There are 13 days until the college football season begins on Sept. 1, and the number 13 was a magic one for a trio of college football teams last season. ??Three teams won 13 or more games, headlined by 14-1 Alabamas win over Clemson, which also finished 14-1, in the College Football Playoff national championship game. The other 13-win team was the American Athletic Conferences Houston Cougars, who finished 13-1 after their Chick Fil-A Peach Bowl victory over Florida State in the New Years Six game.The 13-win plateau is not as rare as it used to be with the addition of conference championship games and?two rounds of college playoffs. But it remains a sign of excellence nonetheless. The Crimson Tide became the all-time leader in seasons of 13 wins or more?by eclipsing that mark for the fourth time last season, the most since the college football classification system began in 1937.?Three of Alabamas seasons of 13 or more wins have come under coach Nick Saban: 2015, 2012 and 2009. The other time was 13-0 in 1992 under Gene Stallings.?Clemson broke the 13-win mark for the first time?last season with its best showing since going 12-0 in 1981 and winning the national title. With?Deshaun Watson?returning at quarterback, the Tigers are favorites to hit that mark once again. Houston, on the other hand, exploded onto the scene?last year in coach Tom Hermans first season, going 13-1 and defeating Florida State 38-24. It was the second time in school history that it has won 13 games, with the 2011 team the other. ? ?All three teams will open their season on Sept. 3.?Alabama will play USC in Arlington, Texas; Clemson will visit?Auburn; and Houston will play Oklahoma in a neutral-site game at NRG Stadium in Houston.?In case you missed any part of our countdown:14 days: 14 years of Boise State excellence15 days: Kansas has lost 15 straight games, the longest active FBS streak.16 days: Peyton Manning wore No. 16 for Tennessee.17 days: TCU QBs completed 17 of 17 passes in a game in 2012, an FBS record.18 days: Ohio State has won an FBS-best 18 consecutive road games.19 days: There are 19 head coaches at their alma mater this season.20 days: It has been 20 years since Florida won its first national championship.21 days:?Oklahoma led the nation in average scoring margin (21.5) last season.22 days: Ohio State has been in the top 10 of the AP poll for 22 straight weeks.23 days:?Virginia Tech has played in an FBS-best 23 straight bowl games.24 days:?In the first game of the historic rivalry, Navy beat Army 24-0.25 days: Desmond Howard won the Heisman 25 years ago.26 days:?Arkansas State led the nation with 26 interceptions in 2015.27 days: Clemsons Greg Huegel led the nation with 27 field goals in 2015.28 days: Adrian Peterson wore No. 28 for Oklahoma.29 days: Alabamas Bryant-Denny Stadium opened in 1929.30 days: Miamis Vinny Testaverde won the Heisman 30 years ago.Denis Menke Jersey . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Brad Lidge Jersey . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. https://www.cheapastros.com/1283o-joe-morgan-jersey-astros.html . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. Joe Biagini Astros Jersey . Soukalova missed only one target and completed the 15-kilometre course in 40 minutes, 32.6 seconds for both victories in this seasons individual discipline. Darya Domracheva of Belarus was second, 34. Collin McHugh Astros Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months.HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Nearly five years after an intense battle on the racetrack for the Sprint Cup championship, Carl Edwards found himself in the middle of a different kind of firestorm.The afternoon show on Boston sports talk radio station WEEI was broadcasting live from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A day earlier, the hosts of the show started plugging their trip to the racetrack. The hosts, including a former major league baseball player and former NFL player, debated whether NASCAR drivers are athletes.They had some harsh words, with former NFL tight end Christian Fauria saying Carl Edwards is not an athlete.Right off the bat with Edwards on the air, the hosts came clean about what they said the day before about Edwards, who got to hear some of the comments. Fauria, one of the hosts, also said a day earlier that Joe Gibbs was the worst football coach he ever played for in his 13-year NFL career. Fauria and the other hosts laughed about that comment as well in welcoming Edwards to the show.Edwards, nearly on cue, smoothly joined the brofest: My god ... and this is the best Boston has?And then he rationalized with them: No. 1, you dont have to be an athlete to drive a race car. ... I might argue that guys in both of your sports are probably not the best athletes. Edwards explained that he believes his fitness level helps him on the hot, taxing days -- that it allows him to relax and focus instead of feeling worn out.Its hand-eye coordination, you have to be somewhat brave. There are a lot of risks, Edwards said. You have to be pretty technical. ... Its a semantic thing.Heres the deal: You want to get in my car and give it a shot? Its a skill set. Lets say Im the best athlete in the world, the decathlete gold medalist, I cant go line up in an