rting a crime.Thursday (Aug. 18): USOC apologizes to our hosts in Rio and the people of Brazil for this distracting ordeal in the midst of what should rightly be a celebration of excellence

(STATS) -- If the FCS playoff field was announced a week earlier than next Sunday, the conference that might feel the best about itself is the Southern Conference, where champion The Citadel, Chattanooga, Samford and Wofford appear ready to go into the field. Tyus Jones Jersey .The last time the SoCon had four qualifiers for the playoffs is … well, never.Four would be one more than the SoCon had over the last two playoffs combined (two automatic qualifiers and one at-large bid).But Woffords road win over Chattanooga on Saturday was the result the SoCon needed to have the chance for its best playoff haul.The attrition of conference play tends to overdue itself, leaving black and blue records, and the three conferences that had the most playoff bids last season -- the Missouri Valley, CAA Football and Big Sky -- didnt necessarily get the results to fall the right way this weekend to solidify their candidate pool.Missouri Valley: North Dakota State is solidified and South Dakota State should be in the field as well. Youngstown State would make it simple with a win at Missouri State (but nothings been simple during the Penguins 10-year playoff drought) and Western Illinois hopes to nail down a bid with a road win at Southern Illinois. If both of those scenarios happen, it wont be good for Illinois States 6-5 record or Northern Iowas potential 6-5 record (with a win over SDSU).CAA: Champion James Richmond and Richmond are safe. The playoff selection committee probably wants to put Villanova into the field considering coach Andy Talley is retiring after 32 seasons, but the Wildcats should avoid losing to rival Delaware. The New Hampshire-Maine rivalry game is a playoff eliminator, but does it guarantee an at-large bid to the winner? Probably, because the winner will be 6-2 in the tough CAA, but neither boasts big-time wins heading into their matchup. Albany also can get to 7-4 with a win over Stony Brook.Big Sky: Heres the trickiest of the three conference. North Dakota and Eastern Washington are in the field. Then there are four teams hoping to get to 7-4: Cal Poly and Northern Colorado, who play each other, as well as Montana and Weber State. The one in the best shape with a win next weekend would be Cal Poly. The one with all the playoff history -- Montana -- might be on the outside looking in.A team that finishes the regular season with a 7-4 record (especially one whose resume includes a sub-Division I win) usually goes into the same basket with so many at-large hopefuls. Its a precarious spot leading into Selection Sunday when there are only so many at-large bids to go around.---=SECOND AND 10=Ten more observations from the FCS weekend:1.) The team of the week is Wofford after it went to Chattanooga and beat the seventh-ranked Mocs 36-28 for the first time since 2011. Coach Mike Ayers 7-3 squad should find itself in the Top 25 on Monday and is an expected win over VMI away of returning to the playoffs after a three-year absence.2.) While eight teams in the FCS Top 25 lost games this weekend, the top six continued to roll along, each winning by double digits. Sam Houston State, Jacksonville State, Eastern Washington, North Dakota State, The Citadel and James Madison -- ranked in that order -- are a combined 56-4.3.) Half of the 10 automatic qualifiers are set: James Madison (CAA Football), Lehigh (Patriot League), San Diego (Pioneer Football League), Saint Francis (Northeast Conference) and The Citadel (Southern Conference). Saint Francis topped Central Connecticut State 31-21 behind Zack Drayers three touchdown passes to clinch its first playoff appearance.4.) In the Big South, the Kennesaw State-Charleston Southern winner next Saturday will earn a share of the title with Liberty, but then it gets really intriguing. Charleston Southern (6-3, 3-1) cant qualify for the playoffs unless it wins the game and claims the automatic bid, which would come from owning the tiebreaker over Liberty (6-4, 4-1). The Bucs dont have the necessary six Division I wins for an at-large bid. Kennesaw State (8-2, 3-1) may not make the field even with a win over CSU because Liberty owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over KSU. The Owls have the best overall record among the three, but their resume includes three wins below the D-I level and a loss to East Tennessee State. If Charleston Southern earns the auto bid, then Liberty likely needs to win at old rival Coastal Carolina Thursday night to be an at-large factor.5.) The three conferences that dont send their champions to the playoffs are headed to great finishes. Harvard, Penn and Princeton are tied for first place in the Ivy League just one year after it had its first three-way share of the title since 1982. North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central are both 7-0 in the MEAC and end the regular season against each other next Saturday at N.C. Central. Grambling State and Southern will meet in two for the West Division title on Nov. 26 and a spot in the SWAC Championship Game against East Division champ Alcorn State, also the two-time defending conference champ.6.) It was a special Saturday for special teams players, as the season highs for punt and kickoff return yards came from a pair of senior cornerbacks, while the longest field goal of the season was matched. Lamars Brendan Langley (six interceptions, six pass breakups) will get a look in an NFL training camp next summer, and his ability to return punts will boost his stock. He scored on punt returns of 90 and 75 yards against Incarnate Word while totaling 206 yards on six returns. Daytons Cameron Stubbs needed only four kickoff returns to total 234 yards against Marist. Included were returns of 94 yards (not a touchdown) and 90 yards (a touchdown). Tennessee Tech sophomore Nick Madonia kicked a 57-yard field goal against Tennessee State to match the best that Tennessee States Lane Clark and Woffords David Marvin (twice) had earlier this season.7.) Ironically, Eastern Washington wide receiver Cooper Kupp scored on a rush and a punt return against Idaho State, but not a reception while he completed a Division I triple, adding the career receptions record (396) to his marks for receiving yards (5,994) and touchdown receptions (68). He has caught a pass in 48 straight games, an FCS record he shares with Jacksonville States Josh Barge.8.) With Austin