Los Angeles C 2.09 2.62 0.53 Kyle Turris Ottawa C 2.46 2.97 0.51 Tom Gilbert Florida D 0.84 1.35 0.51 Alex Tanguay Colorado RW 1.11 1.62 0.51 Brent Seabrook Chicago D 1.38 1.89 0.51 Ryan Malone Tampa Bay LW 1.54 2.04 0.50 Stephane Robidas Dallas D 0.96 1.46 0.50 Nazem Kadri Toronto C 2.23 1.73 -0.50 Tim Kennedy Phoenix LW 1.85 1.35 -0.50 Brad Marchand Boston LW 2.02 1.52 -0.50 T.J. Oshie St. Louis RW 2.17 1.65 -0.52 Luke Schenn Philadelphia D 1.72 1.20 -0.52 Peter Harrold New Jersey D 1.57 1.05 -0.52 Damien Brunner New Jersey RW 2.80 2.27 -0.53 Erik Johnson Colorado D 2.06 1.52 -0.54 Paul Gaustad Nashville C 1.52 0.97 -0.55 David Booth Vanouver LW 2.25 1.70 -0.55 Shawn Matthias Florida C 2.21 1.65 -0.56 Kyle Brodziak Minnesota C 1.84 1.26 -0.58 Troy Brouwer Washington RW 2.36 1.76 -0.60 Jack Johnson Columbus D 2.18 1.58 -0.60 Dany Heatley Minnesota RW 2.31 1.71 -0.60 Patrik Elias New Jersey LW 2.46 1.85 -0.61 Daniel Girardi N.Y. Rangers D 1.76 1.15 -0.61 Jannik Hansen Vancouver RW 2.11 1.48 -0.63 Patric Hornqvist Nashville RW 3.63 3.00 -0.63 Richard Clune Nashville RW 0.98 0.35 -0.63 Andrei Loktionov New Jersey C 1.68 1.03 -0.65 Dan Cleary Detroit LW 1.94 1.29 -0.65 Brian Flynn Buffalo RW 1.88 1.23 -0.65 Jonathan Huberdeau Florida LW 2.33 1.67 -0.66 Drayson Bowman Carolina LW 1.84 1.16 -0.68 Shane OBrien Calgary D 1.00 0.31 -0.69 Pierre-Cedric Labrie Tampa Bay LW 0.84 0.15 -0.69 Lauri Korpikoski Phoenix LW 2.31 1.61 -0.70 Scott Gomez Florida C 1.49 0.79 -0.70 Francois Beauchemin Anaheim D 1.54 0.84 -0.70 Ryan Callahan N.Y. Rangers RW 3.20 2.50 -0.70 Josh Bailey N.Y. Islanders LW 2.00 1.27 -0.73 Marian Gaborik Columbus RW 3.21 2.47 -0.74 Brad Richardson Vancouver C 1.68 0.94 -0.74 Trevor Lewis Los Angeles RW 1.92 1.16 -0.76 Cody McLeod Colorado LW 1.65 0.88 -0.77 Jiri Tlusty Carolina LW 2.44 1.65 -0.79 Martin Erat Washington LW 1.53 0.73 -0.80 Martin Havlat San Jose RW 2.23 1.42 -0.81 Alexander Semin Carolina RW 3.41 2.59 -0.82 Daniel Paille Boston LW 1.52 0.67 -0.85 Magnus Paajarvi Edmonton LW 1.79 0.92 -0.87 Daniel Briere Montreal RW 2.56 1.68 -0.88 Mark Letestu Columbus C 2.00 1.06 -0.94 Jamie McGinn Colorado LW 2.72 1.75 -0.97 Matt Moulson Buffalo LW 3.28 2.29 -0.99 Ryan Wilson Colorado D 1.92 0.80 -1.12 Mikael Backlund Calgary C 2.75 1.63 -1.12 Carl Hagelin N.Y. Rangers LW 2.75 1.63 -1.12 Zac Dalpe Vancouver C 1.80 0.63 -1.17 Erik Karlsson Ottawa D 4.65 3.12 -1.53 David Clarkson Toronto RW 3.75 2.17 -1.58 Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. 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