NEW YORK -- Four wins shy of their first World Series appearance since 2009, the New York Yankees included veterans Anthony Rizzo and Marcus Stroman on their roster for the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Rizzo hasn't played since fracturing his right hand's fourth and fifth fingers when he was hit by a pitch on Sept. 28, the penultimate day of the regular season. He later said the typical recovery timetable is three to four weeks, but after ramping up baseball activities over the weekend, Rizzo will be active for Monday's Game 1 -- just 16 days after suffering the injury.

Rizzo on Sunday faced live pitching during the team's workout at Yankee Stadium. Whether he starts Game 1 is unclear; the Yankees could decide to give him more time to recover before using him later in the series. The team used a combination of Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera at first base in the AL Division Series against the Kansas City Royals.

Rizzo, 35, had the worst offensive season of his career, batting .228 with a .637 OPS in 92 games, but the four-time Gold Glove winner is a defensive upgrade at first base over Berti, who had never played the position professionally before the postseason, and Cabrera, who had just five career starts at first base before October.

Stroman is expected serve as a long man out of the Yankees' bullpen after being left off the ALDS roster. The Yankees decided a long reliever wasn't necessary for a five-game series with off-days after Game 1 and Game 2. The ALCS, however, is a seven-game series with fewer off-days, potentially placing more stress on bullpens, and Stroman gives the Yankees an option to eat innings in a blowout or extra-inning game.

Stroman, 33, hasn't pitched since giving up six runs over 3 1/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 25. He's pitched just twice -- logging 6 1/3 total innings -- over the last month and he has just one relief appearance this season. He finished the regular season with a 4.31 ERA over 154 2/3 innings.

The two veterans replaced rookie first baseman Ben Rice and pinch-running specialist Duke Ellis from the ALDS roster, giving the Yankees 12 pitchers and 14 position players for the ALCS. Rice didn't appear in any of the four ALDS games. Ellis entered Game 4 as a pinch-runner.

The Guardians made one change from their ALDS roster for the ALCS, replacing infielder Angel Martinez with right-hander Pedro Avila to give them 13 pitchers and 13 position players.

Martinez had one pinch-hit appearance in the Guardians' five-game NLDS against the Detroit Tigers. Avila posted a 3.25 ERA in 50 relief appearances during the regular season.

The 2024 MLB playoffs are down to just four teams after an exciting division series round saw the New York Mets eliminate the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat their division rivals, the San Diego Padres, in a thrilling win-or-go-home Game 5.

Now that the matchups are set -- Mets-Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians-New York Yankees -- it's time for some (more) predictions! We asked our MLB experts to weigh in on who will advance to the World Series, which players will earn MVP honors in the league championship series and the themes we'll all be talking about in the week to come. We'll also have our experts explain why their initial Fall Classic predictions are still in play -- or went very wrong.

LCS previews: Mets-Dodgers | Guardians-Yankees | Bracket

Jump to: NLCS | ALCS | Predictions we got right | ... and wrong |

National League Championship Series

Los Angeles Dodgers (8 votes)

In how many games: Seven games (2 votes), six games (4), five games (2)

MVP if Dodgers win: Shohei Ohtani (5), Mookie Betts (2), Teoscar Hernandez (1)

Who picked the Dodgers: Tristan Cockcroft, Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez, Eric Karabell, Tim Kurkjian, Buster Olney, David Schoenfield, Xavier Scruggs

New York Mets (6 votes)

In how many games: Seven games (4 votes), six games (2)

MVP if Mets win: Francisco Lindor (2), Sean Manaea (1), Starling Marte (1), Brandon Nimmo (1), Mark Vientos (1)

Who picked the Mets: Jorge Castillo, Paul Hembekides, Tim Keown, Kiley McDaniel, Jesse Rogers, Jeff Passan

The one thing we'll all be talking about:

The Mets' unbelievable ride to the World Series has included beating a division rival (Braves) to clinch their playoff berth, dismissing David Stearns' former employer (Brewers) in the NL Wild Card Series, and eliminating another division rival and NL pennant favorite (Phillies) in the NLDS. They'll add defeating the organization Steve Cohen has openly said he has hoped to replicate since buying the Mets before bidding to overthrow their big brother in the Bronx. -- Castillo

