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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories 10 things to know for Tuesday Wounded, but not broken Emergency Services Get Up & Go: Dec. 16 Cases of chicken pox, whooping cough in Jackson County can put others at risk Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency Services Police utilize social media to track down sex offender Man dies in early morning crash near Prospect Emergency services Lawsuits claim sexual assault and whistle-blower retaliation at OnTrack Politics and Elections Time running out for O&C funds GMO vote recount still shows little change GMO labeling votes recounted under careful watch in Jackson County Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means East Medford's the charm Education St. Mary's plays host to youth robotics tournament A lesson in giving Hedrick student council works to clean up the language Table Rock solid: Elementary school praised for keeping attendance up Eagle Point superintendent invited to White House Environment No fish, no funding for problem dams Most residents speak against gas pipeline Coalition asks for defense of GMO ban Home Help: Make your new house feel like home Bighorn sheep reintroduced along Klamath River State News As deadline nears, Oregon's health insurance signups still low Gang-related shooting in Portland sends 3 youth to hospital GMO labeling proponents concede defeat Tribes can decide whether to legalize pot Lawyer says football player had altercation Nation - World Grand jury won't indict Ferguson cop in shooting Obituaries Lisa Marie Strom Janice Lynn Dahlen Death Notices Diana DeVoe Logan Ronald Bombick Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Sports Latest Stories Payton gets triple-double in OSU romp Costly triumph Saints rout Bears, take lead in South Griffin, Jordan lead Clippers over Pistons Interim coach making most of situation Varsity 541 College Sports Payton gets triple-double in OSU romp No. 8 Gonzaga rolls over Texas Southern Marian presents big test for Raiders No. 3 Florida State turns to practice field Smith big in SOU’s rout of Pacific Union Pro Sports Costly triumph Saints rout Bears, take lead in South Griffin, Jordan lead Clippers over Pistons Deal puts Headley at third for Yanks, not A-Rod NFL’s top rusher, Murray, has broken hand Community Sports Keeping Fit: Runners need to do more than run to stay in shape RESULTS/STANDINGS LOCAL EVENTS Business Latest Stories Free lunchtime presentation covers business planning Ride & Drive: 2015 Nissan Juke Nismo Honda’s CR-V goes uptown again Rental owners group reports 2.48 percent vacancy rate Blog: It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like... Real Estate News Rental owners group reports 2.48 percent vacancy rate More sales, but no change in residential housing median price Dear Monty: Violation of HOA rules creates conflict Farmers file suit over GMO crop ban People In Business People in Business, Dec. 3 People in Business, Nov. 18 Transportation Allegiant Air will resume Medford-Phoenix service May 22 Agriculture K-BAR ignites agriculture boom beneath Table Rocks Southern Oregon wine industry had a robust 2013 Farmers file suit over GMO crop ban Lawsuit seeks to overturn Jackson County's GMO ban or net $4.2 million for farms Opinion Latest Granlund cartoon: Cheney and waterboarding Letters to the Editor, Dec. 16 Our View: Ashland Hospital's remarkable turnaround Michael Gerson: For a politics of repair Granlund cartoon: Abandoned pets and Christmas Editorials Our View: Ashland Hospital's remarkable turnaround Our View: Councilors' criticism less troubling than secrecy Other Views: Riley leaves strong legacy at OSU Our View: Cheers and jeers Our View: Sentencing reform pays dividends Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, Dec. 16 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 15 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 14 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 12 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 11 Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: Forest thinning means water for the future Guest Opinion: Suit threatens family farms and democratic vote Guest Opinion: SOU pool decision short-sighted Guest Opinion: It's time for biologists to let OR-7 go dark Guest Opinion: It's time Oregon put a price on carbon Lifestyle Latest stories Dr. Elaine Heffner: ‘The Gift of the Magi’ Family Time: How to handle grief during the holidays Food for Thought: How to keep your kitchen organized during the holidays Blog: HAIKU MONDAY: On Steelhead Rumor Mill Neal Simon: A rivalry to die for Food Food for Thought: How to keep your kitchen organized during the holidays Kitchen Call: Shopping for the cook Community blog: Gobble gougeres