Call it Upset Awareness Weekend in college football.With only one game matching ranked teams -- No. 25 Baylor is at No. 9 Oklahoma -- the possibility exists for some unlikely results. The only Top-25 team not favored by odds makers against its unranked foe heading into Week 11 is No. 11 West Virginia, a two-point underdog at Texas.Five things to know for a week with potential for surprises -- or a lot of status quo.GAME OF THE WEEKSouthern California at No. 4 WashingtonIf any of the teams in playoff position are going to go down, the Huskies are most likely. If you havent seen USC since its 1/3 start, this team does not look much like that one. The Trojans have won five straight and quarterback Sam Darnold is quickly establishing himself as a star.The Huskies got some bad news this week with the injury to pass rusher Joe Mathis (foot surgery). Still, Washington would appear to have an advantage on the lines of scrimmage, where USC has had to piece it together on both sides because of depth issues and injuries.HEISMAN WATCHDOnta Foreman of Texas has run for 591 yards in his last two games to take over the national rushing lead from San Diego State star Donnel Pumphrey.Those are staggering numbers but they come with one qualifier: Foreman ran for 341 yards last week against Texas Tech, and the Red Raiders defense is so bad that there has to be at least a little bit of a mark down. Still, Foreman has been tremendous and the Heisman hype is rightfully starting to come his way.This week West Virginia and a defense that has been legit good come to Austin. If Foreman can go for big numbers against the Mountaineers, hell validate the hype.NUMBERS TO KNOW82 -- The number of gains of 10 yards or more from scrimmage No. 2 Michigan has allowed this season, second-fewest in the nation. The Wolverines visit Iowa. The Hawkeyes offense has 102 plays of at least 10 yards, tied for 117th in the nation.50 -- Oklahoma State has averaged half a hundred during its seven-game winning streak against Texas Tech. The Cowboys have scored at least 45 points in each of their last five games against the Red Raiders and gone over 50 four times.39 -- The number of victories Nick Saban has while coaching a team that is ranked No. 1. All those victories have come during his 10-year run with Alabama, and with another one this week against Mississippi State, hell match Woody Hayes and Bobby Bowden for the most wins with a top-ranked team by any coach.UNDER THE RADARRutgers goes to Michigan State in a battle (or something) for last place in the Big Ten East. The Scarlet Knights and Spartans are both 0-7 in the conference and 2-7 overall.Not surprising that Rutgers is in this predicament in a rebuilding season under first-year coach Chris Ash. Michigan States downfall is one of the most startling developments of the season.Under coach Mark Dantonio, the Spartans have won two of the last three Big Ten titles and at least 11 games in five of the last six seasons.COACH IN NEED OF A WINThe season started with speculation about Kevin Sumlins job security at Texas A&M. The Aggies (7-2) jumped out to a 6-0 start and that pretty much went away. Even after a loss to top-ranked Alabama, Texas A&M fans had reason to be feeling good.Now, all of a sudden, Sumlin could use a victory Saturday against Mississippi to keep everyone calm. Hell have to get it with backup quarterback Jake Hubenak filling in for Trevor Knight (shoulder), who is out for the season. Ole Miss has its own problems with star quarterback Chad Kelly (knee) now out for the season.Lose this one and A&M would go into its regular-season finale against LSU on a three-game SEC losing streak.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAPStephen Curry Warriors Jersey . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Alen Smailagic Warriors Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. https://www.warriorsrookiesshop.com/Klay-Thompson-City-Edition-Jersey/ .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. Alfonzo McKinnie Warriors Jersey . Haas said he "felt a lot of pain" in his right shoulder when he slammed his racket to the ground in frustration after losing his serve at 3-3 in the first set. Nate Thurmond Warriors Jersey . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. This story appears in ESPN The Magazines Dec. 12 issue. Subscribe today!The elation of the World Series is now behind us, and thus begins the season when every player joins the same team against an opponent that happens to pay them. Major League Baseball is on a tenuous 21-year streak of labor peace since the beginning of the last work stoppage, when the 1994 strike devastated the sport, destroyed the Montreal Expos and paved the way for the steroid era. Uncomfortable truths, all, but truths nevertheless.The truths of the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (the current one expires Dec. 1) arent necessarily heroic from the selfish eye of the fan, who couldnt care less about labor unless a lockout or a strike looms. Its players vs. owners, millions vs. billions. There dont appear to be any apocalyptic issues that would stop the game, but that doesnt mean a work stoppage wont occur.The issues that would radically shape baseball for the better-determining once and for all whether the game continues down its path of everyday interleague play and, if so, whether it adds the DH to the National League or abolishes it in the American-are likely not on the table. Nor is the nonstarter of shortening the season to accommodate the increase of playoff teams (which has reduced the necessity of a 162-game season) and to avoid bad postseason weather. What is on the table is, in a sense, climate change. Baseball has slowly been trying to turn its culture closer to footballs-look at how the commissioners office has pushed for more power (see: Alex Rodriguez being suspended for a full season in 2014 during the Biogenesis scandal without failing a drug test), and witness the primacy of baseballs odious qualifying offer, which, although it might survive the negotiations, shouldnt.On its face, the qualifying offer -- which can be extended to eligible free agents who have been with a team for the entire previous season -- seems to work for everyone. It mimics the NFLs franchise tag with one major exception: Unlike NFL players, MLB players can reject it -- and they have, roundly, over its four-year existence. In football, not one of the 27 quarterbacks in the Hall of Fame was ever a healthy, in-prime unrestricted free agent. In baseball, a player who has accepted the qualifying offer would earn $17.2?million for the 2017 season and wouldd get to become an unrestricted free agent after.dddddddddddd The player makes a lot of money and puts off free agency for a year. The team, meanwhile, doesnt have to compete for its own player but isnt tied to a long-term contract. A win-win, right?Wrong. Since the inception of the new system in 2012, 64 qualifying offers have been made by teams, with only five accepted. This year Neil Walker of the Mets and Jeremy Hellickson of the Phillies accepted. The other eight players offered this year did not, aware of their worth on the open market. Yoenis Cespedes, for example, rejected the Mets qualifying offer, knowing full well some team will likely commit to him for more than one year; in turn, the Mets will receive a draft pick from whatever team signs him.The qualifying offer isnt destroying baseball, but its not helping either because it continues to expose old wounds. The sport is a $10?billion industry and yet, 41 years and untold profits later, ownership still hasnt been willing to accept the concept of player movement without some form of compensation in return. The philosophy behind free agent compensation has always been specious: that if a team loses a player to free agency, it deserves compensation for having developed the talent. The counter is more sensible: Baseball controls a drafted player until he hits six years of service time. Then that player should be free to join the marketplace to shop his services, the debt to his club paid.The gap between MLB philosophy and reality is wide. The qualifying offer is really designed to dampen free agency and depress salaries, to give teams pause before signing free agents because they dont want to lose the draft picks attached to signing one. On the other side, it discourages teams from retaining their own players with long-term deals and encourages them to acquire draft picks. A team, for example, that needs Cespedes might not sign him because it doesnt want to give up compensation, which means not doing what it takes to win. Winning, in fact, often falls a distant second to making and saving money. The pursuit of the World Series is the summer game. That game is over, giving way to the winter game: owners vs. players battling over money and control. ' ' '