As much early attention as there will be on the Ohtani vs. Lindor showdown, ultimately the focus is going to end up on Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Whether he makes good decisions or not is pretty much irrelevant. Either the Dodgers come up short again, or they don't. This of course is not fair, and beating the Padres helped, but Roberts isn't out of the woods yet. -- Doolittle

Walker Buehler is back. It has been a struggle in his return from a second Tommy John surgery, but Buehler actually looked pretty good in Game 3 of the NLDS. He experienced one awful, six-run second inning in which he was mostly let down by his defense but still managed to get through the fifth, freeing up a bullpen game the following night. Buehler loves this stage. And he lines up for Games 2 and 6 at Dodger Stadium. He'll deliver. -- Gonzalez

With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, and hearing the postgame interviews of the Dodgers, how could anyone have ever wondered if they would win? The gritty, gutty, respectful Dodgers work against all disadvantages stacked before them and win in 5. -- Olney

With Freddie Freeman hobbled -- presumably for the rest of the postseason -- the onus on Ohtani to produce atop the Dodgers' lineup is greater than ever. After a strong Game 1 of the division series, Ohtani struggled. He will be squarely in the middle of every conversation about the Dodgers, with the primary question being: Can Ohtani carry the Dodgers to the World Series in his first season with the team? -- Passan

Just how incredible the trio of Manaea, Luis Severino and Jose Quintana continue to pitch. They'll give the Dodgers fits - and we won't exactly understand how they're doing it. -- Rogers

Ohtani. We're going to be talking about the five home runs Ohtani hits in the series -- including the go-ahead blast in Game 7. -- Schoenfield

American League Championship Series

New York Yankees (12 votes)

In how many games: Seven games (5 votes), six games (6), five games (1)

MVP if Yankees win: Aaron Judge (7), Juan Soto (3), Gerrit Cole (1), Gleyber Torres (1)

Who picked the Yankees: Jorge Castillo, Tristan Cockcroft, Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez, Paul Hembekides, Eric Karabell, Tim Keown, Tim Kurkjian, Kiley McDaniel, Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers, Xavier Scruggs

Cleveland Guardians (1 vote)

In how many games: Seven games (1)

MVP if Guardians win: Jose Ramirez

Who picked the Guardians: David Schoenfield

The one thing we'll all be talking about:

The first Subway Series in nearly a quarter-century will arrive with a juicy subplot: ALCS MVP Juan Soto going against the team most everyone believes will be the Yankees' competition for his services this winter. -- Castillo

No matter what happens, the spotlight will be on Aaron Judge. If he goes off, then it's how he overcame his postseason struggles. If he doesn't, it'll be how those struggles have persisted. I wish this didn't have to be discussed every single time the camera finds Judge during the game, but only he can make it stop. -- Doolittle

Here's one thing we won't be talking about: Aaron Judge's slump. Much like he shook off a rough April to put together an MVP regular season, Judge will emerge from a sluggish ALDS -- in which he went 2-for-13 with one extra-base hit -- to carry the Yankees into the World Series. -- Gonzalez

How much can Stephen Vogt get out of his bullpen? The Guardians' greatest strength this season has been the impermeability of the late innings on account of a tremendous group of relievers, and Vogt leaned on them heavily. Cade Smith ranked fifth in the AL in innings pitched among relievers. Hunter Gaddis was sixth and Emmanuel Clase eighth. Vogt's ability to ride his relief arms will continue to be the question about the Guardians until their season concludes. -- Passan

How much money Juan Soto is going to make. He'll be key against the Guardians righties in his best playoff series to date. That include a bunch of walks but, hey, getting on is getting on. -- Rogers

How the vaunted Cleveland bullpen shut down Aaron Judge and Juan Soto to carry the Guardians to the World Series. -- Schoenfield

World Series predictions we're right about -- so far

David Schoenfield: Hey, I had the Dodgers-Guardians at the start of the playoffs -- when everyone else was jumping on the Padres bandwagon. Considering the Dodgers advanced without Ohtani doing much, it feels like it's time for him to have a monster series to carry the Dodgers to the World Series -- as the bullpen will do for Cleveland.

Kiley McDaniel: I had the Dodgers in the World Series, but the only problem is ... I had them losing to the Orioles. I thought the AL was wide open and leaned toward youth, a deep lineup and an ace, while the NL basically would play out chalk. I'm better at predicting prospects than the playoffs, especially when the series are three- and five-gamers thus far.

