must replace inside linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton (knee)

What went down in the seventh week of college soccer? The aim each week is to bring you five stories that defined the week in college soccer or help navigate the long road to the (still homeless) Womens College Cup.And sometimes to point out just how perfectly someone can strike a free kick.Big Big 12 wins for West VirginiaOK, so No. 4 West Virginia didnt quite wrap up the Big 12 during its first week of conference play. Not officially. But the annual formality that is the race appears to be right on schedule after the Mountaineers beat Baylor and No. 23 Oklahoma by matching 2-0 scores. With the possible exception of Dinamo Zagreb, the mens professional team that has won Croatias top division every year since 2005-06, few titles are as spoken for as the Big 12s. Since moving to the conference in 2012, West Virginia is 29-1-3 in conference games.The two best bets to stop the Mountaineers this season? Well, Oklahoma was 10-2-1 and ranked and Baylor was high on the list of challengers. The Sooners, who a season ago were responsible for one of those three draws, at least made the Mountaineers sweat. Both goals came in the games final minutes, courtesy of Michaela Abam and Hannah Abraham -- who played a part in all four goals the team scored on the week.Its not done and dusted. West Virginia (2-0) travels to play Kansas (3-0) this week while technically looking up at the Jayhawks in the standings. But the Big 12 has a familiar feel.Stanford gears up for season-shaping tripThe nations top-ranked team will likely play the biggest game of its regular season this coming week in Los Angeles. It just isnt clear if it will be Thursday or Sunday.While the Cardinal endured only mild stress in sweeping Washington State and Washington this past week -- standout freshman Tierna Davidson scored her second career goal in the process -- No. 9 USC and No. 11 UCLA took turns securing road wins against Oregon and Oregon State.That leaves all three teams unbeaten in the Pac-12 ahead of Stanfords visit to USC on Thursday and UCLA on Sunday. There is no angle from which the week ahead is anything but intriguing. For Stanford, its a rare road test. The Cardinal havent played on the road since beating Georgetown on Aug. 21. For UCLA, its a further test of how far the team has come since missing the NCAA tournament a year ago. The Bruins needed an 86th-minute winner from Claire Winter to beat Oregon and didnt exactly exert their will on Oregon State.For all of that, this week might reveal the most of USC. Fresh off Katie Johnsons hat trick at Oregon State on Sunday, USC is working on a nine-game winning streak since two losses to open the season. The Trojans are tied for the top spot as the Pac-12s most prolific offense and are its second-stingiest defense. This week is their chance to show championship credentials.And before folks in Berkley get upset, the other game faced by each of UCLA and USC this week is no mere undercard, with No. 17 California also unbeaten in the league and eager to make headway of its own.Wisconsin wins more than a border battleGood luck finding a team that needed a win this week more than Wisconsin, which beat No. 8 Minnesota 1-0 on Saturday. Receiving Top 25 votes when the season began, Wisconsin was a loss away from a losing record entering the game in Minneapolis and mired in RPI purgatory.For a team with a senior, Rose Lavelle, who is going to get a look from the U.S. womens national team sooner rather than later, it all shaped up as a disappointing season.But after defending exceptionally well for more than 90 minutes, not only holding Minnesota scoreless but largely limiting even its scoring chances, Wisconsin got the overtime victory. Freshman Dani Rhodes got on the end of a bouncing ball in the 18-yard box and finished from close range for the second goal of her career (the first was also a game-winner, albeit just over two minutes into her first college game in a 1-0 win against Illinois State).We may yet see Lavelle in one final NCAA tournament.Hail to the unbeaten Big Ten leadersWere not done with the Big Ten just yet. While it might make sense to turn to a showdown of ACC heavyweights, the 1-1 draw between No. 7 Virginia and No. 16 North Carolina basically continued a pattern of inconclusive results for each. In the meantime, a team that is sure to be ranked when the new NSCAA Top 25 comes out made far more use of the week that was.After a 3-2 overtime win against No. 19 Rutgers and a 3-1 win against Maryland, Michigan sits atop the Big Ten with a 5-0-0 record. It is the best conference start for the Wolverines, who