Welp. This season is officially off the rails. Ohio State thoroughly handled Indiana. Oklahoma trounced Alabama. Florida dashed Mississippi's playoff hopes. Auburn upset Texas A&M. Arizona State and Kansas sent the Big 12 into chaos with their wins over BYU and Colorado. Notre Dame resoundingly ended Army's magical run. And that was all in one week! There are more than 60 voters on the AP Top 25 panel. There’s at least one voter from each state that has an FBS team and a handful of national folks. For the state of Nebraska, there’s one voter. Each week I will break down my ballot compared with the actual Top 25 and write on some pressing topics. Without further ado, here is my ballot ahead of Week 14: And here is the actual AP Top 25 for Week 14: Nothing makes sense. I think Ohio State is the best team in the nation right now. However, the Buckeyes remain No. 2 behind undefeated Oregon. Penn State, even at 10-1, doesn't feel inspiring. Barely beating Minnesota? Not cause to be optimistic. I think Indiana still deserves more credit than it gets. The whole "who have they played" narrative is tired. Of their 10 wins, three teams are bowl-eligible in Nebraska, Washington and Michigan. And Michigan State is at five wins ahead of a Week 14 game against Rutgers. I don't know what to make of the SEC or the Big 12. The SEC might be lucky to get three teams into the College Football Playoff. Two feels reasonable, but three feels like a stretch — especially depending on the final week of the regular season. Every game is winnable for the ranked SEC teams. But every game is losable, too. Auburn could beat Alabama. Texas A&M could beat Texas. Vanderbilt could beat Tennessee. And, man, how about Florida? The Gators, after everything, could finish the season 7-5. Heck, even winless Mississippi State could pull off an Egg Bowl miracle over Mississippi. But regardless of what happens, thanks to tiebreakers, Georgia has clinched the SEC championship game. There's a possibility that the Big 12 gets left out of the CFP. If Boise State runs the table in the Mountain West and Tulane runs the table in the American, there's a possibility that both of them, in two weeks, are ranked ahead of whichever Big 12 team decides it wants to win the conference. Kansas, after being left for dead at 2-6, has rattled off three straight wins over ranked teams and could be bowl-eligible with a win over Baylor. Who's going to even make the Big 12 title game? Four teams are tied at 6-2 heading into the final week of the regular season, and there's plenty of potential chaos on the horizon. And Army... congrats on a great start to the season. Apologies that it had to end the way it did against Notre Dame. Now, was Army's schedule — in retrospect — pretty cupcakey? You betcha. Florida Atlantic, Rice, Temple, Tulsa and East Carolina have all already fired their coaches. And UAB probably should, too. Did I still have them ranked this week? I did. Mostly out of the notion that winning games, above all else, is the most important piece of the puzzle here. And because, honestly, the bottom of the poll is an absolute dumpster fire that's impossible to ascertain. Also, with one week left in the regular season, 77 teams have clinched bowl eligibility out of the possible 82 spots. Two more teams are guaranteed to reach their sixth win this week as there are two games both featuring 5-win teams. There are also 12 other teams that could win and reach a sixth win. It's been a while since there were too many bowl-eligible teams — another sign of the chaos that's unfolded this year. Three teams rose five or more spots this week and one team made a return to the Top 25. Arizona State: The biggest riser of the week? The Sun Devils. They jumped up seven spots to No. 14 after their chaotic victory over BYU. That's three straight wins for Arizona State, two of which came over teams that were ranked at the time. Clemson : The Tigers jumped five spots this week to No. 12 after their convincing victory over The Citadel paired with other teams dropping spots with losses. Iowa State : The Cyclones also rose five spots after narrowly beating an injury-riddled Utah squad. That's two straight wins for the Cyclones, putting them at 9-2 and in a must-win spot this week in Farmaggedon. Missouri: Tigers fans must have whiplash. Missouri is back in the Top 25 this week after a brief stint on the outside looking in. The Tigers vaulted back in at No. 24 after beating Mississippi State, 39-20, to move to 8-3 on the season. Seven teams dropped five or more spots this week, and one team dropped out. Army: Losing like that to Notre Dame? That'll send you tumbling. Army fell seven spots this week, narrowly holding onto the No. 25 spot. Colorado: Colorado also dropped seven spots after losing to Kansas, 37-21, falling to No. 23. The Buffaloes are still in the hunt, but they're in a must-win situation against Oklahoma State this week. Alabama : The Crimson Tide is on red alert this week after they not only lost to Oklahoma, which is bad enough, but only scored three points in the game. For that, Alabama fell six spots to No. 13. Indiana : Well, the fun story of an undefeated Indiana is over. The Hoosiers lost to Ohio State and dropped five spots to No. 10. The Hoosiers could still eclipse their 11th win of the season this week when they host the struggling Purdue Boilermakers to close out the regular season. Mississippi: Mississippi said goodbye