There are still about 2 1/2 months remaining in Major League Soccers regular season but the time has come to separate the wheat from the chaff, the contenders from the pretenders.Fridays match in Vancouver between the Whitecaps FC and San Jose will either clarify or cloud the playoff picture. The sides are battling for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.Vancouver (8-10-6, 30 points) enters the match on the heels of back-to-back losses on the road to FC Dallas and Colorado, the top two teams in the league. The Whitecaps FC are two points in front of San Jose (6-6-10, 28 points) and two points behind Portland in the standings.San Jose has just eight matches left on the schedule and Vancouver has 10. Both teams understand the need to win -- and to do so now.On Wednesday, the Earthquakes added an offensive threat for the stretch run when they signed forward Henok Goitom, an experienced striker whose had success playing in both Spain and Sweden and scored a goal in Italys Serie A in his only appearance.The 31-year old Goitom has an extensive international pedigree, with 78 professional club tallies, one goal as member of the Swedish national team and four with the youth national team.Its time for players to step up, Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson said. (San Jose) is a very physical team and theyve got someone who can score goals up top, so we know its not going to be easy.San Jose will carry a four-match unbeaten streak to the Pacific Northwest.San Jose has never won a match at BC Place, a stretch covering seven contests in Vancouver. The Earthquakes forged a 1-1 draw in their first-ever road meeting versus Vancouver in 2011 and have since lost their past six matches by an aggregate score of 14-6.Eddie Mathews Jersey Braves . Cuban testified Thursday that he was upset when the companys CEO told him news that would reduce the value of his shares, for which hed paid $7.5 million. But he said he did nothing improper when he sold those shares over the next two days. Bobby Doerr Jersey Red Sox . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/larry-bowa-jersey-cubs-254 .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Daniel Descalso Jersey Cubs . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Zack Short Jersey Cubs .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift.The College Football Playoff selection committee doesnt meet for three more weeks, and heres why: It takes at least two months for conference races to sort themselves out and for the best teams in the country to separate from the rest of pack.Were almost halfway through the season and have a much better idea of which teams to take seriously -- and which to eliminate. Heres a look at the major lessons learned in Week 6:Houston is out The Cougars playoff hopes ended with their loss to Navy, and now they need help just to win the American Athletic West division. It was the game that changed the playoff picture the most; Houston was an X-factor with the potential to knock a second Power 5 conference out of the top four. Houstons chances at another New Years Six bowl are also in critical condition because it would have to win the AAC to have a chance at becoming the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion in the selection committees final top 25. The Cougars need Navy to lose twice in order to get back into the conference race.Tennessee is in a must-win situation against Alabama The Vols nine lives have officially expired. After losing to Texas A&M, Tennessee needs to beat Alabama next week, or it will open the door for Florida to possibly win the East. If the Vols have two losses and the Gators win out, Florida will win the East, which makes rescheduling the game against LSU of the utmost importance to the conference race. On the flip side, if Tennessee loses against Alabama and Florida loses at Arkansas on Nov. 5, the Vols (should they win their other remaining games) would still win the East because Tennessee would win the head-to-head tiebreaker. In order to stay in the drivers seat, though, Tennessee has no more margin for error.Its Washington and everyone else in the Pac-12 The Huskies have dismantled Stanford. Theyve plucked the Ducks. They have now officially manhandled the two programs that have combined to win the league in each of the past seven years. With its win over Oregon on Saturday, Washington snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Ducks and left no doubt it is the Pac-12s new contender for the College Football Playoff.Alabama is one step closer to surviving its season-defining stretch Alabamas win at Ole Miss was critical, but its win at Arkansas was where Bamas nnational title hunt really begins.dddddddddddd It was the first of three straight games the Tide will play against ranked opponents, including Tennessee and Texas A&M. It was also the first of three road trips in a four-game span, including at LSU on Nov. 5. The Tides win against the Hogs was arguably the most impressive of Week 6, but its not going to get any easier.Ohio State and Michigan really need to play each other, not Rutgers The Big Ten heavyweights combined to outscore Rutgers 136-0 over the past two weeks. Thats not a typo. The CFP selection committee compares common opponents without incenting margin of victory, but the margin in this one stretches from Ann Arbor to Piscataway and is impossible to ignore. The committee will need the head-to-head result between Ohio State and Michigan to determine the Big Ten representative.Florida State still owns Miami The Canes made one of the best hires of the offseason when they brought in Mark Richt, but their seventh straight loss to Florida State -- as close as it was -- showed the Canes arent ready to close the gap with their rival. Much of that can be attributed to the Noles defense, which had been relentlessly criticized this season. Miami entered the game averaging 235 yards rushing; Florida State held the Hurricanes to 62 and had back-to-back sacks of Brad Kaaya in the fourth quarter. Miami snuck into the AP top 10 after beating Georgia Tech last week but came up short against its first ranked opponent of the season.Dont turn out the lights on Oklahoma just yet Its a long shot, yes, and Houstons loss to Navy certainly didnt help the Sooners résumé, but Oklahoma can still win out and win the Big 12. It would certainly need help -- another conference champion would have to flop along the way -- and it has to look like a top-four team by the end of November, dominating each opponent. The fact that the Sooners have two losses and no league title game to help compensate is going to be extremely difficult to overcome, but if they beat ranked opponents in Baylor and West Virginia, and Ohio State continues to dominate and win the Big Ten, theres simply no telling how the committee might view OU. ' ' '