Bostons World Series title in 2004, stopping an 86-year drought. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein was the general manager of the Red Sox at the time, and Lester was a minor leaguer

(STATS) -- The Donald had Election Day being on Nov. 28 (oops!), the calendar says Nov. 8.FCS fans are campaigning until Nov. 20 -- Selection Sunday for the 24-team playoff field. Not a Tuesday, and certainly not a Monday, Mr. Trump.Hillary knows the date because shell be tuned in for an old favorite, Central Arkansas. Maybe Stony Brook, too.Oh, wait, The Donald claimed Stony Brook already? Let em debate it, thats nastier than a Charleston Southern-Citadel matchup.While theres three more weeks of action to blow up all our prediction brackets, well get an early look at what the selection committee is thinking. On Thursday, the NCAA will release the first of three weekly Top 10 rankings -- a new feature leading into Election Day, er, Selection Sunday. The first rankings will air on ESPNUs CFB Daily, which begins at 4 p.m. ET.---=PROJECTED BIDS BY CONFERENCE=*- automatic qualifierBig Sky (4): Cal Poly (6-2), Eastern Washington (7-1), Montana (5-3), *North Dakota (7-2)Big South (2): Charleston Southern (5-2), *Liberty (5-3)CAA (5): *James Madison (7-1), New Hampshire (6-3), Richmond (7-1), Stony Brook (5-3), Villanova (6-2)Missouri Valley (4): North Dakota State (7-1), *South Dakota State (5-3), Western Illinois (6-2), Youngstown State (6-2)NEC (1): *Saint Francis (6-3)OVC (1): *Jacksonville State (7-1)Patriot (1): *Lehigh (7-2)Pioneer (1): *San Diego (7-1)Southern (3): Chattanooga (8-1), Samford (6-2), *The Citadel (8-0)Southland (2): *Sam Houston State (8-0), Central Arkansas (7-1)Moved In: Liberty (5-3), New Hampshire (6-3)Dropped Out: Eastern Illinois (5-4), South Dakota (4-4)On the Bubble: Eastern Illinois (5-4), Maine (5-3), North Carolina A&T (7-1)/North Carolina Central (6-2) loser, South Dakota (4-4)---=STATS PROJECTED PAIRINGS=Top 8 seeds have first-round byesVillanova-New Hampshire winner at No. 1 seed North Dakota StateSan Diego-Montana winner at No. 8 seed North DakotaSamford-Charleston Southern winner at No. 5 seed The CitadelWestern Illinois-Chattanooga winner at No. 4 seed Sam Houston StateLehigh-Liberty winner at No. 7 seed James MadisonCal Poly-Central Arkansas winner at No. 2 seed Eastern WashingtonStony Brook-South Dakota State winner at No. 3 seed Jacksonville StateSaint Francis-Youngstown State winner at No. 6 seed Richmond Custom USA Soccer Jerseys . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Daniel Lovitz Jersey . On June 12, just as the sun sets on the magnificent historical city of Sao Paulo the inventors, innovators and purveyors of “joga bonitowill” open their campaign. The opponent, Croatia and all its football might and will. As opposites do attract we are set for a corker of an opener. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/351j-weston-mckennie-jersey-usa.html . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. Matt Miazga Jersey . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Keegan Rosenberry Jersey . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. CHICAGO -- Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ferguson Jenkins. Ron Santo and Ryne Sandberg, too. Hall of Famers for the Chicago Cubs, but no championship rings.They all tried. Some got closer than others, but the famed drought got the best of them all. And decades of empty Octobers eventually took on a life of their own.Now, as a new group of Cubs prepares to take aim at a lifetime of free drinks on the North Side, Sandberg, for one, believes this team might be uniquely positioned to succeed where so many others failed.I think when its talked about in that regard and you dont have a game plan for that, you know, that that can be talked about on a daily basis, Sandberg said, addressing the elephant in the room -- the 108 years since the Cubs last won the World Series. It can be brought to the players attentions, but I think this team here focuses on other things.They focus on their teammates, themselves, winning the game, having fun, somebody come up big and lets celebrate in the room in there, and I think thats their mentality. It seems to work.While the rest of baseballs postseason picture is being sorted out, the Cubs are closing in on home-field advantage for the NL playoffs and making sure they are as ready as they can be for what they hope will be the franchises first World Series since its seven-game loss to Detroit in 1945. The NL Central champions completed a three-game sweep of Cincinnati with a 9-2 victory Wednesday night and lead Washington by eight games for the best record in the National League.Playing to electric crowds all summer at a giddy Wrigley Field, the Cubs have spent most of the season looking down at the rest of the majors. And with the playoffs on the horizon, it seems as if they are only embracing the escalating pressure coming their way.I think pressure is what you make of it, said Jon Lester, one of the front-runners for the NL Cy Young Award. I mean we all know what the deal is around here. You cant run from it. All you can do is show up and play.The Cubs made it to the postseason last year as the second NL wild card and then eliminated Pittsburgh and St. Louis before they were swept by the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series. That feel-good run by a team that appeared to be coming into its own turned into a runaway division title in 2016, boosted by offseason deals for free agents Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and John Lackey.Perrhaps sensing what was coming, manager Joe Maddon told his pitchers and catchers to embrace the target when they arrived at spring training in February.dddddddddddd That slogan quickly went on a T-shirt and then Maddon poked fun at himself with Try Not To Suck, a carry-over from last year that turned into a popular shirt around Chicago this summer.Those slogans could serve the Cubs well next month.Why would you ever want to work somewhere where theres no expectations? Maddon said. I dont understand that. Theres that comfortable component of society that maybe they want to live in that moment where there are no expectations or any kind of pressure, and that to me would be absolutely no fun whatsoever.I think all of our guys, where youre trained coming up as an athlete, you want to play in the championship game. You want to be the champion.But ahead of them is one unique challenge, beyond the obvious difficulty of winning three series against baseballs best teams. One misstep in the playoffs, one bad bounce, and the Cubs twisted history -- everything from the infamous billy goat curse to the black cat that taunted Leo Durocher in 1969 and Steve Bartmans misplayed foul ball 13 years ago -- all comes roaring back to the forefront.The only comparable situation is Bostons World Series title in 2004, stopping an 86-year drought. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein was the general manager of the Red Sox at the time, and Lester was a minor leaguer in the Boston system.Those guys wanted to be the team that won it, Lester said.That same attitude resides in Chicagos clubhouse at the moment. Lester signed with the Cubs in December 2014, and Heyward, Zobrist and Lackey arrived last winter -- each hoping to be on the team that put another banner on top of Wrigley Field. To do it in this city, its a no-brainer that it would be making history, Heyward said at his introductory news conference last December.So, Lester said, bring on the pressure that goes along with every Cubs postseason run.I mean its there, he said. You cant run from it. You cant worry about it. You just have to worry about what your team can control and really just try to win it. Thats all you can really do.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap ' ' '