as appetizers or with light meals Community blog: Choose presents cooks can cherish, not regift Roasted vegetables are rich, flavorful Home and Garden Home Help: Create a happy homemade holiday Rogue Valley Christmas light displays Remodeling your attic: Know the details before you start Dear Monty: When a lawyer’s fee is four times higher than the quote Home Help: Make your new house feel like home Health Community blog: Saving Lives Health Watch: Curb your kitchen cravings this holiday season Community blog: Unsubscribe.com Community blog: Redefining Family Dr. Murray Feingold: Say it like you mean it Hiking Biking Faith Religion news: Pope aims to expedite sex abuse rulings Milestones and Achievements Ashland celebrates 'Wild' screening with Cheryl Strayed Asante merger stabilizes Ashland hospital's finances Time running out for O&C funds Hire 'em and pray for snow Madi-Stiles Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories John Nilsen's holiday concerts kick off this week Ashland Blues Society hosts open jam TMTO's 'Christmas Carol' a big, warmhearted extravaganza Phil Newton & David Pinsky at 2Hawk Winery Live Music in Local Clubs Theater Meet the real Jacob Marley This Nutcracker ballet will have a superhero twist Plumbing the depths of meaning TMTO presents 'A Christmas Carol: The Musical' Theater review: 'Fiddler' charms audience in magical Camelot performance Music John Nilsen's holiday concerts kick off this week Ashland Blues Society hosts open jam Rating old-timers’ albums from 2014 Phil Newton & David Pinsky at 2Hawk Winery Handel's 'Messiah' set for this weekend Community Events Rogue Valley Christmas light displays It's a Hamazon holiday at the Playwright Public House 4 Things to do this Week Soroptimist holiday home tour features four houses this weekend Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Dining Over Easy serves 'pop-up' brunch Sundays Ooblies Artisan Waffle Sandwiches Brunch at Loft Brasserie The Bohemian Club Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Our View: Ashland Hospital's remarkable turnaround ... Cases of chicken pox, whooping cough in Jackson County can put others at risk ... Cat shot with arrow, man jailed ... Our View: Ashland Hospital's remarkable turnaround ... Cases of chicken pox, whooping cough in Jackson County can put others at risk ... Cat shot with arrow, man jailed ... COLLEGE FOOTBALL In college football politics, only selection committee's vote matters By Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times MailTribune.com By Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times Posted Nov. 26, 2014 @ 6:50 pm By Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times Posted Nov. 26, 2014 @ 6:50 pm » Social News The midterm, low-turnout, national elections of early November have given way to a season in which the political froth can’t be contained in its own moonshine jug. We are two Sundays removed from a vote that will ultimately decide who will become champion of the United College Football States of America. This is the time of year when the gloves come off and the rhetoric goes up. Coaches who, weeks ago, preached confidence that everything would work out have fired their handlers and gone straight to the bully pulpit. Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher is done thinking just winning games will secure a spot in the new four-team playoff. He has watched support for his Seminoles, who have won 27 straight games, evaporate after a series of closely contested wins against highly suspicious opponents. The College Football Playoff committee has already taken the unprecedented step of dropping Florida State, the only remaining undefeated team among the Power Five leagues, behind one-loss Alabama and one-loss Oregon. Gary Danielson, the Southeastern Conference-CBS affiliated announcer, delivered the line of the weekend when he said of Florida State: “One more win and they could be out of it.” It is actually unlikely Florida State, if it wins out against Florida and Georgia Tech, will be denied one of the four playoff spots. It could not have been comforting, though, when the USA Today coaches’ poll on Sunday dropped Florida State to No. 2 behind Alabama. Losing the confidence of the coaches is like, back in the day, losing Walter Cronkite’s trust. You can see why Fisher is starting to get defensive. His team, defending national champions who have not lost in two years, got overtaken by Alabama after its victory against lower-division Western Carolina (which held an early 7-0 lead). Fisher grew incredulous after his team won another last-seconds win, this one over Boston College. “We’re undefeated,” Fisher snapped. “We’re undefeated. We finish every game. Everybody else in the country has not finished at least one game.” (Columnist