By Simon Evans

(Reuters) – Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub starts his first road playoff game, at the New England Patriots on Sunday, with the pressure on.

The Patriots, corning in from a bye week, loom as favorites in the American Football Conference (AFC) divisional round clash as they look to go one better than last season when they lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

By Simon Evans

(Reuters) – The Atlanta Falcons earned the top seed in the National Football Conference (NFC) with a 13-3 regular season record but it is a miserable run of form in the playoffs they will try to end against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Three times in the era of head coach Mike Smith and quarterback Matt Ryan the Falcons have impressed in the regular season but have stumbled in their first games of the post-season.

By Simon Evans

(Reuters) – Lance Armstrong will break his silence about his lifetime ban from cycling and the doping charges made against him in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey next week, the television presenter announced on Tuesday.

The interview, to be broadcast on the Oprah Winfrey Network on January 17, will be the first the American cyclist has conducted since receiving his ban and being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

Jan 8 (Reuters) – Lance Armstrong will break his silence about his lifetime ban from cycling and the doping charges made against him in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey next week, the television presenter announced on Tuesday.

The interview, to be broadcast on the Oprah Winfrey Network on Jan. 17, will be the first the American cyclist has conducted sine receiving his ban and being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

MIAMI (Reuters) – University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, showered with acclaim after a fourth national title, said on Tuesday he has no desire to return to the National Football League and that the college game is where he belongs.

Saban’s Crimson Tide won their second successive national title on Monday and third in four years with a 42-14 hammering of Notre Dame.

MIAMI (Reuters) – University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban secured his status as one of the greats of college football on Monday, guiding the ‘Crimson Tide’ to their third national title in four years with a crushing 42-14 victory over Notre Dame.

In the same Sun Life Stadium where he endured a brief, fruitless and unhappy experience as an NFL head coach with the Miami Dolphins, Saban tasted college football glory for the fourth time having won earlier in his career with Louisiana State University (LSU).

MIAMI (Reuters) – Alabama’s ‘Crimson Tide’ swept aside Notre Dame in the BCS Championship game on Monday, dominating the ‘Fighting Irish’ 42-14 to win their third college football title in four years.

Notre Dame, 12-0 in the regular season, had been looking for their first national title since 1988 but were all at sea against irresistible Alabama, who set the tone of the game with an utterly one-sided 28-0 first half.

MIAMI (Reuters) – The Miami Heat’s rebounding troubles cost them dearly as Carlos Boozer scored 27 points and pulled down 12 boards to spark the Chicago Bulls to a 96-89 win over the NBA champions in South Florida on Friday.

Although LeBron James scored 30 points, the Heat fell behind in the first quarter and were never able to recover as Chicago improved to 18-13 in the Eastern Conference.

By Simon Evans

(Reuters) – Sunday’s divisional clash between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers headlines a fascinating penultimate weekend of regular season National Football League (NFL) action where playoff dreams are on the line.

Nineteen teams still have a mathematical shot at qualifying for the playoffs but the field of hopefuls dreaming of a berth in February’s Super Bowl will be cut after the weekend action.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A new generation of talented quarterbacks emerged in 2012 but a refereeing fiasco, worries over concussions and player behavior all left their mark on the National Football League (NFL).

The year was also a tantalizing tale of the Mannings with New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning winning his second Super Bowl title in four years with a win over New England in the same stadium where older brother Peyton played for Indianapolis.