World Series predictions gone wrong

Jorge Castillo: Astros over Phillies. I believed the Astros' experience and starting rotation would carry them through the wide-open American League. Turns out, neither matters much in a three-game series against a red-hot team. As for the Phillies, who could've predicted their bats would disappear? Picking against the Mets is foolish at this point.

Tristan Cockcroft: Padres over Yankees. Whether it had happened in the division or championship series -- heads up, MLB, you should really restore reseeding to the playoff bracket -- Padres-Dodgers was a matchup I regarded as a top-notch league championship, and the Padres got close -- within two runs in the deciding game. These Mets have impressed me in October, and it'd sure be fun to forecast another Subway Series, but too many of these feel-good playoff stories tend to run out of gas a little in advance of the finish line.

Alden Gonzalez: I had the Astros and the Padres facing off in the World Series, and neither advanced to their respective championship series. While coming up short, both teams emphasized an important point about October baseball: Even the best offenses can go cold if you have detailed game plans and throw an assortment of high-leverage arms at them.

Eric Karabell: Obviously it was silly to predict a 2022 World Series rematch, so let's go with 1977, 1978 and 1981 instead. Enjoy, traditionalists!

Tim Keown: Turns out the Padres fell a couple of rounds short of beating the Yankees in the World Series, as I predicted, but who doesn't love a Subway Series? It doesn't seem likely the Dodgers -- despite their bullpen mastery in the NLDS -- can cobble together enough pitching to win a seven-game series.

Jeff Passan: The less said about my World Series prediction the better. I'll leave it at this: I did not anticipate four relievers with a collective ERA of 2.20 during the regular season -- Carlos Estevez, Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman and Orion Kerkering -- posting a 12.10 ERA in the postseason.

Jesse Rogers: My World Series pick -- the Phillies -- went out quickly, which means the team that beat it should be taken seriously. And it helps that the $300 million Mets can play the underdog card again simply because they're facing the Dodgers. I'll also lean into this trend: The team that has beaten Milwaukee in the playoffs always wins the pennant. That's the Mets.

NEW YORK CITY -- Utah Hockey Club star Clayton Keller said his team showed it can measure up with Stanley Cup contenders after its 6-5 overtime win at the New York Rangers on Saturday night. But the NHL's newest team also showed it can win when things get weird.

Utah improved to 3-0-0 after winning a game that saw seven goals scored in the second period; another Rangers goal kept off the board due to goalie interference; two ejections for starting a fight while one was already ongoing; and the home team rallying to tie the game three times, including in the third period before Keller ended it in overtime with his third goal of the season, roofing the puck over goalie Igor Shesterkin.

"Those are the games where you have to stay patient," said Keller. "Before, I would kind of get off my game because things aren't going my way or there are a couple bad bounces. But as a group we were able to fight through and get the win."

That was especially true after one of the oddest goals of the young NHL season: Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller banking the puck off the side boards and having it travel directly into an open Utah net to cut the lead to 4-3 in the second period.

"I said 'That's MSG, baby.' That's what I thought. Here we go. There's ghosts somewhere," said Utah coach André Tourigny. "But we were still ahead. It was important for us to stay level and not get emotional."

After the game, Utah did get emotional in their dressing room, celebrating a torrid 3-0-0 start that's been defined by their goal-scoring. Utah is the third franchise in NHL history to score five or more goals in each of their first three games of existence. The 1917-18 Montreal Canadiens hold the NHL record at five straight games with five or more goals. Despite relocating from Arizona, Utah is considered a new NHL franchise since their records and intellectual property remained with Coyotes ownership after the sale.

Leading that offense is forward Dylan Guenther, who scored on the power play against the Rangers to give him five goals on the season and the NHL lead in that category.

"He's good at every phase of the game. He sees the ice well and has a lot of pride in his game offensive and defensively," said Tourigny. "That's good, because that means the coach will want to put you on the ice."

Keller, who played eight years with the Coyotes, had two goals and an assist on the night. While he wouldn't go as far as to say that the third game of the season could be a statement game, he said winning against the Rangers was a confidence boost for the team.

"That's a team that has had a lot of success. They've been right there the last couple years. There's not any holes in their lineup, so it's good to go head-to-head with them early in the season and see how we match up against them," he said.

