Sports – Monday, October 3rd, 2016

The Wisconsin Badgers fell in both national polls this week following a 14-7 loss to Michigan on Saturday afternoon. The Badgers fell five spots to number 13 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and just three spots to number 11 in the Associated Press Top 25. In the AP Poll, Alabama and Ohio State remain at 1 and 2. Clemson climbs two spots to number 3, while Michigan holds steady at 4, Washington climbs five spots to number 5, Houston stays at number 6, Louisville falls to number 7, Texas A&M jumps a spot to number 8, Tennessee is up two spots to number 9 and Miami climbs up four to number 10. The Badgers are off this week, and host Ohio State next Saturday.

From the NFL:

Brian Hoyer threw for two touchdowns and the Chicago Bears earned their first win of the season 17-14 over the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field on Sunday. Hoyer threw for 302 yards and the 2 scores and rookie Jordan Howard rushed for 111 yards for Chicago in the win. The Bears’ defense intercepted Matthew Stafford twice and held the Lions to 66 yards rushing as a team. Chicago plays at Indianapolis next Sunday while the Lions host Philadelphia.

The Minnesota Vikings host the New York Giants on Monday Night Football tonight. The Vikings are 3-0, coming off a win over Carolina last week. The Giants are 2-1 coming off a two point loss to Washington.

The Brewers won their final game of the season, 6-4 over the Colorado Rockies in 10 innings Sunday afternoon in Denver. Domingo Santana gave Milwaukee a 4-3 lead in the 8th, but the Rockies tied in the 9th on an RBI single by Jordan Patterson. In the 10th, Catcher Andrew Susac gave the Brewers a 6-4 lead on a 2 run home run, and Corey Knebel earned his 2nd save of the year to close out the win. The Brewers close the 2016 season with a 73-89 overall record, a 5 win improvement over last year’s 68-94 mark.

The MLB playoff matchups are set. The American League Wild Card game will be played Tuesday at Toronto between the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles. The National League Wild Card game will be played Wednesday in New York between the Mets and San Francisco Giants. The AL Division Series will begin Thursday with the Baltimore/Toronto winner at Texas and Boston at Cleveland, while the NL Division Series will begin Friday with the New York/San Francisco winner at the Chicago Cubs and the LA Dodgers at Washington.

Martin Truex Jr. dominated at Dover International Speedway for his second victory in the first three Chase races. Three-time NASCAR champ Tony Stewart finished 13th and was knocked out of contention in the first elimination race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. The field was sliced from 16 drivers to 12.  Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch joined Truex and Austin Dillon in the next round that opens at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

A strong showing in the singles matches helped the United States regain the Ryder Cup. The Americans claimed the event for the first time since 2008 with a 17-11 win over Europe. Patrick Reed got the ball rolling with a 1-up win over Rory McIlroy in the first match of the day. The Cup-clinching point came from captain’s pick Ryan Moore, who wasn’t on the team a week ago. He returned the trophy to the United States with a 1-up win over Lee Westwood. Others winning their matches for the US included Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedecker, Brooks Koepka and Zach Johnson.