Off Topic » But Tampa Bay had the easier overall schedule

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers earned the first pick in next springs NFL draft with their 2-14 record.In their first season under coach Lovie Smith, the Bucs lost their last six games to secure the top pick over Tennessee, which had the same record under first-year coach Ken Whisenhunt. But Tampa Bay had the easier overall schedule in the weak NFC South, which was won by Carolina with a 7-8-1 record.Clearly, neither of the coaches who lost in Super Bowls — Smith in Chicago and Whisenhunt in Arizona — had much positive impact in their debut seasons.My comments last week were, Were going to get a good pick, Smith said after losing to New Orleans in the finale. Nothings really changed. I know were in a little bit better of a position, but going into this football game, we were going to have an opportunity to get a pretty good football player. When youre down there, thats one consolation, I guess, from the season weve had.Tampa Bay last had the top overall spot in 1987 and selected Miami Hurricanes QB Vinny Testaverde. He didnt fare well with the Bucs, but later led the Browns and Jets to the playoffs and spent 21 seasons in the NFL with seven teams.Rounding out the top five will be Jacksonville and Oakland, both 3-13, and Washington (4-12).Then come the New York Jets (4-12), Chicago (5-11), Atlanta, the New York Giants and St. Louis, all 6-10.Tennessee actually held the top spot as recently as in Week 16, but the Bucs dismal division — two teams in the Titans AFC South had better records than the winner of the NFC South — turned things around when the season concluded.So the Titans will go second.It can certainly help you, thats one of the things to be excited about, Whisenhunt said. Were going to get a good player, and well have a chance to get a good player with the second-round pick, because that will be like getting another first-round pick.Whatever opportunities are available at that point, I think that were going to look at free agency to help some things, too. Its important, its always important when you have a pick that high.The rest of the drafting order, not including playoff teams, will have Minnesota going 11th, with Cleveland 12th and New Orleans 13th; all of them were 7-9. Miami will go 14th and San Francisco 15th; both were 8-8.Four 9-7 teams did not make the post-season and will draft in this order: Houston, San Diego, Kansas City, Cleveland (from Buffalo). Philadelphia (10-6) will go 20th.Losers of the wild-card games will select 21st-24th. Losers in the division round get the 25th-28th positions.Teams that fall in the conference championships will go 29th and 30th. The Super Bowl winner, regardless of regular season record, picks 32nd and last.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Jordan Shoes Clearance Sale . With one week left in the regular season, Cornish - voted The Toughest Player To Bring Down - is a leading candidate for the CFLs Most Outstanding Player award. He has rushed for 1,799 yards and could break Willie Burdens club record for rushing yards in a single season with a 98-yard performance against the B. Nike Air Jordan Uk Store . This was one of them. Omar Infante homered and tied a career high with six RBIs to carry the Kansas City Royals over the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 on Sunday. http://www.wholesaleukairjordan.com/. Campbell, playing on loan with Greek club Olympiacos, found the net with a left-footed shot in the 44th minute off a pass from second-half substitute Jorge Rojas to open the scoring at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica. 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Seattle is one game behind the Oakland Athletics for the final wild card berth in the American League and could force a one-game tiebreaker with a win and an Oakland loss to Texas. Ace Felix Hernandez hopes to contribute to those aspirations when he takes the mound Sunday and will try to bounce back from a rough outing his last time out. In a 10-2 beatdown at the hands of Toronto on Tuesday, Hernandez gave up eight runs -- seven in the fifth inning -- and seven hits across 4 2/3 innings of work to fall to 14-6 with a 2.34 earned run average. He hasnt won since Sept. 3 at Oakland and is 0-1 in his last four appearances. King Felix is 9-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 16 starts at home, but 10-13 with a 3.60 ERA in 39 career starts against the Angels. However, the right-hander and Cy Young candidate is 2-0 with a sparkling 0.94 ERA in four starts against the Halos this season. He is aiming for the best ERA in the American League this season. The Mariners needed extra innings to defeat the Angels in Saturdays 2-1 win, as Brad Miller scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning on a fielders choice off the bat of Austin Jackson. Logan Morrison stroked a game- tying RBI double in the seventh for the Mariners, who have won three in a row afteer losing five straight and havent been to the playoffs since 2001.dddddddddddd We put ourselves in a really good position and weve got to hope that Oakland loses, Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. Were playing a meaningful game in 162 and I think that speaks volumes of this club. The Angels won the AL West and have homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. They will try to spoil Seattles chances of making a playoff run Sunday afternoon. LA was denied a chance to reach 100 wins and the best it can do is 99 with a victory today. In Saturdays tough loss in extras, Mike Morin was dealt the loss for allowing the game-winning run to score and Jackson beat out shortstop Gordon Beckhams throw to first for a potential inning-ending double play. Grant Green made the decision to try for two. He was indecisive, Halos manager Mike Scioscia said of Green. His indecisiveness kept him at a distance from second. Howie Kendrick finished with a team-high two hits for the Angels, who have lost two straight and six of nine games. Cory Rasmus gets the call for the Angels Sunday and is 3-1 with a 2.38 earned run average in 29 games (5 starts). Rasmus, who hasnt prevailed since Aug. 20 at Boston, threw four shutout innings for the second straight outing in last Sundays 2-1 win over Texas, charged with only two hits. Rasmus, a right-hander, has faced the Mariners five times (1 start) in his career and is 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA. Seattle is 11-7 against the Angels this season. ' ' '