interrupts coaches’ rant here to note Marshall is also undefeated.) Fisher continued: “We’ve finished every one of them. Isn’t that the object? Isn’t that the object?” You can always tell a coach is stumping when he starts repeating his sentences. The networks, too, are intricately tied to the politics of college football. Fox vs. ESPN is the Fox vs. MSNBC of sports. The network operated by media maven Rupert Murdoch, who has launched yet another frontal attack on ESPN, leans to the causes of the conferences Fox broadcasts. Fox announcers are more prone to talk up the Pac-12 and Big 12, while CBS and ESPN carry more water for the SEC. It works like this: last weekend, a Fox announcer suggested Alabama (SEC) could “perhaps” pass No. 4 Texas Christian (Big 12) in the rankings if the Crimson Tide defeated No. 1 Mississippi State. Perhaps? Alabama went by TCU like a race car by a dump truck. This was after a CBS studio host, in a garden-variety highlight break, churlishly noted how lowly Kansas was leading TCU ... “the team ranked ahead of the Tide.” This weekend, Fox’s Big 12 political gunboats laid out all the reasons why Baylor deserved the playoff spot over Mississippi State. This is terrific theater as long as you know, at all times, what company is signing the announcers’ checks. The political football got hotter Sunday with polling information released by Nate Silver and his FiveThirtyEight blog, about as independent as you can get under the ESPN umbrella. Silver made his name beating the pants off traditional political pollsters who used tools such as “gut instincts” to project presidential winners. He leaned on the “science” part in political science and employed algorithms to clean his opponents’ clocks. Silver has moved operations to ESPN to take on the gerrymandering of college football scheduling. Silver confirmed what we have “gut instinct” projected for weeks: that a two-loss Pac-12 champion from the South Division has at least a coin flip’s chance of making the four-team playoff. Silver calculates UCLA has a 50 percent chance of making the playoff if it wins the Pac-12 title, but it’s actually higher than that. Silver shows a lack of understanding of the inner workings by wondering: “Would the committee take a two-loss UCLA team ahead of a one-loss Florida State team?” The answer to that question is a resounding: yes! Silver’s algorithms, based on 10,000 simulations of the rest of the regular season, give Alabama an 81 percent chance of making the playoff. The Crimson Tide is followed by Oregon (76 percent), Florida State (59 percent), TCU (47 percent), Ohio State (42 percent), Baylor (33 percent), Mississippi State (33 percent) and UCLA (14 percent). UCLA’s chances, of course, can increase dramatically because the Bruins are the highest-ranked contender left with a chance to beat a team as highly ranked as Oregon. Silver’s projections low-ball the West Coast because he uses a model “based on an analysis of how games have historically changed in the standings of the Coaches’ Poll.” Silver adds: “Perhaps the playoff committee will view things differently.” The playoff committee already has, showing considerably more deference to the Pac-12. The committee is packed with a disproportionate number of members with West Coast ties. The panel also lost a voice for the South, former Mississippi star Archie Manning, who had to temporarily step aside to address a lingering knee injury. Two weeks ago, the committee ranked Pac-12 teams 17 total rankings positions higher than they were in the coaches’ poll. Silver can process all the information he wants, but the only rankings system that counts on Dec. 7 is the proprietary property of the College Football Playoff. Its committee has already demonstrated it is not afraid to leap a one-loss team over one that is undefeated. It stands to reason it won’t be afraid to jump a two-loss Pac-12 champion ahead of a one-loss champion. This is a reason why UCLA fans should be encouraged and, maybe, why Fisher should be afraid. By Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times MailTribune.com By Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times Posted Nov. 26, 2014 @ 6:50 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. fantasy football DeMarco Murray Injury Update and Fantasy Football Impact Dec. 16, 2014 at 11:58 am Fantasy Football Week 16: Flex and PPR Rankings Dec. 16, 2014 at 11:28 am Week 16 Waiver Wire: Examining Top Fantasy Football Targets Dec. 16, 2014 at 11:00 am Week 16 Fantasy Stat Predictions Dec. 16, 2014 at 10:00 am Week 16 Fantasy Buy or Sell Targets Dec. 16, 2014 at 9:00 am Week 16 Fantasy Position-by-Position Breakdown Dec. 16, 2014 at 8:55 am calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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