News of the day

The College Football Playoff teams will not officially be announced until Sunday at 12 p.m. Eastern, but LSU has punched their ticket to the bracket. The question is who LSU will play next in the playoff, and what bowl game the Tigers will be playing in.

LSU is expected to either be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff. Heading into the conference championships, LSU was ranked No. 2 behind Ohio State. That was before LSU’s blowout win over No. 4 Georgia in the SEC Championship.

Our latest projections have LSU jumping the Buckeyes as the top seed. It will be up to the committee as to how they compare LSU’s win over Georgia with Ohio State’s potential victory over Wisconsin.

LSU Makes Case for the No. 1 Seed in College Football Playoff

If this comes to fruition, LSU would likely take on No. 4 Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. This means the Tigers would play back-to-back games at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The committee could also keep Ohio State as the No. 1 seed as long as they win the Big Ten championship. If this happens, LSU would likely play a No. 3 seeded Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.

Prior to their matchup with Georgia, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron dismissed the idea that the SEC title game did not matter because they would likely make the playoff even with a loss.

“I ain’t even thinking about that,” Orgeron said, per Saturday Down South. “I don’t buy that. We’ve got to win. That’s not coming into play. Not even considering that.”

During a media conference call, College Football Playoff committee chair Rob Mullens detailed how the groups compared LSU with Ohio State after the latest rankings were released.

“Two really, really good teams, first of all,” Mullens noted. “That’s what the committee sees. Ohio State now with their impressive win over Michigan on the road has four wins over top-25 teams. LSU has three very impressive wins over top-25 teams. As we’ve talked in past weeks, both really have dynamic offenses, both have good defenses.”

…read more

Source:: Heavy.com

Featuring six current or former UFC Champions, the UFC 245 fight card is loaded from top to bottom with icons of the sport. From one of the UFC’s most dominant former champions ever in Jose Aldo to the exciting new king of the welterweights, Kamaru Usman, UFC 245 features at least one household name in every single fight.

Even the sole matchup to not feature a current or former champion, Urijah Faber vs. Petr Yan, boasts an exciting storyline of MMA legend against one of the sport’s most exciting up and comers.

An astounding three title fights are scheduled for the night. Kamaru Usman gets his first shot at defending the welterweight belt in the main event and takes on Colby Covington while Max Holloway defends his featherweight crown against the surging Alexander Volkonovski in the co-main event.

Despite not being listed either the main event or co-main event, women’s pound-for-pound queen Amanda Nunes is also on the card and looks to solidify her spot as the most fearsome women’s MMA fighter with a second career win over Germaine de Randamie.

UFC 245 takes place Saturday, December 14 at 10 p.m. ET in Las Vegas. It will air as a pay-per-view on ESPN+.

Order UFC 245 Now

There’s Some Bad Blood Between Kamaru Usman & Colby Covington

After snatching the belt from longtime welterweight king Tyron Woodley in his last fight, Kamaru Usman takes on former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington in his first-ever defense of the belt. Usman picked up a scarily dominant win over Woodley and showed off a much-improved stand-up game to go with his dominant wrestling.

Covington, on the other hand, is looking for redemption after having his interim title belt stripped by the UFC. Forced to pull out of a title eliminator with former champion Woodley due to nasal surgery, the UFC opted to relieve Covington of his belt and instead gave the shot to Usman – who promptly won. This has led to some bad blood between the two fighters with Covington using the passing of Blackzilians founder Glenn Robinson (the gym where Usman trains) as fodder for trash talk leading up to their showdown.

Covington hasn’t lost since winning the interim belt over Rafael dos Anjos, and although he has only fought once in the past year, his win was an impressive …read more

Source:: Heavy.com

Kevin Shorter via Flickr

SALT LAKE CITY — Single-family homes in Salt Lake County are more expensive than ever, a recent report shows.

The median price for a house in the third quarter of 2019 rose to $386,000, according to data from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors — more than $100,000 higher than it was five years ago.

The rising prices are indicative of Utah’s growing national profile, said Scott Robbins, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, as more people from out of state choose to make their home in the Beehive State.

“Ten years ago, Salt Lake City wasn’t really part of the discussion about Western cities,” Robbins said. “Now we are, definitely.”

But as home prices go up — and finding an affordable house in the Wasatch Front becomes more and more difficult for many, especially first-time homebuyers — the number of sales have gone down.

For many young couples and families looking to buy their first house, Robbins said, having a two-income household has become a necessity. Questions of affordability are further complicated when children enter into the picture.

“It’s really changing the dynamics” of what people consider when deciding whether to buy a home, Robbins said.

The median price for a single-family home in the county in the third quarter of 2014 was $258,000, according to data from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. That number has shot up steadily since then, sharply increasing even since the start of 2019: In the year’s first quarter, the median home price was $355,000.

As prices rise in Salt Lake County, Utah County has become a hot spot for home sales, as has Tooele. At the same time, many young people are choosing to stay in Salt Lake City, but as renters rather than buyers.

For those who are buying in Salt Lake County, the majority of sales that take place are for less than $500,000. But there aren’t many homes available in that price range — or in any price range, for that matter.

Inventory is the lowest it’s been in 20 years, Robbins said. This has affected not only young and lower-income homebuyers with a limited price range, but also older people looking to downsize but unable to find a smaller house.

While Salt Lake housing may be more expensive than ever, it’s still relatively cheap when compared to other cities, such as Seattle …read more

Source:: Deseret News – Utah News