The Rose Bowl won’t get a Big Ten vs. Pac-12 anymore, but this Midwest vs. West Coast meeting in the CFP quarterfinal has a similar spirit. The Buckeyes lost the first time these new Big Ten foes met but are favored for the rematch in Pasadena. Oregon is the lone remaining undefeated team in the country and beat OSU 32-31 in a nailbiter on Oct. 12 in Eugene. This game will be on a neutral field. If the rematch is as exciting as the first contest, it could help college football fans overcome the malaise created by uninteresting first-round games. Advertisement There were questions about Ohio State after an inexplicable home loss to Michigan closed its regular season. In previous years, that would have knocked the Buckeyes out of CFP contention, but this year, it just cost them a spot in the Big Ten title game. Coach Ryan Day was firmly on the hot seat going into OSU’s first-round game against Tennessee, and his team responded by producing arguably the best Ohio State performance in the past couple of seasons. If the Buckeyes play as they did against Tennessee — a 42-17 romp that felt over in the first quarter and was definitively decided before the end of the third — they are capable of beating Oregon. The Ducks haven’t been tested much since that game. Oregon had a 16-13 clunker at Wisconsin but hasn’t had any other close games in the second half of the season. Even the Big Ten title game against Penn State was only somewhat close. The first time these teams played, both showed off talented (and expensive) rosters capable of winning a national title. OSU’s Will Howard and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel completed more than two-thirds of their passes, passed for two touchdowns and more than 300 yards and didn’t throw an interception. OSU’s TreVeyon Henderson and Oregon’s Jordan James had solid games on the ground. The game’s top receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka for OSU and Evan Stewart and Tez Johnson for Oregon, had several catches and a touchdown each. All the stars showed up. How will the coaching staffs adjust in the rematch? The Buckeyes lead the head-to-head series 9-2, winning the first nine meetings but losing the last two. Oregon also won in Columbus in 2021. These teams met in the Rose Bowl twice, in 1958 and 2010, with OSU winning both. Their last postseason meeting was in the 2015 national title game in AT&T Stadium, a 42-20 OSU win. Oregon vs. Ohio State odds Expert picks against the spread Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox. document.querySelectorAll(".in-content-module[data-module-id='the-pulse-newsletter'] .in-content-module-img img ").forEach((el) => { el.setAttribute("style", "pointer-events: none;");}) Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox. College Football Playoff quarterfinals first look: Oregon-Ohio State has national title vibes How Ohio State dominated Tennessee and what it means for Oregon Mandel: Don’t blame Playoff committee for first round getting out of hand (Photo of Caleb Downs : Jason Miller / Getty Images)The Sri Lanka Barometer (SLB) last week held a unique three-day exhibition themed “Sri Lanka Speaks” to the public at the Independence Square Arcade in Colombo. The exhibition showcased key findings from the SLB Public Opinion Survey on Reconciliation, accompanied by photo stories that capture Sri Lankan’s experiences of reconciliation, bringing the SLB Survey’s data to life. The SLB is supported by the Strengthening Social Cohesion and Peace in Sri Lanka (SCOPE) program, co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Foreign Office, and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka. The photographs and personal stories from Sri Lankans across the island offer insights into the country’s journey through and beyond the 30-year conflict and allowed visitors to reflect on how we, as a nation, can move forward together. Attended by a cross-section of public, policymakers, researchers, university representatives, and media practitioners, the exhibition from 6 to 8 December took visitors through a journey of three narratives highlighted in the SLB Survey Report: How are people doing in their lives? How are people getting on with others? and How are people engaging in civic life? as well as to the general themes of reconciliation and dealing with the past. International dignitaries who graced the exhibition opening included Ambassador of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Carmen Moreno as well as the German Ambassador Dr. Felix Neumann. Ambassador Carmen Moreno said: “The Sri Lanka Barometer is a unique instrument that enables evidence-based policy making by reflecting citizens’ opinions and needs on wide range of matters related to national integration. The European Union is proud, in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office, to support this exercise that serves us in working closely with the Government of Sri Lanka for a peaceful and inclusive society.” The Sri Lanka Barometer is a research initiative aimed at deepening the understanding of how Sri Lankans perceive reconciliation and its most salient dimensions. It consists of three main components: nationally representative public opinion surveys conducted every two years, complementary qualitative research to further explore survey findings, and outreach work. The overarching objective of the SLB is to inform public discourse and policymaking in the country’s pursuit of greater unity and inclusion. The Sri Lanka Barom-eter initiative’s methodology is rooted both in the lived experiences of Sri Lankans and in international best practices. The Sri Lanka Barometer Survey has a sample size of nearly 4,000 respondents that are selected through multi-stage random sampling to accurately reflect the demographic (age, gender, religion, ethnicity) and geographical (urban, rural, estate, and provincial) diversity of the adult population of the country. This ensures the collection of nationally representative data, with detailed insights into people’s needs and priorities across and within different communities in Sri Lanka. All the Sri Lanka Barometer resources are publicly available on the website www.srilankabarometer.lk, and highlights of the data and outreach activities can be followed on the SLB’s social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.

Liverpool leads as the class of the Champions League this season, dumping title holder Real Madrid into an almost unbelievable 24th place in the 36-team standings. No one felt the embarrassment of Madrid’s 2-0 loss at Anfield more than Kylian Mbappé, the superstar added in the offseason by the storied club that also was European champion against Liverpool in the finals of 2022 and 2018. Mbappé had a penalty saved in the second half and was earlier dumped on his behind by Conor Bradley’s perfect tackle in an instant viral moment. Monaco missed a chance to go second in the table, giving up a lead playing with 10 men from the 58th minute in a 3-2 loss at home to Benfica. Swiss forward Zeki Amdouni scored the winning goal in the 88th. Borussia Dortmund, the beaten finalist against Madrid in May, is up to fourth place after beating Dinamo Zagreb 3-0. Champions League standout Jamie Gittens now has four goals in five games, curling a rising shot in the 41st to open the scoring. The best comeback was at PSV Eindhoven, where the home team trailed Shakhtar Donetsk by two goals in the 87th minute before a 3-2 win was sealed by United States forward Ricardo Pepi’s goal deep in stoppage time. US defender Cameron Carter-Vickers scored an embarrassing own goal for Celtic — playing a no-look pass far beyond goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel — in a 1-1 draw with Club Brugge. Liverpool’s stand-in right back Bradley was a standout Wednesday, playing a key pass that set up Alexis Mac Allister to score the opening goal in the 52nd. After Mbappé’s penalty was pushed away by goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher in the 61st, Liverpool star Mo Salah missed with his spot-kick in the 70th, before substitute Cody Gakpo sealed the win with a header in the 77th. Madrid now has lost three of five games after defeats at Lille and at home to AC Milan. The record 15-time European champion has another tough trip next, at fifth-place Atalanta on Dec. 10. Congo teammates Ngal’Ayel Mukau and Silas impressed in wins for Lille and Red Star Belgrade. Mukau scored twice in 12th-place Lille’s 2-1 win at Bologna and Silas leveled for Red Star in a 5-1 rout of Stuttgart, though he barely celebrated his goal. Silas is on loan with the Serbian champion from Stuttgart. Aston Villa drew 0-0 with Juventus. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

PNST stock touches 52-week low at $0.56 amid market challenges

Title: China’s Change from "Prudent" to "Moderately Loose" Monetary Policy Sends Positive Signals