to its playoff hopes with a loss to Florida, tumbling six spots down the rankings to No. 15. BYU : The Cougars have now lost two in a row — one to Kansas and now to Arizona State. The Cougars, once the Big 12's best story of the season, fell five spots this week to No. 19. Texas A&M: Texas A&M, after losing a close game to Auburn, 43-41, dropped five spots to No. 20. Oddly enough, though, Texas A&M is still in position to make the SEC title game. Just have to get through ~checks notes~ Texas this week to get there. Washington State: The Cougars lost the de facto Pac-2 Championship Game, so they fell out this week. I didn't want any three-loss teams on my ballot at all last week, but after the chaos of this week, it was impossible to do that again. So, I kept all the three-loss teams below No. 15. And that makes my ballot a little funky compared to the consensus poll. The biggest "miss" I had was Tennessee. I had the Volunteers at No. 11, while they came in at No. 7. Their most recent win came over a struggling UTEP that's 2-9 on the season. Before that, they lost to Georgia. Before that, they beat the only winless team in SEC play in Mississippi State. Now, I'm of the mindset that you have to win the games on your schedule, but they're pretty tough to figure out. Also, I had Memphis ranked instead of Missouri. Here are the games I have circled for this week: No. 16 South Carolina (8-3, 5-3) at No. 12 Clemson (9-2, 7-1) : It's been a long time since the Palmetto Bowl featured two ranked teams — 11 years, in fact. Going to be a fun one in Clemson. 11 a.m. kick Saturday on ESPN. No. 3 Texas (10-1, 6-1) at No. 20 Texas A&M (8-3, 5-2): The Lone Star Showdown is back after a 12-year hiatus, and the stakes are incredibly high as the winner will advance to the SEC title game to face Georgia. 6:30 p.m. kick on Saturday on ABC. Kansas State (8-3, 5-3) at No. 17 Iowa State (9-2, 6-2) : The Big 12 is a mess, and this game will directly influence who makes the Big 12 title game. 6:30 p.m. kick on FOX. Get local news delivered to your inbox!NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are stabilizing Thursday following one of their worst days of the year . The S&P 500 rose 0.2% in late trading, a day after tumbling 2.9% when the Federal Reserve said it may deliver fewer cuts to interest rates next year than earlier thought. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 136 points, or 0.3%, with less than an hour remaining in trading, following Wednesday’s drop of more than 1,100 points. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Wednesday’s drop took some of the enthusiasm out of the market, which critics had already been warning was overly buoyant and would need everything to go correctly for it to justify its high prices. But indexes remain near their records , and the S&P 500 is still on track for one of its best years of the millennium . Traders are now expecting the Federal Reserve to deliver just one or maybe two cuts to interest rates next year, according to data from CME Group. Some are even betting on none. A month ago, the majority saw at least two cuts in 2025 as a safe bet. Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they give the economy a boost and goose prices for investments, but they can also provide fuel for inflation. Darden Restaurants, the company behind Olive Garden and other chains, helped lift the market after leaping 15.1%. It delivered profit for the latest quarter that edged past analysts’ expectations. The operator of LongHorn Steakhouses also gave a forecast for revenue for this fiscal year that topped analysts’. Accenture rose 6.7% after the professional services company likewise topped expectations for profit in the latest quarter. CEO Julie Sweet said it saw growth around the world, and the company raised its forecast for revenue this fiscal year. Amazon shares added 1.8%, even as workers at seven of its facilities went on strike Thursday in the middle of the online retail giant’s busiest time of the year. Amazon says it doesn’t expect an impact on its operations during what the workers’ union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history. They helped offset a tumble for Micron Technology, which fell 16.7% despite reporting stronger profit than expected. The computer memory company’s revenue fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts, and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said it expects demand from consumers to remain weaker in the near term. It gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that fell well short of what analysts were thinking. Lamb Weston, which makes French fries and other potato products, dropped 22.6% after falling short of analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. It also cut its financial targets for the fiscal year, saying demand for frozen potatoes is continuing to soften, particularly outside North America. The company replaced its chief executive. In the bond market, yields were mixed a day after shooting higher on expectations that the Fed would deliver fewer cuts to rates in 2025. Reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed. One showed the overall economy grew at a 3.1% annualized rate during the summer, faster than earlier thought. The economy has remained remarkably resilient even though the Fed held its main interest rate at a two-decade high for a while before beginning to cut them in September. A separate report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, an indication that the job market also remains solid. But a third report said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region is unexpectedly contracting again despite economists’ expectations for growth. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.57% from 4.52% late Wednesday and from less than 4.20% earlier this month. But the two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for action by the Fed in the near term, eased back to 4.31% from 4.35%. The rise in longer-term yields has put pressure on the housing market by keeping mortgage rates higher. Homebuilder Lennar fell 4.8% after it reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Stuart Miller said that “the housing market that appeared to be improving as the Fed cut short-term interest rates, proved to be far more challenging as mortgage rates rose” through the quarter. “Even while demand remained strong, and the chronic supply shortage continued to drive the market, our results were driven by affordability limitations from higher interest rates,” he said. A report on Thursday may have offered some encouragement for the housing industry. It showed a pickup in sales of previously occupied homes. In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.1% after the Bank of England paused its cuts to rates and kept its main interest rate unchanged on Thursday. The move comes as inflation there moved further above the central bank’s 2% target rate, while the British economy is flatlining at best. The Bank of Japan also kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%. Indexes likewise sank across much of the rest of Asia and Europe. AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

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Share Tweet Share Share Email An Interview with Feras Mousilli , Managing Partner of Lloyd & Mousilli TechBullion recently had the opportunity to catch up with Dr. Feras Mousilli , the Managing Partner of Lloyd & Mousilli , an international boutique law firm specialising in intellectual property and technology law, with a focus on startups. The following is an excerpt from an interview that our Editorial Staff conducted in Autumn 2024. Dr. Mousilli, great to catch you between your busy international itinerary. Lloyd & Mousilli had quite the banner year and your client deals have made headlines around the world. Can you give us some insight into your firm’s work with international startups? It’s been a fantastic year for the firm and our international clients. Whether it’s a Croatian drone tech startup like Orqa or a Silicon Valley Artificial Intelligence generated video leader like Tavus , Lloyd & Mousilli’s focus has always been to provide comprehensive legal support to startups, with a focus on technology transactions and intellectual property matters. We specialize in counseling startups through international expansion, with lawyers strategically located across the U.S., as well as in Medellín, Colombia, Kyiv, Ukraine and most recently, Istanbul, Turkiye. Many of our clients approach us at the pre-launch or early stages of their journey, giving us the opportunity to help them build a strong foundation through services like corporate structuring, contract drafting, and IP protection strategies. Our distributed team model enables us to serve clients globally, breaking down barriers typically associated with more conventional law firms and has earned L&M recognition by Chambers . You mentioned Ukraine – who’s doing business there? We also noted from your profile that you’re a Fulbright Professor and taught in Ukraine, what’s an American lawyer doing in a war zone? Ukraine has long been a country very dear to me since my first visit in 2014 during the Euro Maidan revolution. L&M has a long history of representing Ukrainian startups, like Preply and Mosqitter and many others. In 2020, I was nominated for and granted a Fulbright Specialist Award to teach intellectual property and technology law as a visiting professor in Europe. I began teaching IP and technology commercialization courses at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, The National Technical University of Ukraine Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI), and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The courses focused on developing intellectual property strategies for patents and trademarks, building patent portfolios, software licensing, and commercialization of inventions and business ideas. Unfortunately, with the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. State Department ordered all US personnel to evacuate the country in 2022. Our firm has continued to represent startups in Ukraine’s war zones, from Donoetsk to Kharkiv and just recently successfully prosecuted a patent for a water ionization technology where the founder was MIA in the contested territories. Personally, I also continue to teach university law classes, albeit online. Feras Mousilli presentation to Venture Capital conference. Photo courtesy Unit City, Kyiv, Ukraine. Very inspiring that Lloyd & Mousilli is able to operate and support startups in war zones like Ukraine. Can you tell us more about being a Fulbright Specialist and what the program entails? The Fulbright Specialist Program connects established U.S. academics and experts with institutions abroad to develop institutional