10.29.18: Five things you should plan for the week ahead based on unscientific evidence of guaranteed importance

The damage has been done.
The 114^th World Series may resulted in a Red Sox October, leaving the Dodgers a bit bluer, but there is no more baseball until the spring, we turn the clocks back on Saturday night, and dig in after this equinox thing has passed us by.
And by the way, World Series Games 6 and 7 at Fenway Park, Tuesday and Wednesday … not necessary.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming …

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Which of you wise guys seriously expected to see the Rams land at 8-0 at this point in the NFL’s annual exercise to see who might possibly challenge the 1972 Miami Dolphins for undefeated greatness? Bovoda.lv just posted odds improving the Rams from 9/2 on Sept. 26 to 10/3 to win Super Bowl 53, and from 5/2 to 7/4 to win the NFC. (Odds to win the NFC West? They just improved to 1/25, from 1/16 … isn’t that easy money?) Bovoda also released this prop bet: What will be the total number of championships won by the ’18 Dodgers, ’19 Lakers, ’19 Rams, ’19 Chargers and ’19 Kings? Zero is the 5/7 favorite, with one next at 7/4. The Dodgers have already blown their shot. The Rams have the best chance, of course, of making one the loneliest number.

For NFL Week 9, the Rams travel to New Orleans (Sunday at 1:25 p.m., Channel 11 as the national game) while the Chargers shoot up to Seattle (Sunday at 1:05 p.m., Channel 2).
To finish Week 8:
* New England at Buffalo, Monday at 5:15 p.m., ESPN
Also in Week 9:
* Oakland at San Francisco, Thursday at 5:20 p.m., Channel 11, NFL Network, Amazon Prime
* Detroit at Minnesota, Sunday at 10 a.m., Channel 11 (or Atlanta-Washington or Tampa Bay-Carolina in this window)
* Green Bay at New England, Sunday at 5:20 p.m., Channel 4

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Going into Week 10, the first of six straight College Playoff Rankings come out Tuesday (ESPN, 4:30 p.m.), with updates each week through Nov. 27, then the final poll on Sunday, Dec. 2 that determines not just the final four but also who else is slotted in the bowl games.
You should know the drill. USC and UCLA, unfortunately, can’t have much to look forward here.
Coming into this, the Pac 12 might also find itself disappointed. The practice of each team playing a nine-game conference schedule may have done the conference in again.
The last AP poll for October has the Pac-12 teams somewhat generously bunched whatever’s left into Nos. 10-20 range – No. 10 Washington State and No. 16 Utah is all to be found, with Washington, Oregon and Stanford falling out of the AP Top 25.
The SEC has teams ranked No. 1, 4, 6, 11, 13, 21 and 25.
The locals:
* USC (4-4, 3-3) at Oregon State (2-6, 1-4), Saturday at 7 p.m., FS1
* UCLA (2-6, 2-3) at Oregon (5-3, 2-3), Saturday at 4:30 p.m., Channel 11
Other key games in Week 10:
Thursday:
Temple at Central Florida, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Friday:
Colorado at Arizona, 7:30 p.m., FS1
Saturday:
Alabama at LSU, 5 p.m., Channel 2
Georgia at Kentucky, 12:30 p.m., Channel 2
Louisville at Clemson, 9 a.m., Channel 7
West Virginia at Texas, 12:30 p.m., Channel 11
Penn State at Michigan, 12:45 p.m., ESPN
Utah at Arizona State, 1 p.m., Pac-12 Network
Notre Dame at Northwestern, 4:15 p.m., ESPN
Oklahoma at Texas Tech, 5 p.m., Channel 7
Stanford at Washington, 6 p.m., Channel 11
Cal at Washington State, 7:45 p.m., ESPN
San Diego State at New Mexico, 7:15 p.m., ESPNU

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How cool was it seeing Magic Johnson and Larry Bird have that back-and-forth on camera before Game 5 of the World Series? That had to make everyone smile. Thanks, again, for the memories.
And we move forward:
The Lakers didn’t get enough of Portland on opening night, so they go back to the Rose City for a 7 p.m., Saturday contest to highlight their four-game work week. Is Rondo back yet? Yeah, like it matters. …
Also for the Lakers:
at Minnesota, Monday at 5 p.m.; at Staples Center vs. Dallas, Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and vs. Toronto, Sunday at 5:30 p.m. All on Spectrum SportsNet.
Also this week for the Clippers:
at Oklahoma City, Tuesday at 5 p.m. (Prime Ticket); at Philadelphia, Thursday at 4 p.m. (Fox Sports West); at Orlando, Friday at 4 p.m. (Prime Ticket)

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The MLS playoffs are finally the real deal for rookie phenom LAFC, as it finished third in the Western Conference and is awarded a home game against sixth-seed Real Salt Lake (Banc of California Stadium, Thursday at 7:30 p.m., ESPN2) in this Knockout Round phase. A win puts them into the conference semifinals (Nov. 4 and 11), which feeds into the conference championships (Nov. 25 and 29) and leads up to The MLS Cup (Dec. 8). But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Galaxy may have, and look at what happened. Had the Galaxy won their last regular season game instead of blowing a 2-0 lead, they’d be facing LAFC. Twice in the regular season, LAFC handled RSL, including a 5-1 rout back in March, then 2-0 in L.A. in mid-August.

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When the annual Breeder’s Cup isn’t at Santa Anita, we get a little down. But it’s back at Churchill Downs in Louisville (for the ninth time), so on the last day before we push the clocks back, we’ll try to justify a reason to push forward and tune in. First, unbeaten Triple Crown winner Justify isn’t here. Trainer Bob Baffert retired him with an ankle injury after his 6-0 run. That leaves Accelerate as the favorite in the 14-horse Breeders’ Cup Classic field. Last month at Santa Anita, the 5-year-old Accelerate beat Baffert’s McKinzie and West Coast. It’s a 14-race schedule over Friday and Saturday with a record $30 million in purses. Coverage: NBCSN has Friday from noon-to-4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. NBC has the Classic included from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.