Auburn v. Oregon, January 10

The headlines are endless, seen on every sports website and even on numerous big news websites.

"Auburn, Oregon set to meet for National Title"

All the headlines go something like that, prepping 1+ month of news readying us for the January 10 National Championship that will come from Glendale, Arizona.

Each top team won today in order to complete a perfect regular season, Auburn over South Carolina and Oregon over Oregon State. The teams are almost certain to remain #1 and #2 in the BCS Standings, respectively, which technically are updated tomorrow, but really what it means is that all the BCS matchups will be set.

Other teams who have clinched a spot in a BCS Bowl Game include:

TCU (Mountain West)
Oklahoma (Big 12)
Connecticut (Big East)
Virginia Tech (ACC)

Other teams extremely likely to play in a BCS Game:
Stanford (Pac-10), as an automatic qualifier by virtue of being in Top 4 of BCS Standings
Wisconsin (Big 10), as highest Big 10 team in the final BCS Standings, released tomorrow

Other teams in the running for a BCS spot: (in order of likelihood)
Arkansas (SEC), as an at-large
Ohio State (Big 10), as an at-large
Michigan State (Big 10), as an at-large
LSU (SEC), as an at-large
Boise State (WAC), as an at-large

Red Sox Strengthen Offense

The Boston Red Sox offense took a hit this offseason when star catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez left the team via free agency to the Detroit Tigers. Additionally, it appears third baseman Adrian Beltre will not return to the team, as he appears bound for another team also through free agency.

But the Red Sox made a big move on Saturday by finalizing a trade to acquire stellar first baseman Adrian Gonzalez from the San Diego Padres. Boston sent away three prospects, namely a pitcher Casey Kelly, who is consider to be a top prospect.

This adds a critical piece to the Red Sox offense in regard to keeping up with other AL East offensive powerhouses, the Yankees and Rays. The Red Sox also are contenders to land one or two free agent outfielders, Jayson Werth or Carl Crawford.

More baseball thoughts coming soon...