Hot AC

Friday, Oct. 26
Cincinnati at (15) Louisville

Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, Louisville; 8 p.m. (ET) on ESPN
Two of the Big East's best teams meet on a Friday night in Kentucky. Fifteenth-ranked Louisville (7-0 overall, 2-0 Big East) is led by quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and running backs Senorise Perry and Jeremy Wright. Cincinnati (5-1, 1-0) was ranked and undefeated before dropping its game against Toledo last week. The Bearcats have beaten Louisville in the last four meetings between the teams.

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#13 Mississippi State (7-0) at #1 Alabama (7-0)

[Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN]

After steamrolling through its first seven opponents, the Crimson Tide now gets to the meat of its schedule with a three-game stretch vs. #13 Mississippi State, at #6 LSU and vs. #22 Texas A&M. Thus far, Alabama hasn’t really been challenged, outscoring its opponents by almost 33 points per game. The Tide defense has been as good as we’ve seen in years, ranking first in almost all defensive categories. But while the defense understandably gets the publicity, the Alabama offense has been no slouch either, scoring 40+ in five of seven games this year. Quarterback A.J. McCarron leads the nation in pass efficiency and the offense ranks 14th nationally in scoring.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings — 8:20 P.M.

Mall of America Field, Minneapolis
Tampa Bay (2-4) quarterback Josh Freeman is the 11th-rated passer in the NFL. He'll have to contend with a Vikings' defense that is tied for third in the league with 22 sacks. With quarterback Christian Ponder committing seven turnovers in his past three starts, Minnesota (5-2) may rely on running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson's 652 rushing yards are tied for third in the NFL. He'll face a Buccaneers' run defense that ranks third in the league, allowing just 76 yards per game on the ground.

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After surviving their record sixth elimination game of the 2012 postseason on Monday night, the San Francisco Giants advanced to the 2012 World Series. There, they will face the Detroit Tigers starting Wednesday night at AT&T Park in San Fran. Here's a preview of the 2012 World Series:

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Brian Urlacher and D.J. Moore each collected turnovers to stifle potential second-half touchdown drives, and the Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 13-7, in Chicago on Monday night. It was the fourth straight win for Chicago (5-1).

The Bears led 13-0 when the Lions threatened in the third quarter, advancing the ball to the 1-yard line before Urlacher recovered a fumble by Joique Bell of Detroit (2-4). Quarterback Matthew Stafford drove the Lions back into the red zone three possessions later, only to have Moore intercept his pass from the 3-yard-line.

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Matt Cain pitched his second series-clinching game of the postseason, and the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-0, in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Monday night at AT&T Park.

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N.Y. Giants 27 — Washington 23

Eli Manning threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz with 1:13 left, and the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 27-23, in East Rutherford, N.J. on Sunday. Cruz's score came just 19 seconds after rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III had given Washington (3-4) the lead via a 30-yard TD pass to Santana Moss. Griffin had a final chance for another rally, but Moss fumbled the ball away with 39 seconds to play as the Redskins were driving on New York (5-2).

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#1 Alabama 44, Tennessee 13

Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron threw for a career-high 306 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Crimson Tide to their third straight win over Tennessee, the longest such streak in this series since 1992. Alabama’s defense continued its dominance, holding the Vols to just 79 rushing yards and limiting Tyler Bray, the SEC’s second-leading passer, to just 184 passing yards and two interceptions.

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Frank Gore ran for 131 yards and Alex Smith threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Delanie Walker to secure the win, as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 13-6, at Candlestick Park on Thursday.

San Francisco (5-2) held the Seahawks to 251 yards of total offense on its way to claiming first place in the NFC West. Down 6-3 at the half, the 49ers scored all of the second half points while stiffening on defense.

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Jhonny Peralta homered twice, and the Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees, 8-1, at Comerica Park on Thursday to sweep the American League Championship Series and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2006.

American League Triple Crown-winner Miguel Cabrera and former Yankee Austin Jackson added home runs for Detroit, and starting pitcher Max Scherzer struck out 10 Yankees, alloweing just two hits in 5-2/3 innings pitched. Series MVP Delmon Young went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Young hit .353 and drove in six runs in the series. The Tigers shelled New York starter C.C. Sabathia for 11 hits and 6 runs in 3-2/3 innings.

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