3. Funker » good as advertised.As for Oklahoma, which ran the

The mens Rio Olympic semifinals are set, but none of the winners prevailed without significant resistance. Three of the four matches went the three-set distance and each lasted more than two hours.Heres how they played out:TOP HALFRafael Nadal def. Thomaz Bellucci 2-6, 6-4, 6-2Rafas confidence is soaring: He didnt look quite as dominant Friday, but as the match wore on, Nadal looked sharper and stronger -- signs that his championship mindset is back. Its been more than two years since Nadal has won a major. But the combination of his lethal groundstrokes and determined attitude not only bodes well for the rest of Rio, but the US Open as well.Juan Martin del Potro def. Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 7-6 (4)Del Potro more than a serve and forehand: In the opening round, del Potro stunned top-ranked Novak Djokovic in large part because of his electric forehand and serve. Against Bautista Agut, del Potro moved with precision around the court, socked backhands (his much weaker wing by comparison) and played stellar defense. Del Potro also won 46 percent of return points and broke his Spanish opponent five times. Hard to imagine a bigger fairy-tale ending to the Olympics than the 6-foot-7 Argentine, who has missed more than two years worth of tennis because of reoccurring wrist injuries, hoisting gold.BOTTOM HALFAndy Murray def. Steve Johnson 6-0, 4-6, 7-6 (2)Murray is Captain Clutch: Down a break in the third set against the American Johnson, Murray looked like he might become Rios latest upset victim. But Murray broke back and eventually sent the match into a final-set tiebreaker, which he easily won. This performance came a day after the Scot fought back after losing eight straight games against Fabio Fognini to prevail. Murray is now two wins shy of winning his second straight gold medal in singles.Kei Nishikori def. Gael Monfils 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6)Nishikori catches a big break: All the credit to the fourth seed for pulling off this miracle, but a game Monfils for most of the match gacked at the worst possible time. On the Frenchmans third match point, in the third-set tiebreaker, Monfils threw in a weak double fault to make it 6-6. Nishikori took the final two points to prevail. But this battle lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes, and Nishikori looked gassed. Although his semifinal opponent, Murray, was on the court north of two hours himself Friday. Cheap MLB Jerseys China . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. http://www.cheapmlbjerseyfreeshipping.com/ . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. MLB Jerseys China . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Cheap Houston Astros Jerseys . Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. The College Football Playoff selection committee was given something to ponder by Penn State.How much value does a conference championship have? How about a head-to-head victory? The Nittany Lions now have both of those over Ohio State heading into selection Sunday.We just won the toughest conference in college football, Penn State coach James Franklin said Saturday after the Nittany Lions beat Wisconsin for the Big Ten title. Its on you now, committee.Championship weekend ended with a couple wild games, but mostly the field of four fell into place.Alabama , Washington and Clemson all took care of their business -- though the Tigers had to work much harder than the other two -- and have to be feeling good about hearing their names called when the semifinals are set. Though Washington might not feel as comfortable as the other two.Ohio State (11-1) was home, hoping it was safely in the field after being No. 2 in the committees rankings last week. But how safe are they now from a surging Penn State? The Nittany Lions (11-2) ran their winning streak to nine games by wiping out a 21-point deficit to beat Wisconsin 38-31 in the Big Ten title game .The Nittany Lions, seventh in the last rankings, are the hottest team in the country that doesnt call Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home. They beat Ohio State in October. They won the division they share with the Buckeyes and now they are Big Ten champions for the first time since 2008.Ohio State has three victories against top-10 teams, including road wins against Wisconsin and Oklahoma.The selection committee protocol states that championships won and head-to-head results should be used by the committee to separate teams that have similar resumes. Basically, they are tiebreakers. Committee chairman Kirby Hocutt has said the margin between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes the last two weeks was not all that close.What about now?Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany was on ESPN earlier Saturday calling Ohio State a lock and lobbying for a second team from his conference. The committee has not been thrilled with Washingtons strength of schedule, but would it really dump the Huskies (12-1) for another Big Ten team after they pounded Colorado in the Pac-12 title game Friday night? And if it does, which one?Michigan was fifth last week by a razor thin margin, Hocutt said, behind the Huskies.But the Wolverines were home, too.Only Penn State was able to make a final statement and what a statement it was.Clemson (12-1) won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship by beating Virginia Tech 42-35, making it a lot more exciting thaan Tigers fans probably hoped.dddddddddddd Deshaun Watson added to his Heisman Trophy resume and Clemson needed every one of the five touchdowns he accounted to hold off the Hokies.Alabama (13-0) completed its rampage through the regular season earlier in the day, crushing Florida 54-16 just for the fun of it. The Crimson Tide (13-0) probably didnt even need to win, but the machine knows nothing but destruction.Two years ago Ohio State crashed the top four with a record-breaking rout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship, bumping TCU out of the playoff position it had held going into the final rankings.The circumstances are different in so many ways this time, starting with the fact the Penn State has more ground to make up than those Buckeyes and an extra loss on its resume.If nothing else, though, the Nittany Lions have made things interesting.BIG 12The Big 12 is about to be 1 for 3 in making the College Football Playoff.The last time the smallest Power Five conference was left out of the semifinal was 2014. The result was an 18-month existential crisis for the Big 12 that led to the return of its conference championship game in 2017 and a rather public exploration of expansion possibilities. That wont happen this time around.What the Big 12 needs most of all is a healthy and humming Texas program and for coach Tom Herman to be as good as advertised.As for Oklahoma, which ran the table in the Big 12 to win its 10th title under coach Bob Stoops, it is off to the Sugar Bowl.ROW THE BOATAny drama or complications that could have come with figuring out which Group of Five champion will get a bid to the Cotton Bowl ended with Temple beating Navy 34-10 in the American Athletic conference championship game.Barring the committee suddenly falling for Temple (10-3), Western Michigan (13-0) will be the highest-ranked G5 champion and go to the Cotton Bowl. The drama now is surrounding this question: Will P.J. Fleck still be coaching the undefeated Broncos? Fleck is going to draw interest from Purdue and maybe Oregon.----NEW YEARS SIX PROJECTIONSPeach Bowl semifinal -- No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 WashingtonFiesta Bowl semifinal -- No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio StateRose Bowl -- USC vs. Penn StateSugar Bowl -- Oklahoma vs. AuburnOrange Bowl -- Florida State vs. MichiganCotton Bowl -- Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin----Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP----More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org/ ' ' '