While Utah beat the Rangers on the ice, Keller indicated they also had an advantage in the stands when asked if Delta Center in Salt Lake City was louder than Madison Square Garden.

"I think Delta Center was a little louder for the home opener," he said.

Tourigny joked that 6-5 result was "exactly the way we wanted it" in terms of play.

"It's entertainment. We're in Manhattan," he said, before indicating that this team had to tighten up defensively.

"We scored a lot of goals, but we give up too much, and that's with great goaltending," he added, shouting out goalie Connor Ingram's 29 saves in the win. "We're not falling asleep with our resumé. It's fun winning. Everybody has fun. But we know if we want to sustain it, we need to tighten it up defensively."

Utah next visits the New Jersey Devils on Monday.

Yunus Musah's first international goal and a late strike from Ricardo Pepi gave Mauricio Pochettino victory in his first game as United States men's national team coach, with a 2-0 win over Panama in a friendly in Austin, Texas, Saturday.

The match in front of a near-capacity crowd of 20,239 at Q2 Stadium was the first of two friendlies for the U.S. in a four-day span that includes a game against Mexico on Tuesday in Guadalajara. The U.S. ended a four-game winless stretch and its first four-game home winless streak since a seven-game slide in 2010-11.

A 52-year-old Argentine who managed Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, Pochettino was hired last month to replace Gregg Berhalter, who was fired in July after first-round elimination at the Copa America. Pochettino was given a contract through the 2026 World Cup that the U.S. will co-host and tasked with sparking a team that has not reached the World Cup quarterfinals since 2002.

"Little by little building something. The objective is 2026," Pochettino said. "It's only the first step."

Musah stylishly volleyed home a cross from AC Milan clubmate Christian Pulisic four minutes into the second half for the first goal of the Pochettino era and his first goal in 42 appearances.

Antonee Robinson worked around defender Michael Murillo on the left flank and centered to Pulisic, who exchanged passes with Brenden Aaronson before finding Musah to redirect the ball with a right-foot volley past Orlando Mosquera from 4 yards.

Pulisic played a match with his eighth U.S. coach, a record for an American player.

Three second-half subs combined for the second goal. Malik Tillman brought down a long ball from goalkeeper Matt Turner and passed to Haji Wright, who crossed. A Texas native, Pepi slid the ball through Mosquera's legs for his 11th goal in 31 appearances.

The Pochettino party twice came close to being spoiled. Turner produced an impressive double save to keep Panama at bay just minutes after the U.S. took the lead. And U.S. hearts were in mouth late on, too, as substitute José Fajardo missed a golden chance to bring Panama level.

Tim Ream captained the Americans one week after his 37th birthday and became the oldest U.S. field player since Preki in 2001. Forward Josh Sargent made his first start since the 2022 group-stage final against Iran.

Mexican referee Katia Garcia was believed to be the first woman to referee a U.S. men's national team match.

Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who hasn't played for the U.S. since the last World Cup qualifiers in March 2022, did not dress because of what the U.S. Soccer Federation said was a minor injury. Defender Marlon Fossey, who did not train on the field in recent days, also didn't dress.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Dillon Gabriel threw two touchdown passes and ran for another late score to help third-ranked Oregon hand No. 2 Ohio State its first loss of the season, 32-31 on Saturday night.

Gabriel, who transferred to Oregon (6-0, 3-0) this season from Oklahoma for the Ducks' first season in the Big Ten, completed 23 of 34 passes for 341 yards. He also ran for 32 yards on four carries.

Jordan James ran for 115 yards and a score for the Ducks in front of a record crowd of 61,128 for the first matchup between two teams ranked in the top five at Autzen Stadium.

After the victory, the Oregon fans rushed the field and the Ducks' mascot surfed over their shoulders.

Gabriel scored on 27-yard keeper early in the fourth quarter to give Oregon a 29-28 lead. But Ohio State (5-1, 2-1) responded with a clock-eating drive that ended with Jayden Fielding's 40-yard field goal that made it 31-29 with six minutes to go.

A pass-interference call got the Ducks to Ohio State's 9. But after three tries to get into the end zone, Oregon settled for Atticus Sappington's 19-yard field goal and a 32-21 lead with 1:47 left.

