The A3XX is the biggest new thing in air travel since 1969, when Boeing rolled out the 747 jumbo, three times larger than anything then flying. Founded the next year, Europe’s Airbus consortium has been fighting ever since to unseat Boeing as the world’s No. 1 airplane manufacturer, and to topple its 747 jumbo as the “Queen of the Skies.” The way Airbus and Boeing hate each other is legendary, and the A3XX brings the bitter rivalry to its climax....

EA Sports on Tuesday announced Kaepernick’s return in “Madden NFL 21,” which was made available last month. The gaming company released a strong statement explaining its adding Kaepernick back to the game. MORE: The complete Colin Kaepernick kneeling timeline “Colin Kaepernick is one of the top free agents in football and a starting-caliber quarterback,” the release read. “The team at EA Sports, along with millions of Madden NFL fans, want to see him back in our game....

Speaking of the war, Powell told veteran journalist Bob Woodward he felt it was time to “get it over with” and added, “Afghanistan, you’re never going to win. Afghans are going to win.” The comments, along with other thoughts shared during what is believed to be one of Powell’s final interviews before his death on Monday, were published by Woodward in a story posted online Monday night by The Washington Post....

But then, after I emptied my bank accounts to make year-end charitable contributions and tax payments, I ran into an art-dealer friend at an antiques show. “I was meaning to call you,” he said, and, being already heavily laden with acquisitions from the show as we spoke, I knew I was in trouble. He explained that someone was bringing in a 19th-century oil painting of Paris at the time of the Franco-Prussian War that he thought I would like....

Line: Duke -7, Total: 151.5 (current college hoops point spreads and totals) Offense, offense, offense. Fans of offense must tune into the matchup between the Fighting Irish and Blue Devils. Both teams fill it up, move the ball, and hit a high percentage of shots. Even NBA junkies should check out likely No. 1 pick Jahlil Okafor of Duke and ND’s point guard Jerian Grant. Unless Duke gets blown out of the water, they’ll likely get a top seed in the NCAA Tournament....

Some of the highest scoring games as projected by Vegas include Arizona at Houston (with Khalil Tate needing a bounceback game), Arkansas at Colorado State (featuring recently announced starter Ty Storey at QB for Chad Morris and the Hogs), and Rice at Hawaii (which will play in the wee hours of Sunday morning on the East Coast). Points are the name of the game in DFS, and when CFBDynasty debates the weekly college fantasy football player rankings and college DFS rankings, it’s largely influenced by Vegas....

A total of 82 bowl-eligible teams will participate in the 2022-23 college football Bowl Season leading up to the College Football Playoff championship. Bowl Season starts on Dec. 16 with the Bahamas Bowl and will run through Jan. 9. The College Football Playoff semifinals will be on Dec. 31 this season. Those semifinals will be played at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz....

All of the bowl bids, including the CFP and New Year’s Day 6, will be revealed live during ESPN’s four-hour selection show on Sunday, beginning at noon ET. Sporting News has projections for all 40 bowl games here, and we will track the bids live throughout the day below. MORE: CFP rankings: Who are four teams in? College football bowl bid tracker 2019-20 College Football Playoff, New Year’s 6 games

Georgia Southern has jumped from a 9-point road favorite visiting Texas State up to -14 at The Wynn, and Appalachian State opened Pick’em hosting Louisiana-Monroe and was -4 as of Friday afternoon. Those have been the biggest line moves in addition to Northwestern going from a 2.5-point home favorite to a 1.5-point underdog against Michigan, which was discussed here earlier in the week . But Avello said he expects some heavy action to come in Saturday at The Wynn on this week’s biggest games....

The Linemakers on Sporting News offer our opinions and picks on several of the weekend’s best games. The lines and totals listed below are the Las Vegas consensus as of Friday afternoon. You can check out updated college football point spreads and totals on our live odds page. Indiana vs. Ohio State (-34.5, 65.5), 12 p.m. ET, BTN/BTN2 This feels like a classic let-down spot for Ohio State, and Indiana has held its own versus the Buckeyes from a wagering perspective, having covered the spread in three straight meetings, two of which have been in Columbus....

The matchups between No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 Georgia in the Rose Bowl Game (5 p.m., ESPN) and No. 1 Clemson and No. 4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl (8:45 p.m.) are almost too close to call. We could picture any one of these teams in the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 8 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. BOWLS: Get used to this playoff field Sporting News college football writer Bill Bender and editor Zac Al-Khateeb make their predictions for the big games: Rose Bowl Game Bender’s pick: Oklahoma 31, Georgia 28...

Barta said that the reason Michigan sits at No. 6, a spot ahead of No. 7 Michigan State despite the head-to-head loss on Oct. 30, is because the overall stats favor Michigan. MORE: Ohio State vs. Michigan State odds, predictions, betting trends The Spartans enjoyed a week ahead of Michigan after defeating the Wolverines 37-33 on Oct. 30 in East Lansing.. However, the following week, Purdue played the role of spoiler and defeated Michigan State 40-29 in West Lafayette, Ind....

After years of debate over the best model for the College Football Playoff — including standing pat at four teams — there is agreement on expansion, the CFP board announced in September. The model was approved by a unanimous vote. “This is an historic and exciting day for college football,” said Mark Keenum, Mississippi State president and CFP board chairman. “More teams, more participation and more excitement are good for our fans, alumni, and student-athletes....

The regular season has just four weeks remaining, and the dash to the four-team playoff is more complicated than ever with the scheduling hurdles created by COVID-19 outbreaks. Week 11 didn’t offer much drama in that sense. Notre Dame continued its push to the College Football Playoff with a convincing 45-31 victory at Boston College. Indiana improved to 4-0 and set up the Big Ten’s most unlikely Game of the Year scenario at Ohio State on Nov....

As its second set of 2020 rankings are unveiled Tuesday night, the landscape of Playoff contenders remains complicated by COVID-19 cancelations and vastly different strengths of schedule. Ohio State, one of the teams named in the initial top four last week, couldn’t suit up against Illinois because of a coronavirus outbreak. USC, the last remaining Pac 12 squad with any hope of a Playoff appearance, might struggle to complete six games this year as the West Coast buckles down for a surge of hospitalizations and subsequent shutdowns....

Georgia made the biggest jump, moving up to No. 8 in the Coaches Poll with a blowout win over Mississippi State. West Virginia also made it into the top 25 while Florida State took the biggest drop, falling 14 spots after an 0-2 start. In the AP Poll, TCU’s win over No. 6 Oklahoma State was enough to move up seven spots. Oklahoma State dropped to No. 15. Notre Dame and West Virginia worked their way onto the list with convincing wins against Michigan State and Kansas, respectively....

Just ask Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Nebraska (among others). That said, there are a few games involving top-25 teams — including a few nonconference meetings — worth watching this week. That includes meetings between No. 12 BYU and No. 25 Oregon as well as No. 13 Miami and No. 24 Texas A&M. There’s also the old Big 8 rivalry between No. 6 Oklahoma and Nebraska, a historic series that has lost some of its luster with the Cornhuskers firing coach Scott Frost amid a 1-2 start....