dont play Penn State in the regular season and have arguably their most difficult remaining games -- Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio State -- in Ann Arbor. The star of the week was Nicky Waldeck, who scored all three goals against Rutgers, including a 79th-minute equalizer and the winner in the 104th minute.Spare a thought for Texas A&M Corpus ChristiThere are bad weeks, and then there is the week that Texas A&M Corpus Christi endured.The Islanders faced a road trip to Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana with an 0-10-0 record. But after a rough stretch in August that saw them outscored 19-0 in three consecutive losses, the scores had at least grown less wince-inducing of late.And when Shayla Spearman scored in the 84th minute of Fridays game at Nicholls to level the score at 1-1, well, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Or at least there was until Nicholls scored just 114 seconds into the first overtime period to claim a 2-1 win. Yet somehow, there was Texas A&M Corpus Christi tied 0-0 at the end of regulation against Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday. Rather than broken by the disappointment, the Islanders were again on the cusp of a first win, with a lot of help from keeper Jordan Wainwright.Until -- and you will have guessed by now that this was coming -- Southeastern Louisiana was awarded and then converted a penalty kick 163 seconds into the first overtime period.But if Texas A&M Corpus Christi didnt get a win, it should earn itself some fans for persistence. Air Max Skor Rea .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. Köpa Nike Air Max Billigt .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. http://www.airmaxsverige.com/ . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. Nike Air Max Sverige Online .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. Air Max Rabatt . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Everybody says they want Alabama. Then they get the Crimson Tide and reality sets in: These guys are almost impossible to beat.Alabama is in the College Football Playoff for the third straight season, the only school that can make that claim. And as good as Alabama has been through an unprecedented run of four national titles in seven seasons, this version of the top-ranked Tide might be the best of all.The Huskies are a resurgent bunch, in contention for a national title for the first time in decades, with a coach who has a reputation for pulling off upsets. Ohio State fans have every reason to believe the Buckeyes can take down the Tide -- Urban Meyers team did just that in the first playoff semifinals.Deshaun Watson and the Tigers went toe-to-toe with the Tide in last seasons championship game.Coach Nick Sabans crew of former blue-chip recruits and future NFL players is unbeaten, but are they unbeatable? A case for each of the teams in the playoff:WASHINGTONWHAT IT NEEDS TO DO: Play the perfect game.Sounds impossible, right? It seems the only chance Washington has against the Crimson Tide is to play flawlessly and hope Alabama is already looking forward to hanging out on the beaches of Tampa ahead of the championship game.But perfection for the Huskies doesnt mean going outside of what got them to the national semifinals, especially on the offensive side.You dont want to get too far away from what got you to this point, Washington offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith said. At the same time youve got some time to put in some wrinkles or do things differently.Quarterback Jake Browning spent most of the season avoiding mistakes and must do the same against Alabama. But his two worst games came against USC and Colorado, the two most athletic and physical defenses the Huskies faced. Alabama had 45 sacks this season, third most in the nation, and Browning is not particularly mobile. If Browning can get the ball to speedster John Ross and fellow wide receiver Dante Pettis -- big if -- there could be some favorable matchups for Washington.POSSIBLE DIFFERENCE-MAKER: Coach Chris Petersen. He has a track record during his time at Boise State of beating long odds. The ultimate example happened 10 years ago when his first Boise State team knocked off Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Petersen loves his tricky plays and has a good feel for when to break out the gadgets.Weve played in a lot of big games over the years, Petersen said. Weve played in some big games this year. I know usually when we play in games like that, our guys may be a little more on point and you feel a different energy and those type of things. So thats nice to be involved with that.CHANCES