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Were almost at the halfway point of the season, the time of year when the top teams in the country start to separate by rising to the top of their conference standings.Clemson has emerged as the clear frontrunner to win the ACC, Washington has proven to be the team to beat in the Pac-12, and Alabama is still ... Alabama. In the Big Ten, the Ohio State-Michigan game cant get here soon enough, and the Big 12 is simply playing from behind, once again depending upon a backloaded league schedule to impress the selection committee when it matters most.In the Group of 5, Houstons top four dreams were shattered on Saturday with an American Athletic Conference West Division loss to Navy.Conference play has that effect, as teams knock each other out of the postseason picture and undefeated ranked teams -- gasp! -- lose. There are still 11 undefeated teams remaining, including nine from the Power 5 conferences. At this point last year, there were 16 unbeaten teams, and only one - Clemson - stayed that way.Can this years Power 5 frontrunners stay the course until Dec. 4 when the College Football Playoff selection committee releases its final ranking? The sport has a tendency to sort itself out.In many ways, it already has.Heres a closer look at the College Football Playoff pecking order heading into Week 7. For more, watch tonights College Football Playoff: Top 25 (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET).Tier I: Alabama stands aloneUntil proven otherwise, Alabama remains king. Not even Ole Miss, which was the only team to beat the Tide in each of the past two seasons, was able to finish the job on its home turf this year. Heres the tricky part: Alabama is beginning its toughest three-game stretch of any season since 2005, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. The Tide will travel to Tennessee this weekend, come home to face Texas A&M on Oct. 22, then have a bye week to prepare for a road trip to LSU on Nov. 5.According to ESPNs Sharon Katz, an average FBS team would have a .05 percent chance to win all three games, which includes three opponents ranked in the top 12 of ESPNs Football Power Index (two on the road). Alabama isnt exactly average. ESPNs FPI gives the Tide a 29 percent chance to win its next three games.If it does? Alabama stands alone -- again.Tier II: Win and youre inCandidates: Ohio State, Clemson, Michigan, Washington, Texas A&MThis group likely features the Big Ten champ, Pac-12 champ and ACC champ -- a forecast of three of the top four playoff spots. Add in the SEC champ (See: Tier I) and theres your top four.Only one question here: Whos the Big Ten champ?No, we cant fast-forward to Nov. 26, when Ohio State hosts Michigan, but that will be The Answer to the Big Tens playoff question. Its possible -- but extremely unlikely -- for the runner-up to get into the top four, especially if the other candidates here run the table and win their leagues. According to ESPNs FPI, Clemson has a 36 percent chance to enter bowls undefeated, Michigan 34 percent and Washington 31 percent. We will know a lot more about the Buckeyes on Saturday after their trip to Wisconsin, an opponent Michigan already defeated.And then theres Texas A&M. The Aggies already have wins over UCLA, Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee, but none of it will amount to a top-four spot if the Aggies cant win at Alabama on Oct. 22 (See: Tier I). ESPNs FPI gives A&M a 29.3 percent chance at the upset. If the Aggies can pull it off, it will change the playoff picture instantly.?Tier III: Playoff worthy but needs helpCandidates: LouisvilleThe ACC appears to be the Power 5 conference with the best chance to get two teams in the top four in spite of the Cardinals narrow, thrilling loss at Clemson on Oct. 1. The only reason this scenario isnt far-fetched is because Louisville has looked like a top-four team with Lamar Jackson at quarterback, and its favored to win each remaining game by at least 70 percent.The problem is Houston is the only ranked team remaining on the Cardinals schedule, and Houston just lost to Navy. Now, Houston might not even win its own West Division in the American Athletic Conference. It would still be a respectable win for Louisville, but it wont carry as much weight with the committee as it would have had the Cougars been fighting for a spot in the top four. Louisvilles best hope is not only to win out, but to have another conference champion with a weaker strength of schedule slip up and have two losses.Tier IV: The Power 5 undefeatedsCandidates:?Baylor, Nebraska, West VirginiaBaylor has almost no margin for error, as it faces the same nonconference strength-of-schedule questions it had in the first two years of the CFP. With wins against