Will Howard hit Emeka Egbuka with a 26-yard pass to pull the Buckeyes closer to field goal range, but an offensive pass-interference call on freshman Jeremiah Smith pushed Ohio State back. On third-and-20 on the Oregon 38, Howard took off running but gained just 12 yards before time ran out.

Howard threw for 336 yards an two touchdowns for Ohio State. Smith had nine catches for 100 yards and a score in what was the first big test for the Buckeyes this season.

Howard scored on a 1-yard keeper on Ohio State's opening drive of the game. It was his fifth rushing touchdown of the season, most by a Buckeye in five seasons.

Oregon was able to capitalize when Derrick Harmon forced Quinshon Judkins' fumble and recovered the ball on the Ohio State 28. Jordan James rushed 25 yards on the first play from scrimmage, then ran the ball the final 3 yards into the end zone - but the Ducks flubbed the snap on the extra point attempt.

Ohio State went up 14-6 on Judkins' 1-yard run.

Evan Stewart had a 69-yard reception led to his 10-yard touchdown catch to close the gap for Oregon but the 2-point conversion failed.

Oregon took advantage of another Ohio State turnover when Roger Saleapaga recovered Caleb Downs' fumble. But the Ducks were hurt on the drive when senior receiver Traeshon Holden was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct when he spit on an Ohio State player.

The drive ended with Sappington's 27-yard field goal that briefly gave the Ducks a 15-14 lead.

Ohio State went back in front on Emeka Egbuka's 15-yard TD reception. Egbuka was the Big Ten's co-Offensive Player of the Week after his three catches for 71 yards and three touchdowns last weekend against Iowa.

Leading Ducks receiver Tez Johnson gave Oregon a 22-21 edge with 1:17 before halftime with a 48-yard touchdown catch from Gabriel.

Smith caught a 6-yard scoring pass to put Ohio State up 28-22 in the third quarter. The Buckeyes' leading receiver had a 38-yard reception on the drive.

The Ducks squandered an opportunity late in the third quarter when they reached the Ohio State 2 but turned the ball over on downs.

LOS ANGELES -- Lefty reliever Alex Vesia injured an intercostal muscle and is "highly unlikely" to pitch in the National League Championship Series, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday, a major blow to a team that will continue to rely heavily on its bullpen.

Vesia recorded the final out of the seventh inning in Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Friday night but signaled for the training staff as he was warming up for the top of the eighth and came out of the game with pain in his right side. Now the Dodgers will be without a key high-leverage reliever who dominated for most of the regular season, posting a 1.76 ERA with 87 strikeouts in 66 innings.

The New York Mets lean more heavily right-handed than the Dodgers' previous opponent, the San Diego Padres. But two of the Dodgers' more notable right-handed relievers, Joe Kelly and Brusdar Graterol, aren't expected to recover from their respective shoulder injuries to crack the NLCS roster, either.

The Dodgers are navigating through this postseason with what amounts to a three-man rotation comprising Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler. Yamamoto, the winner in Game 5, will continue to receive an extra day of rest in between starts and thus will be an option to pitch only once in this series, likely in Game 4. The Dodgers, who are not expected to activate Tony Gonsolin for the NLCS, might have to stage two bullpen games in a best-of-seven series.

They have a lot of relievers to do it: Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips, Daniel Hudson, Ryan Brasier and Anthony Banda, suddenly their only lefty, can all pitch in higher leverage.

But they will be one notable arm short. Landon Knack, their only other starting-pitching option at the moment, will probably have to take down some bulk innings at some point. Another option might be to activate Brent Honeywell, a 29-year-old right-hander who is nursing a cracked fingernail but has been throwing in simulated games.

"There's certainly a possibility of a bullpen game or two," Roberts said prior to Saturday's workout. "But with that, we're going to have to ask innings from other guys. That's just the reality. I don't think that in a seven-game series we have the luxury to max out guys like we did from the 'pen in a five-game series."

United States women's national team forward Trinity Rodman is in line to return from a back injury when the Washington Spirit hosts Racing Louisville in the NWSL on Sunday.

Rodman has been absent since she left the field in a wheelchair during the Spirit's 3-0 loss to the Kansas City Current on Sept. 20.

But the 22-year-old was not listed on the team's injury report ahead of the match with Louisville after coach Jonatan Giraldez suggested Rodman, along with defender Casey Krueger and forward Chloe Ricketts, were in contention to make their returns.