TO BEAT `BAMA: Poor. No team truly matches up with Alabama, but the Huskies relatively inexperienced offensive line and stationary quarterback is a recipe for disaster.OHIO STATEWHAT IT NEEDS TO DO: Beat Alabama at its own game, turning turnovers into touchdowns.The Crimson Tide has 14 non-offensive touchdowns, including 11 on defense. Ohio State has seven defensive touchdowns.Ohio State will have a hard time recreating the offensive success it had against Alabama in the 2014 semifinals if it does face the Tide in the championship game in Tampa, Florida, on Jan. 9.The Buckeyes struggled this season against good defenses, such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State. The Buckeyes have proved resilient, though, coming from behind to win overtime games against the Badgers and Wolverines.I think its good for us to have a few tough games under our belt because we know how to respond to adversity, running back Mike Weber said. We know how it is to play really goodd teams.dddddddddddd Having that under our belt, I feel like we can respond if things dont go right for us.The Buckeyes best hope is defense and special teams. They have an athletic front seven that can pressure Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts. The Buckeyes secondary is one of the best in the nation, led by All-America safety Malik Hooker, who has returned three interceptions for touchdowns. Thanks to Cameron Johnstons well-placed punts, Ohio State has allowed 3.2 yards per return.POSSIBLE DIFFERENCE-MAKER: J.T. Barrett has not been much of a down-field passer for Ohio State, but he is mobile (847 yards rushing) and one of the best in the country at protecting the ball with only five interceptions. Ohio State is a team that could -- maybe -- force Alabamas offense to do all the scoring.CHANCES TO BEAT `BAMA: Better than Washingtons, but still not great with an offense that does not stretch the field.CLEMSONWHAT IT NEEDS TO DO: Start with what it did in last years championship game.You take a carbon copy of that game plan, former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said. Pare back the things that didnt work and bring it in to face Alabama.Alabamas stunning on-side pop kick in a 24-all game turned things in the Tides favor against Clemson in a 45-40 thriller.If they had just played someone 2 yards back to catch that kick, Bowden said with a chuckle.Clemson showed Alabamas defense could be beat, though it takes a special effort by a special player. Watson accounted for 478 yards and four TDs.This is not exposing a flaw in Alabama as much as it is stating the obvious: To beat a great defense -- Alabama is No. 1 total defense, scoring defense and run defense -- you need your great quarterback to play great. And it helps if he is great at multiple things, running and passing.POSSIBLE DIFFERENCE-MAKER: Mike Williams, who has 84 catches for 1,171 yards and 10 touchdowns, did not play in last seasons game as he was recovering from a neck injury. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Williams is a matchup nightmare.CHANCES TO BEAT `BAMA: Of the three teams, I think Clemson has the best chance, Bowden said.Bowden is probably a bit biased, but he is also right.ALABAMAWHAT IT NEEDS TO DO: Implode.The Crimson Tide is not perfect. You do have to dig deep to find the flaws.Alabama has fallen behind -- OK, by one score -- in each of its past three games against Florida (7-0), Auburn (3-0) and even Chattanooga (3-0). But none of those teams really mounted much of a challenge.The defense must replace inside linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton (knee), but it is loaded with potential first-round draft picks and All-Americans Jonathan Allen, Reuben Foster and Minkah Fitzpatrick. And the likely replacement for Hamilton, Rashaan Evans, was one of the nations top recruits and has played in 39 career games.POSSIBLE-DIFFERENCE MAKER: Hurts has made some mistakes early in games and is not the most accurate passer.If opponents are going to make Alabama pay for any freshman mistakes, theyd better jump on them early. Hurts has been intercepted only twice in the second half while throwing 14 touchdown passes.CHANCES TO BEAT `BAMA: Straight up, nobody is outplaying Alabama.We dont think about really what has to happen for us to lose, guard Ross Pierschbacher said. I think we have the mindset that we can only beat ourselves. Ill just leave it at that.----Associated Press Sports Writers John Zenor in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Pete Iacobelli in Clemson, S.C., Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio, and Tim Booth in Seattle contributed to this report. ' ' '