Peay on a 26-game losing streak that is the longest in the FCS, there are not a lot of positives coming from the Ohio Valley Conference program. But freshman Kentel Williams totaled a school record and FCS season high with 399 all-purpose yards against Eastern Kentucky, including a 97-yard kickoff return and 7-yard run for touchdowns. His yardage represented the 20th-highest single-game total in FCS history and consisted of 176 rushing yards, 42 receiving yards and 181 kick return yards.9.) It took until top-ranked Sam Houston States 10th game, but the Bearkats finally trailed against an opponent. Northwestern State went ahead 13-7 midway through the first quarter, but the Bears Alfonzo McMillian blocked the extra point and the Bearkats went back ahead shortly after and went on to score the final 34 points of the first half for a 41-13 lead.10.) The carousel known as conference realignment could be spinning again. Campbell has a major football announcement scheduled for Monday, and its easy to believe the Fighting Camels, members of the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, will add scholarships and begin a move toward the Big South Conference, where they play in other sports. Also, the Grand Forks Herald reports freshly minted Big Sky champ North Dakota is negotiating a potential move from the largest FCS conference to the Missouri Valley Football Conference and its sister Summit League for other sports.---=A LOOK AHEAD=All hail the conference schedule-makers, because next Saturdays schedule will match the top two teams in three conference races: MEAC, North Carolina A&T at North Carolina Central; Ohio Valley, UT Martin at Jacksonville State; and Southland, Central Arkansas at top-ranked Sam Houston State.Other notable matchups (Saturday unless marked): Big Sky, Eastern Washington at Portland State (Friday night), Northern Colorado at Cal Poly and Montana State at Montana; Big South, Liberty at Coastal Carolina (Thursday night) and Kennesaw State at Charleston Southern; CAA, Richmond at William & Mary, New Hampshire at Maine and Villanova at Delaware; Ivy, Yale at Harvard; Missouri Valley, North Dakota State at South Dakota and South Dakota State at Northern Iowa; Patriot, Lehigh at Lafayette; and Pioneer, San Diego at Campbell.There are seven FCS-vs.-FBS matchups, and Southern Conference heavyweights are involved: The Citadel will put its 10-0 record on the line at North Carolina and Chattanooga will go to No. 1 Alabama. John Konchar Jersey . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. Bruno Caboclo Jersey . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. https://www.cheapgrizzlies.com/124p-cour...-grizzlies.html . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. When the mother of United States Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte told the media -- after a phone conversation with her son -- that Lochte had been robbed at gunpoint, the situation began to spiral out of control:Saturday (Aug. 13): Olympic indoor swimming events conclude.Sunday (Aug. 14): Lochtes mother, Ileana Lochte, tells USA Today that her son was robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro.Sunday (Aug. 14): Lochte tells NBC that he and fellow U.S. swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen were robbed early that morning at gunpoint -- while sitting in a taxi -- by men posing as police.Sunday (Aug. 14): The U.S. Olympic Committee releases a statement with the swimmers account of events. The statement says the athletes are safe and cooperating with authorities.Sunday (Aug. 14): An International Olympic Committee spokesman initially says reports of the robbery are untrue, then reverses and apologizes, indicating he was relying on earlier incorrect information from the USOC.Tuesday (Aug. 16): A Brazilian police official tells The Associated Press that authorities cant find the taxi driver or witnesses, and that the swimmers were unable to provide key details in police interviews.Tuesday (Aug. 16): Lochte tells USA Today that the swimmers didnt initially report the incident to the IOC because we were afraid wed get in trouble.Tuesday (Aug. 16): Lochtes attorney, Jeff Ostrow, reiterates that the robbery did occur and says Lochte has returned to the U.S.Wednesday (Aug. 17): A Brazilian judge orders the seizure of Lochtes and Feigens passports. The U.S. State Department issues a statement encouraging those involved to cooperate with Brazilian law enforcement.Wednesday (Aug. 17): Brazilian authorities pull Bentz and Conger off a plane at the Rio airport, preventing them from leaving the country. Feigen tells USA Today he remains in Rio and is cooperating with authorities. A police source tells ESPN Brasil the sswimmers were interviewed at the airport, with a Brazilian lawyer and representatives from the USOC and the U. Kyle Anderson Jersey. S. Consulate present.Thursday (Aug. 18): A Brazilian police official tells The Associated Press that Lochte fabricated the account of the robbery.Thursday (Aug. 18): A Brazilian official tells the AP that Conger and Bentz confirmed Lochte fabricated the story.At a news conference, Brazilian police said the swimmers were not robbed at gunpoint at a gas station as they claimed, but a law enforcement official did say a security guard used a gun to control the situation involving Lochte, Feigen, Conger and Bentz.Thursday (Aug. 18):?According to an ABC News report,?Brazilian police have recommended that Lochte and Feigen be indicted on charges of falsely reporting a crime.Thursday (Aug. 18): USOC apologizes to our hosts in Rio and the people of Brazil for this distracting ordeal in the midst of what should rightly be a celebration of excellence.Friday (Aug. 19): In a post on Instagram, Lochte apologizes for his role in the incident. I waited to share these thoughts until it was confirmed that the legal situation was addressed and it was clear that my teammates would be arriving home safely, he wrote.Saturday (Aug. 20): In an interview with NBC that aired on Saturday, Lochte cites his own immature behavior for turning an incident involving unruly actions by the four swimmers into an international incident. Thats why Im taking full responsibility for it, because I overexaggerated that story, Lochte told NBC. If Id never done that, we wouldnt be in this mess. Those guys would never be in Rio, or were in Rio. None of this would have happened. It was my immature behavior. The 11-time Olympic medalist, Lochte has said he hopes to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. ' ' '