"As always, I don't want to say 100% because we have to train tomorrow," Giraldez told reporters Friday. "One training session is [left], and I want to, tomorrow, confirm that 100%.

"I can tell you that Casey, Trin, Chloe, they are in good shape. And tomorrow, we'll decide, but the roster for sure will be bigger if we compare with the last week."

Following her injury last month, Rodman's agent, Mike Senkowski, was reported by The Washington Post as saying the player had an "intense back spasm."

She has since missed two games for the Spirit, with Giraldez insisting he wanted to be sure Rodman was 100% recovered.

Without Rodman, Washington was beaten 2-0 by the Orlando Pride last week in a top-of-the-table battle that saw the Pride clinch the NWSL Shield.

Rodman's eight goals this season rank tied for fourth in the NWSL with teammate Ouleymata Sarr and Brazil great Marta. Rodman is also tied for third in the NWSL with six assists. She is likely to be a finalist for the 2024 NWSL MVP award.

No player has been a more consistent fixture with the U.S. women's national team since the start of 2023. Rodman is the only player to have appeared in every USWNT game in the past two calendar years, and she was one of the stars of the USWNT's run to an Olympic gold medal last month.

Rodman scored three goals for the USWNT at the 2024 Olympics, including the extra-time winner in the 1-0 victory over Japan in the quarterfinals.

The return of Rodman will be a welcome boost after the team lost USWNT midfielder Andi Sullivan for the rest of the the year with a torn ACL this week.

Tom Brady is expected to be approved as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders at Tuesday's NFL fall owners meeting in Atlanta, league sources told ESPN on Saturday.

The NFL's finance committee has reviewed Brady's bid and plans to bring it to the other owners to vote, with 24 of the league's 32 owners needed to approve it.

But as one source told ESPN, the committee would not be bringing Brady's bid to the owners to vote if it were not going to be approved, which now appears to be a formality.

The finance committee unanimously approved Brady as minority owner, and no one could recall the last time owners voted against the finance committee's unanimous recommendation, sources told ESPN.

Brady therefore is days away from purchasing approximately 10% of the Raiders, along with businessman Tom Wagner, from owner Mark Davis. It is a transaction that was agreed to in May 2023 but needed to be refined and adjusted after the league's financial committee believed the initial offer was too discounted.

"We're excited for Tom to join the Raiders," Davis told ESPN's Paul Gutierrez at the time of the initial agreement. "And it's exciting because he will be just the third player in the history of the National Football League to become an owner."

George Halas and Jerry Richardson are the other two.

Before what turned out to be Brady's final NFL season in 2022, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback agreed to a 10-year, $375 million contract to join Fox as an analyst once his playing career was over. He retired in 2023 and agreed to begin at Fox for the 2024 season.

Brady, 47, is expected to become one of the highest-profile former athletes to own a piece of a team, joining all-time greats such as Michael Jordan, who became part owner of the Bobcats/Hornets franchise; Magic Johnson, who was part of an investment group that bought a stake in the Dodgers and the Commanders; Dwyane Wade, who purchased an ownership stake in the Jazz in 2021; Alex Rodriguez, who became part owner of the Timberwolves in 2021; Mario Lemieux, who has owned the Penguins since 1999; Patrick Mahomes, who became part owner of the Royals in 2020; Warrick Dunn, who is a limited partner with the Falcons; John Stallworth with the Steelers; and Lewis Hamilton with the Broncos.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden was ejected in the second quarter of Saturday night's game for spitting into the face of Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun.

The incident occurred shortly after Holden caught a 32-yard pass. Two plays later, video replay showed Holden spitting into Igbinosun's face mask after going out for a pass in the end zone. Igbinosun returned to the sideline momentarily before coming back into the game.

Holden was escorted off the field and into the tunnel, where he took off his helmet and threw it. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for spitting forced the Ducks to settle for a field goal, giving Oregon a 15-14 lead.

Holden, a senior, came into the weekend as Oregon's second-leading receiver with 19 catches for 274 yards.

Meanwhile, Ohio State star left tackle Josh Simmons was carted off the field in the second quarter. The Buckeyes were already dealing with losing right guard Tegra Tshabola to an injury earlier in Saturday's game.