Postseason Schedule
American League Championship Series
Yankees vs. Rangers
New York
Texas Game 1: Fri. Oct. 15: Yankees at Rangers, 8:07 p.m., TBS
Game 2: Sat. Oct. 16: Yankees at Rangers, 4:07 p.m., TBS
Game 3: Mon. Oct. 18: Rangers at Yankees, 8:07 p.m., TBS
Game 4: Tue. Oct. 19: Rangers at Yankees, 8:07 p.m., TBS
Game 5:* Wed. Oct. 20: Rangers at Yankees, 4:07 p.m., TBS
Game 6:* Fri. Oct. 22: Yankees at Rangers, 8:07 p.m., TBS
Game 7:* Sat. Oct. 23: Yankees at Rangers, 8:07 p.m., TBS
National League Championship Series
Giants vs. Phillies
San Francisco
Philadelphia Game 1: Sat. Oct. 16: San Francisco at Philadelphia, 7:57 p.m., FOX
Game 2: Sun. Oct. 17: San Francisco at Philadelphia, 8:19 p.m., FOX
Game 3: Tue. Oct. 19: Philadelphia at San Francisco, 4:19 p.m., FOX
Game 4: Wed. Oct. 20: Philadelphia at San Francisco, 7:57 p.m., FOX
Game 5:* Thur. Oct. 21: Philadelphia at San Francisco, 7:57 p.m., FOX
Game 6:* Sat. Oct. 23: San Francisco at Philadelphia, 3:57 p.m., FOX
Game 7:* Sun. Oct. 24: San Francisco at Philadelphia, 7:57 p.m., FOX
Debating Ohio State's claim to top spot in polls
Stewy Mandel si.com
If it's mid-October, and if the consensus preseason No. 1 team just lost, that can only mean one thing: That all other topics go out the window, and the Mailbag dost overfloweth with e-mails complaining about the polls.
So, why is Ohio State a consensus No. 1? You picked on Nebraska's résumé a couple weeks ago, but Ohio State doesn't have a win against a team currently ranked in the Top 25 either. If it's fair to be skeptical of Nebraska, why not Ohio State?
-- Scott, New York
Shouldn't we be taking Oklahoma more seriously? A lot of attention is being paid to a lot of other teams, but Oklahoma seems to have the most quality wins at this point (Florida State, Air Force and Texas). With the Big 12 seemingly a bit down, will Oklahoma have a chance to jump some of the teams ahead of it?
-- Drew, Boston
First of all, there's a very simple reason why Ohio State is No. 1: The Buckeyes had been No. 2 since the preseason, they've won all their games and the team ahead of them lost. End of story. But I'd hardly call them "consensus." They received barely half (34 of 60) of the first-place votes in this week's AP poll, with four other teams (Oregon, Boise State, TCU and Oklahoma) garnering nods as well. The Buckeyes haven't done anything to merit dropping them, but I won't argue that there are more deserving teams at the present time. In fact, according to Jeff Sagarin, Ohio State has played the 117th-toughest schedule in the country so far (including FCS teams).
Mind you, I didn't hear a single gripe about Ohio State's schedule before Sunday. That may be because no one was focused on the then No. 2 team, or it may be because of what happened to several of its previous and future opponents. Miami, the source of the Buckeyes' signature win to date, got crushed by Florida State. Michigan not only lost its first game, but lost to now 6-0 Michigan State, bringing to light the fact that the Spartans and Buckeyes don't play this year. And Penn State, normally one of the marquee opponents on OSU's schedule, clearly stinks. In August, Ohio State was looking at a schedule that included four preseason Top 25 teams (Iowa, Wisconsin, Miami and Penn State). Now that number's down to two (Wisconsin and Iowa).
If one were to vote for a new No. 1 team based purely on résumé-to-date, it'd be hard to argue against Oklahoma. The Sooners scheduled ambitiously out-of-conference, and are undefeated against Sagarin's No. 15 schedule. That SOS is higher than for any of the other undefeated teams. And OU's 47-17 rout of Florida State looks that much more impressive now that FSU crushed Miami last weekend. But the Sooners' defense has been shaky and they had trouble closing out teams like Cincinnati and Utah State. Because these are humans voting and not computers, they've shown more confidence so far in No. 4/5 Nebraska -- which hasn't played anyone of note, but is blowing people out behind Taylor Martinez's heroics -- than No. 6 Oklahoma, which has looked more mortal while playing a much tougher schedule.
That's why we hear so much talk about "style points." Note that in Sagarin's "politically correct" power rankings -- the version used by the BCS, which leaves out victory margin -- Oklahoma ranks third, Nebraska 10th. In his regular rankings, which do take into account the scores, it's almost the opposite: Nebraska sixth, Oklahoma 12th. As for Ohio State: 15th straight-up, 23rd modified. Clearly, Sagarin's computer hasn't properly taken into account Terrelle Pryor's improvement.
Santonio Holmes denies SI story
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Santonio Holmes didn't play the no comment card when asked about a recent Sports Illustrated article that contends he admitted to taking money from an agent while in college.
On Wednesday in front of his locker, Holmes denied the allegations.
"I had no recognition of it until I was contacted by my agent and by PR," Holmes said. "It was probably something thrown out there to further tarnish my career. But everything happens for a reason. The allegations are false that were made by this guy, whoever this reporter is who said that I took money. It's all false."
When told that Josh Luchs was the source of the information, Holmes said he was unaware of who that was and had never come into contact with him. Luchs is a former agent who says he once paid players and named names in the Oct. 18 edition of Sports Illustrated. He said Holmes never directly took money from him, but Luchs said in the article that Holmes told him that he was already taking money from another agent.
The Sports Illustrated story contains Holmes' denial at the end of the story, but another agent, Steve Feldman, confirms Luchs' version.
"Whoever it is, I would like him to come face-to-face with me and talk to me about the issue," Holmes said.
Asked point-blank if he took money from anyone while he was in college, in violation of NCAA rules, Holmes straightened up and spoke deliberately.
"I'm in my fifth year in the NFL. I'm a Super Bowl MVP," Holmes began. "I have not been to the table to take any money from anybody from any team, and I asked to take money from a guy I didn't even know? Seriously? It's self-explanatory."
The Jets wide receiver returned last week from a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. It was his second violation -- his first came after he was cited for marijuana possession. Holmes was also sued for throwing a glass at a woman in a nightclub, but another person admitted to throwing the glass.
The Pittsburgh Steelers opted to trade the Super Bowl MVP for a fifth-round pick this spring after his violation of the substance abuse policy.
Luchs mentioned another Jet in his story, former Purdue tight end Dustin Keller. He said that Keller was unusual in that he paid his own way to visit agents, rather than risk violating any rules.
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