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There was no chaos — no crazy final weekend upset. Instead, there were strong performances, a couple of close calls, and an impressive comeback in Indianapolis. So when it comes to the College Football Playoff, Sunday's final rankings should prove to be relatively easy for the selection committee — just push the same top four they had last week. If only it were that simple. For the CFP, chalk in the final four is the worst-case scenario. The selection committee really, really needed some chaos on the final weekend — a reshuffling of the landscape so that there would be no expectation that the final rankings would match last week's. Things did not break its way, and the resumes only became stronger for five of the six teams that had a realistic shot of making the playoff. Alabama is undefeated and smoked Florida by 38 points to win the SEC. Nick Saban's team has to be in the playoff as the No. 1 seed. Clemson, the No. 3 team coming into the weekend, held o...

LeBron's heroic homecoming DOWNTOWN Cleveland was turned into a sea of wine and gold as jubilant fans gave a hero’s welcome to NBA superstar LeBron James and his Cavaliers teammates, who brought home the city’s first major sports title in more than 50 years. It is estimated some 1.3 million fans swamped the area for the parade. Confetti in the team’s colors rained down as the parade snaked through the city, with the NBA championship trophy in a black pickup truck, and team members traveling in separate vehicles. The Cavaliers, led by series MVP James, pulled off the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history to dethrone the Golden State Warriors, winning Game 7 on Sunday, 93-89, to complete an improbable rally from a 3-1 deficit to take the title. These Cavs fans aren’t playing, perching themselves on ledges at a nearby carpark to get a good view of the title celebrations. Picture: AP The win brought Cleveland its first major sports champion since the Brow...

On Saturday night, a fighter from Independence, Ohio, became, for a few minutes at least, the happiest person in Brazil. “I’m world champion!” Stipe Miocic growled as he was encircled by the people closest to him who had traveled to Curitiba, Brazil, to witness UFC 198. “I’m world champion!” The 33-year-old American captured the UFC heavyweight title in grand fashion, stunning into silence a stadium packed with nearly 45,000 mixed martial arts fans, who had come expecting Fabricio Werdum to make his first successful defense of the belt. The week leading up to the fight came across as a sort of crossover period for Werdum. At the age of 38, having defeated Cain Velasquez to take the title 11 months ago in Mexico City, Werdum acted as carefree as any fighter could. Perhaps too much. He took to making goofy faces, a sort of silly brand identity to complement his easygoing personality. Paper cutouts of the odd expression were handed out to fans at the Arena da Baixada ...