NFL game and do it.Afterward, as he walked back to his hauler to get ready for qualifying, Edwards said he enjoyed the segment.It was great, Edwards said. At the end of the day, its cool for those guys to come to the track. Theyre not race savvy and ... to be able to talk to a new crowd and have those guys ask those questions and talk like that and bust right through the door, I think thats cool.In other words, Edwards appreciated the opportunity to promote his sport and perform at his best in a public setting.Now four months later, he gets to do that on the track. Just like that radio show, he appreciates the opportunity he has to add a Sprint Cup trophy to his mantel and participate in what could be an epic finish to the season.Hes had championship opportunities in the past, ones that ended in epic disappointment. He finished tied for second in points behind Tony Stewart in 2005. He was second behind Jimmie Johnson in 2008. And then in 2011, he finished tied with Stewart, losing the title on a tiebreaker as Stewart had five wins in the Chase. The final Stewart victory came with Edwards on his tail at Homestead-Miami Speedway.Edwards is one of the four drivers with an even shot at the title Sunday at Homestead. Whoever finishes best among Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano will be crowned the champion.Its an opportunity to go do that again, to go be a part of that weekend with everything on the line -- thats as good as it gets, Edwards said. When that race was over in 2011, I wanted to line it up again and do it again. Obviously I wanted the outcome to be different.I really enjoyed that competition, leading up to it, the whole week, qualifying, it was great.The 37-year-old Edwards ranks fifth among drivers with the most wins (28) who have not won a title. He is one of threee drivers who have finished second multiple times in the standings without winning a championship.dddddddddddd.That could feel demoralizing, but its not too shabby for a driver who once passed out business cards looking for a ride before he got his start on a part-time basis in a truck in 2002.He can remember those days and what they taught him. Hes no Busch, who drove for Roush Fenway Racing at age 16. Hes no Johnson, who had some backing from Chevrolet to break into NASCAR and then joined Hendrick Motorsports at a time when it was one of the top teams in the sport. Hes no Logano, who signed a major NASCAR deal before he turned 18.Edwards crew chief, Dave Rogers, also knows what its like to struggle. His initial Cup crew chief job, with Jason Leffler in 2005, ended in 12 races, and he wound up in the Xfinity Series before working his way back atop a pit box in Cup.We have two things in common, Edwards said about him and Rogers. We have experience. We understand how to do the job.Because of everything weve done, were really grateful for the opportunity. We really value this chance to go win a championship. Thats cool. Its pure racing.Rogers, crew chief for Denny Hamlin last year and for Kyle Busch from late in the 2009 season through 2014, has never had a chance to win a title at Homestead.Weve both been in situations where weve come up short, and we know what its like to lose, Rogers said. Now we want to go down there and try to figure out how to win it. ... I know Carl was disappointed last year that he fell short.The 11 [team of Hamlin] was disappointed last year that we fell short. But now were teamed up together, our first year together, were going down there with the option to win it, and were just excited about it.If Edwards learned any lessons from his past championship runs, especially from 2011, hes not detailing them.I learned a lot [in 2011], he said. Not going into specifics about my mindset, Im really grateful for that experience. Yeah, I wanted to win just as bad as I want to win every year. But that experience -- I wouldnt trade it for anything else.Edwards wouldnt, however, say that he had to lose a championship in order to win one.You dont have to, he said. We happened to. One way to look at it is in 2005, we had a chance and I was like, Oh we will win it next year. In 2008, I was like, That one hurt a little bit.In 2011, I was like, I want to go again right now. [It means] I will be really appreciative of the championship. It will mean a lot to me because of those battles.Edwards and Johnson are the two drivers among the four who have not competed in the elimination-style Chase championship event. In each of the last two years, Edwards has been knocked out in the semifinal round.He has the best average finish of any of the finalists at Homestead as he tries to join an elite group of drivers -- Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Bobby Labonte -- who have won titles in both the Cup and the Xfinity Series.Really, this whole thing for me is simple: We have a shot to win the championship and weve got the team to do it, Edwards said. Im excited for the opportunity. The last two years ... you go to Homestead and youre like, Damn it, I know if we just were in that group we could have a shot at this.So now we get the chance. Thats as good as it gets. Its like passing out those business cards saying, Somebody just let me drive the car, please. Now we get to be a part of it. Its cool. ' ' '