e-loss Florida State. The Cardinals play unranked Houston on Thursday and conclude their regular season against Kentucky.Wiscons

What do you need to know about the weekends big stories? Joe McDonald gives us his take on the biggest and best. This is where we say Morning, Joe.Flyers scorching-hot: The Philadelphia Flyers have won nine consecutive games for the first time since 1995, impressively extending the streak with the past two wins on back-to-back nights. Brayden Schenn scored in overtime for a 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday after scoring a hat trick in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars. Schenn, who posted a career-high 26 goals and 33 assists for 59 points in 80 games last season, has taken another step forward this season. It helps that the Flyers have three players among the leagues top 15 in scoring with Jakub Voracek (11 goals, 21 assists, 32 points), Claude Giroux (9-20--29) and Wayne Simmonds (15-13--28). Voracek is having a bounce-back season and has 15 points in his past nine games to push him to a tie for second in league scoring. The Flyers showed grit and determination while earning a postseason berth last season but lost to the Washington Capitals in the first round. With their play lately, the Flyers are proving that was no fluke and are a playoff contender again.Laine is learning: The Winnipeg Jets Patrik Laine has enjoyed an impressive rookie season, with 17 goals in 31 games. Hes also learned that every once in a while youre going to have one of those nights when you want to crawl under the Zamboni. On Sunday, with the Jets and Edmonton Oilers tied at 2 in the third period, Laine inadvertently scored an own goal that led to a 3-2 loss. The 18-year-old forward is a confident and emotional kid. He was obviously disappointed with the miscue, and you can bet hell quickly bounce back and continue his offensive prowess. At the other end of the ice, Oilers captain Connor McDavid earned his 26th assist of the season and now has a league-leading 38 points in 30 games.Wild bringing tighter D: The Minnesota Wild have won four consecutive games, and the majority of the focus has been on goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who is 6-0-2 in his past eight. Overall, he leads the league with a 1.66 goals-against average, a .946 save percentage and four shutouts. Coming off Sundays 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota is in third place in the Central Division. The new coaching staff has been inspirational for the Wild. Coach Bruce Boudreau has done a terrific job on his own, but his addition of former NHL defenseman Scott Stevens to run the defense has paid dividends. Early on, the Wild had no problem scoring goals, but keeping the puck out of their own net was a challenge. Its evident that Stevens message is being received because Minnesota has been sound as a five-man defensive unit, and it shows with Dubnyks performance. And, honestly, whos going to argue with Stevens, a former bone-crushing hitter? When he talks, you listen.? Sac Kanken Bleu . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Sac Kanken Jaune . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. http://www.sackankenpascher.fr/ . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Fjallraven Kanken Mini Pas Cher . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Fjallraven Kanken Classique . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. Alabama is the undisputed top dog, but the Big Ten is the Big Show in the third College Football Playoff rankings, which followed a stunning weekend of losing among highly ranked teams.Ohio State climbed from No. 5 to No. 2, while Michigan stayed put at No. 3 after losing to unranked Iowa. Of course, those two play on Nov. 26, with the stakes being both huge and curious.?Along with No. 7 Wisconsin and No. 8 Penn State, the Big Ten leads all conferences with four teams in the top eight. It also leads all conferences with intrigue.If Ohio State beats Michigan State and Michigan, and Penn State also wins out, the Nittany Lions capture the Big Ten East crown by virtue of handing the Buckeyes their only loss, and they would play for the Big Ten title, most likely against Wisconsin. That either sets the stage for two Big Ten teams in the playoff, or the committee leaving out Ohio State because it didnt win its conference title. Or the committee could dump Penn State, which lost by 39 at Michigan, or Wisconsin, and go with the Buckeyes.Yeah, its complicated. But what could anyone expect after three of the top four and six of the top 14 teams lost in a single weekend?There obviously are a lot of critical games ahead, and the only seemingly safe team is No. 1 Alabama, the only remaining unbeaten Power 5 squad, which has almost certainly earned a mulligan after dominating a tough schedule.Two weekends remain in the regular season, including many rivalry showdowns, and then conference championship games. No. 9 Oklahoma plays two ranked teams -- No. 14 West Virginia and No. 11 Oklahoma State -- to conclude its season,?while No. 6 Washington can reverse its downward course against Arizona State, No. 22 Washington State and against a highly ranked team in the Pac-12 tittle game (No.dddddddddddd. 13 USC, No. 10 Colorado or No. 12 Utah).More good news for Washington, which owns the weakest schedule among the contenders: Stanford re-entered the rankings at No. 24, meaning the Huskies now have two wins over ranked teams.Ohio State is back at No. 2 due to a strong overall résumé, with three top-20 wins (Wisconsin, Oklahoma and No. 18 Nebraska). The Buckeyes could add Michigan to that list, but they also could end up sitting out the Big Ten title game.While No. 4 Clemson is no longer unbeaten, it also has quality wins over No. 15 Auburn, No. 5 Louisville and No. 17 Florida State.Louisville owns a five-game winning streak, and its lone loss was a nail-biter at Clemson. On the other hand, its only quality win came against three-loss Florida State. The Cardinals play unranked Houston on Thursday and conclude their regular season against Kentucky.Wisconsins only losses came in consecutive games with Michigan and Ohio State, while it owns quality wins over No. 16 LSU and Nebraska. The Badgers are at Purdue this weekend and conclude their season at home against Minnesota.In other words, there are a lot of present and future data points that the committee will be considering over the final three weekends. In fact, myriad seemingly off-the-radar games could play roles in how things play out, such as Florida State-Florida and Nebraska-Iowa.Or what about more upsets? Is South Carolina a potentially tricky matchup for Clemson? Or might Michigan State catch the Buckeyes looking ahead?Theres a lot of football left, and last weekend taught us that believing that clarity might be on hand was a foolish conclusion. ' ' '