SMU, Northwestern State and Rice, an undefeated season is the Bears only realistic hope at cracking the top four.Nebraska has quietly gotten off to a 5-0 start, but the Huskers have back-to-back road trips at Wisconsin (Oct. 29) and Ohio State (Nov. 5) -- the only two games on their schedule ESPNs FPI doesnt project them to win. If they escape those trips, its time for a more serious conversation. The same can be said for West Virginia, which has played only one FBS team (Kansas State) with a winning record. If the Mountaineers are still undefeated heading into November, after road trips to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, thats only half the battle. Texas, OU and Baylor still await. China NFL Jerseys . LOUIS -- St. Discount Nike NFL Jerseys . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. http://www.discountjerseysnfl.com/ . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Cheap Jerseys From China .S. Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and he stayed in front Tuesday until he completed a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Cheap Jerseys For NFL . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. On Monday the NFL returns to Mexico for the first time in 11 years.Since the last time the game was played in the country in October 2005, the league has focused on London, which has played host to 17 games since 2007. The London dividends have been huge crowds and television ratings, which have more than doubled.As the league attempts to broaden its international appeal with a commitment to foreign markets, Mexico was a natural place to return, hoping to boost viewership, which has risen 28 percent in the past five years alone. NFL owners made a commitment in 2015 to play international regular-season games through 2025.In the late 1960s, NFL games came to Mexico on TV and became popular about a decade later. That is why, after the Dallas Cowboys, who owe some fan affinity to proximity, the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers -- franchises that dominated at that time -- are often listed as favorite teams among Mexicans.Today, theres no shortage of places to watch the NFL. Mexicans get nine live games a week, which through a new deal with ESPN includes Sunday and Monday Night Football, and for the first time this season, the Red Zone channel. The Texans-Raiders game will be the first Monday Night Football game to be played outside the U.S. Another advantage: Mexicos time zones overlap those in the U.S.To capitalize on the growing interest, the league has had an office in Mexico for 18 years and has sold 20 sponsorships to native companies, including the likes of Visa, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Papa Johns.London, by some, has been considered to have a real opportunity to have an NFL franchise in the future. Mexico has been discussed less, even though 15 teams are within a four-hour flight of Mexico City. Based on demographics and population density, FiveThirtyEights Nate Silver estimated that only six NFL cities have more ffans than Mexico City does -- New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas and Houston.ddddddddddddBut NFL fans alone, all 28 million of them in Mexico and an estimated 1.49 million in Mexico City, dont make up good enough business reasons to consider it for a relocation or expansion market.It would be cheaper to run a team in Mexico City than in the U.S., but there would also be obstacles.While the Monday Night Football game sold out in minutes, tickets could be had for face value of $27 at the lowest levels. Families have less disposable income than in many of NFL cities in the U.S.Also, President-elect Donald Trumps foreign policy statements during the campaign focused on keeping jobs and manufacturing in the U.S., and specifically called out the North American Free Trade Agreement that eliminated many barriers to trade between the U.S. and Mexico. If he follows through, it could strain relations between the U.S. and Mexico.While its clear Mexico City will not have a permanent team in the next four years, the question remains whether what the league is doing can be damaged by the political environment as Trump takes over.The big question is whether people in Mexico feel comfortable to continue to support an American product like the NFL, said Chris Rogers of Panjiva, a global trade data company. If Donald Trump doesnt like Mexico, do Mexicans like America?The complexities of going outside the U.S. are vast, but the rewards are also great. The NFL might be the No. 1 league in the U.S. by a wide margin, but as the world gets smaller, the benefits of being more global like the NBA are even greater.Heading back to Mexico and adding to the hype by putting it on Monday Night Football is a start. ' ' '