relationships, learn about other cultures, and contribute their knowledge through research and teaching. Fulbright specialists are competitively selected from a vast range of professional disciplines based on significant experience in their respective fields, as well as rigorous ethical and character fitness. I am considered an expert in the field of intellectual property and technology law. After Ukraine, I was then offered another visiting professorship through the Fulbright program in 2023 at University Tecnologico de Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia. During my time at Tecnologico de Antioquia, my primary focus was on researching and lecturing about the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Colombia. This concentration included contributing to the university’s academic curriculum revisions to better incorporate IP and technology commercialization content, as well as authoring a data-based report and presentation about the state of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Colombia. I also organized the university’s first-ever business startup pitch competition , sponsored by Lloyd & Mousilli, where I trained participating student teams to effectively present their businesses to potential investors. Professor Mousilli with university faculty. Photo courtesy University Tecnologico de Antioquia, Medellin. You mentioned that you recently opened an office in Istanbul, Turkey. Congratulations on the new office in the old world! Can you provide insight into what led to that decision? The decision to establish a base for Lloyd & Mousilli in Istanbul is both personal and strategic. Turkey has a thriving economy, a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, and immense potential for cross-border collaboration. Our new law firm office in Nişantaşı represents our commitment to fostering innovation and supporting businesses in the region. L&M has long advised U.S. clients on Turkish trademark and other intellectual property matters, leveraging our knowledge of the Turkish legal system and familiarity with Turkey’s startup ecosystem. The new Istanbul office will serve as a bridge for businesses navigating cross-border opportunities between Türkiye and the United States, as well as across the Middle East and Central Asia. Feras Mousilli, Turkish Bar President, & Ahmet Arslan. Photo courtesy Turkish Bar Association. These international startup stories are remarkable, but we are curious how it all started in Silicon Valley. Can you tell us about your time at Apple and your work there? Being a lawyer for Apple was the ultimate dream job for a technology lawyer. It was an interesting journey for me, since I was recruited from my role at Dell by Apple to serve as Special Projects Counsel on a special, and at the time, unreleased secret project. As it turned out, I would serve as the original lawyer on the Apple Watch – the most personal computer that Apple ever launched. While I didn’t realize it at the time, the Apple recruiters had been keenly interested in my degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. It made sense given all the biometric and health data and technology that is packed into the device. In addition to the Apple Watch, as Senior Corporate Counsel at Apple, I advised on the entire gamut of product development and intellectual property matters. This included advertising, marketing, copyright, and trademark strategies and risks. I was also responsible for the Made For iOS (“MFi”) ecosystem – CarPlay, HomeKit, AirPlay – basically the legal support for the technical specifications and resources needed to create accessories that communicate with Apple devices using MFi technologies and components. While it was very stimulating to work for tech giants Apple and Dell, I found that I was drawn more towards working with early stage companies and startups. We have a real love for founders and the energy that they bring to their startups. We jokingly refer to the team at Lloyd & Mousilli as “nerds & geeks” – everyone is super nerdy and passionate about their subject matter and they bring an academic rigor to solving these real world problems on behalf of our clients. We realize that for these startups, everything needs to align for their success and we are simply delighted to be a partner to their business. Professor Mousilli teaches Intellectual Property. Photo courtesy Taras Shevchenko University. Deeply motivating. Any closing words of advice to startups or first time founders? Being a startup founder is a fundamentally irrational path. The odds are stacked against you- statistically most startups fail. But for those founders that do it anyway, they are driven by a grander vision – a passion that fuels them to pursue the idea anyway. Like our client Deepen that is trying to change the future through autonomous vehicles or AiXplain that wants to democratize artificial intelligence, these visions are life changing for humanity. My advice to these founders is to make sure you surround yourself with people that can fuel your drive and share your enthusiasm to make positive changes. Your legal advisor has to not only share your vision, but also needs to align on your risk tolerance, as well. Find a lawyer that focuses on the solutions when everyone else is caught up in the problems. Dr. Feras Mousilli in Houston, Texas. Photo courtesy Ammar Selo Photography. 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