Kansas State and UCLA each ended their seasons with disappointing losses to knock them out of college football’s top-10. Jay Bouwmeester Jersey . The two teams will have a chance to rebound and end their once promising seasons with a win in the Alamo Bowl on January 1. Despite having two loses on their resume, Kansas State remained in the discussion for the College Football Playoff in December with a game against sixth-ranked Baylor looming. However, the ninth-ranked Wildcats were unable to keep up with Baylor’s high-powered offence and dropped to 0-3 on the season against top-10 ranked teams. UCLA also remained in the College Football Playoff debate despite also having two losses and sat just one win away from reaching the Pac-12 Championship and a rematch against Oregon. Stunningly, the heavily-favoured Bruins were held to just 162 yards passing and routed 31-10 by six-win Stanford. The loss gave Arizona a spot in the Pac-12 Championship as the South division representative and erased UCLA’s hopes of reaching the four-team playoff. To make matters worse for UCLA, star quarterback Brett Hundley injured a finger on his throwing in his the loss, putting his bowl availability in jeopardy. With over a month to heal, Hundley is expected to play against Kansas State in what will likely be his final game as Bruin. The redshirt junior quarterback entered the year with Heisman expectations and, though he fell short of being a finalist, the signal caller put together a solid season. Hundley finished the year with 21 touchdowns and five interceptions passing, while he rushed for another eight scores. With NFL scouts watching closely, Hundley will hope to rebound from his worst start of the season against Kansas State’s susceptible pass defence – which allowed 412 yards to Bryce Petty and Baylor. Like UCLA, Kansas State’s offence also relies on a passing attack, led by senior quarterback Jake Waters. Waters threw for over 200 yards in every game this season and finished with 3,163 yards and 20 touchdowns to six interceptions. Like Hundley, Waters also presents a rushing risk for opposing defences. Waters crossed the 100-yard mark rushing twice this season; burning Iowa State for 138 yards in September and running for 105 yards against Texas Tech. Waters will look to target fellow senior Tyler Lockett early and often against the Bruins 82nd-ranked pass defence. Lockett led the Wildcats receivers with 93 receptions, 1,351 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He posted 196 receiving yards in a game twice this season, in Kansas State’s 41-20 loss to TCU and again in their win over West Virginia. For Kansas State, the Alamo Bowl offers the opportunity to prove the team can rise to the occasion in big games. Losses to their lone SEC-opponent in Auburn and to big Big 12 rivals TCU and Baylor relegated the team to outside the top-10. Their lone win over a ranked team came in mid-October over No. 11 Oklahoma. Waters completed 15 of his 23 pass attempts for 225 yards and two touchdowns without an interception as Kansas State won 31-30, will the help of a blocked extra point in the fourth quarter. UCLA, meanwhile, will try to rebound from their embarrassing upset loss to Stanford and early ending to their season. UCLA only suffered one loss to a ranked team – to No. 12 Oregon on Oct. 11 – but suffered two losses to unranked teams. With a win, the Bruins can put together back-to-back 10-win seasons for just third time in school history. Kansas State, in Waters and Lockett’s final game, will be not be short of motivation as they hope to stay in the conversation of the Big 12’s top teams, behind TCU and Baylor. The two teams are hard to separate on paper, with a spread of two points or less favouring UCLA. If Hundley can put together a signature effort in the game coach Jim Mora said would be his last, then UCLA should take the bowl. However, Kansas State has been more the consistent team throughout the season, falling only to top-six teams. If UCLA fails to bring their full effort, as they did against Stanford, the Wildcats should be able to take advantage. Eye on Sunday QB Brett Hundley, UCLA Hundley has been a polarizing figure in the NFL draft community since before the season. Initially considered an early first-round pick, Hundley has slipped back on draft boards and even out of the first round on some. The Alamo Bowl will present a major stage for Hundley to prove why he deserves to be in the conversation with Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota as the top draft-eligible quarterback, or why he doesn’t. WR Tyler Lockett, Kansas State Lockett had a terrific season for Kansas State and, for that matter, a terrific career. At 5’11, Lockett hardly boasts ideal size, but his production is undeniable. Lockett broke Kansas State records for career receptions, yards and touchdowns this season, which were all marks formerly held by his father, Kevin. He was also named a second-team All-American for his efforts this season and should be drafted in 2015. LB Eric Kendricks, UCLA Kendricks was awarded the Dick Butkus Award as college football’s most outstanding linebacker in 2014. Every player to win the award since 2005 has been drafted in the first two rounds, including four top-10 picks. Kendricks posted a career-high 96 solo tackles in 2014 and holds the NCAA record for career tackles. After adding three interceptions and two touchdowns to his résumé this season, expect Kendricks to be heavily involved against the Kansas State offence. Shayne Corson Blues Jersey . Calgary Stampeders offensive guard Dimitri Tsoumpas announced his retirement in a team release on Wednesday. Alex Pietrangelo Blues Jersey . Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Thunder earned their first win of the set with Sundays 106-97 victory and Ibaka played a big role. After suffering a left calf strain against the Los Angeles Clippers in the previous round, Ibaka was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason.GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds starter Homer Bailey said he was "really close" to getting a multiyear deal completed on Monday with several days left before a scheduled arbitration hearing. Bailey is the last Reds player left in arbitration. He has a hearing scheduled for Thursday in Florida. He and the Reds have been working on a deal during the off-season. He wouldnt confirm reports that the sides are negotiating on a six-year deal. "Theres a lot of things that we have in place," Bailey said before the teams workout on Monday morning. "I feel the majority of its fairly worked out, except for some of the details and stuff like that. But were really close." The 27-year-old pitcher made $5,350,000 last season. He asked for $11.6 million in arbitration and the Reds offered $8.7 million, their biggest gap with an arbitration-eligible player. Bailey was the seventh overall pick in the June 2004 amateur draft. He developed into a dependable starter in the past two years, and pitched a pair of no-hitters along the way, too. The hard-throwing Texan went a career-best 13-10 with a 3.68 ERA in 2012, completing his breakthrough season by throwing a no-hitter in Pittsburgh on Sept. 28, a 1-0 victory. He threw the 16th no-hitter in franchise history last June 2, a 3-0 win over San Francisco at Great American Ball Park. Bailey became the third pitcher in Reds history to throw a pair of no-hitters, joining Johnny Vander Meer and Jim Maloney. Vladimir Tarasenko Jersey. Overall, Bailey went 11-12 with a 3.49 ERA with two complete games last season. Bailey hasnt bought a plane ticket to Florida for his arbitration hearing and hasnt bought a suit for it. He expects to have a deal in place before then. "Hopefully we can get the small stuff worked out in the next few days," Bailey said. "If not, Im going to have to go buy a suit." With Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Mike Leake, left-hander Tony Cingrani and Bailey, the Reds have a rotation that can be kept together for several years. Bronson Arroyo left as a free agent after last season, and Cingrani moves into his spot. Cincinnatis rotation finished third in the NL last season with a 3.43 ERA, its best mark since 1974. Overall, the Reds pitching finished four in the NL with a 3.38 ERA and led the league with 1,296 strikeouts, a club record. "You look at that rotation right there, I wouldnt mind any of those guys being here long term, would you?" manager Bryan Price said. "Five guys between 24 and 28 years old. Im not scratching my head wondering about any of those guys, if theyre going to be good long term. "Thats a great group right there. If we had Homer long term, Id be really excited about that." wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseyswholesale jerseys cheap soccer jerseys wholesale jerseys wholesale jerseys cheap nfl jerseys china ' ' '
