DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Ford found some extra power at one of NASCARs fastest tracks, enough to put Greg Biffle on the pole for the first time in almost four years.Biffle led a Ford contingent to a strong showing in qualifying for Saturday nights race at Daytona International Speedway to earn the top starting spot.He was one of seven Ford drivers to qualify in the top 14 at a track where Toyota used teamwork to win the Daytona 500 in February.Biffle was the last car to make a lap in Friday nights qualifying session and earned the top starting spot with a speed of 192.995 mph in his Roush Fenway Racing Ford.It is Biffles first pole since Charlotte in October 2012, a streak of 130 races, and he credited engine builder Doug Yates.I am not going to discredit winning a pole, but we would sure like to win an open race track, Biffle said. We have been really close with a couple outside front-row starts and just havent quite gotten there. It does feel good for our team though.Biffle bumped Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch from the top of the leaderboard. Edwards lap of 192.748 was good enough for second, and Busch dropped to third with a lap at 192.336.Joe Gibbs Racing had to scramble to ready Buschs backup car for qualifying after Busch destroyed his Toyota during a crash in Friday mornings practice session.Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified fourth to give Roush two drivers in the top four.It is a good day for the Roush Fenway Fords, Stenhouse said. The guys have been bringing really good cars to the speedways, really fast cars. It is really cool that Greg got it for our organization. It shows we are putting a lot of hard work in and it is starting to pay off at every race track.Brad Keselowski qualified fifth in a Team Penske Ford. Teammate Joey Logano was 11th, and Ryan Blaney was 12th for The Wood Brothers. Roush driver Trevor Bayne was 13th and Aric Almirola 14th for Richard Petty Motorsports. All the Fords use engines built by Doug Yates.I am really happy to see a Ford on the pole with Greg Biffle, and I think we will be ready to race, Keselowski said. It makes you feel really good to see all those Ford teammates up there in the front of the field.The Ford drivers will have to work together to fend off the Toyota brigade that ganged up on the field to win the Daytona 500. JGRs four drivers worked with Martin Truex Jr. to form a juggernaut that led to a Denny Hamlin win as Toyota drivers took four of the top five spots.Edwards expected a similar strategy on Saturday night.That worked really well. I dont know that it will ever work that well again, Edwards said.I assume well just try to do the same thing, which was basically work together if we can, and I watched a little bit of the race the other day and everything just worked out perfectly. If we can do that again, it would be great. We really have a good group of cars, and we have a great group of teammates so that would be good.Austin Dillon, who was involved in a horrible accident on the last lap of this race last year, in which his car went airborne into the fence, qualified sixth as the fastest Chevrolet.Jimmie Johnson was seventh; he was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to advance to the second round of qualifying. Hendrick drivers had won six consecutive poles on restrictor plate tracks dating to the 2015 Daytona 500.Hamlin was ninth and Kurt Busch 10th.Truex, who lost in a photo finish to Hamlin in the 500, was 15th. Defending race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 16th.Tony Stewart, who snapped an 84-race winless streak last week on the road course at Sonoma, qualified 19th.Other notes from Friday at Daytona:AVERAGE EARNHARDT: He didnt get the starting spot he hoped for, but Earnhardt still believes he has a decent shot to get his first win of the season on Saturday night.Its going to be slick in the race and handling is going to be real important, Earnhardt said. Im more concerned really with the car driving good. Might not be the fastest car out there; thats not the car that is going to win the race. I think the guy thats got the best handling package. This place is going to be pretty slick.---BUSCHS BACKUP: JGR did a good job getting Busch a strong car after he crashed his primary in Fridays practice. He had harsh words for Goodyear after the accident, which was caused by a cut tire.Busch complained he didnt have much confidence in Goodyear -- teammate Edwards also had a tire issue in the morning -- but he had softened his stance by the end of the day.From my vantage point, weve had a lot of tire issues this year. Thats probably four, five or six tires that weve blown this year, Busch said. We also did the tire test at Kentucky and didnt necessarily have the best of results, I felt like. Thats where the frustration probably stemmed from and came from.Goodyear probably didnt deserve what they got from me earlier today, but thats just from earlier today.---SLOW ELLIOTT: Chase Elliott opened the year with the pole for the Daytona 500, then duplicated the feat at Talladega Superspeedway.He had no shot at making it three consecutive poles at plate tracks and will start 24th on Saturday.It was not as good as weve been in the last couple of plate races, but, hey, well try to focus on the race, Elliott said. Im looking forward to the race and just trying to get going and hopefully not make the same mistake I made here in February.---SMITHS PROBLEM: Regan Smith had a problem on his qualifying attempt and wasnt able to complete a timed lap. Hell start 40th.I crossed the start/finish line taking the green flag, and something happened that changed the pitch and it seemed like I lost a little bit of power, he said. Just to be safe, killed the motor and got it back (to the garage) to see what is wrong with it. If there is a silver lining with this whole thing, at Daytona, you can start toward the back and still make time and be OK. Adidas Yeezy Baratas . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season. Zapatillas Adidas Yeezy Baratas . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. http://www.adidasyeezybaratas.es/ . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Comprar Yeezy Baratas . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Comprar Adidas Yeezy Baratas . PETERSBURG, Fla. Just a dozen days remain before the NCAA tournament selection, and the Pac-12 still remains a puzzle with too many pieces not yet in place to know exactly what the picture is. Lets take a look at that and the rest of the country as we edge closer to tournament time.Oregon remains in the huntThere are still five teams that mathematically could win or share the Pac-12 conference title. Among them is Oregon, which has a big weekend ahead in Los Angeles.On Friday, the Ducks are at UCLA, and Saturday they face USC. The Bruins are tied with Washington atop the league at 12-4, although theyll play Oregon State first this week, on Wednesday.Oregon is 18-7 overall and tied for third with Stanford at 11-5 in the Pac-12, with Utah in fifth at 10-6. The Ducks lead the league in hitting percentage (.274) and assists per set (13.57), with sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide among the conference leaders with 316 kills thus far.Oregon made it to the national championship match back in 2012, when the Ducks fell to Texas. In the past three years, theyve lost in the NCAA second round (2013), the Sweet 16 (2014) and the first round (2015).The Ducks started this season hosting the VERT Challenge, where they fell 3-1 to both Texas and Florida. When Oregon hosted UCLA and USC in mid-October, the Ducks lost both matches, and it seemed their odds of even contending for the Pac-12 title were slim.But theyve won six of eight since, and theyre 7-0 this season on the road. Which is where theyll play their last four regular-season matches.Texas tumbles on road againThe Longhorns have found the trip to Ames, Iowa, treacherous before, and it got them again last week. Texas fell 3-2 at Iowa State on Saturday. The Cyclones took the fifth set 15-11, securing that with a 6-1 run.That dropped Texas to 11-2 in the Big 12, which means Kansas moves into the drivers seat in the conference at 12-1. The Jayhawks beat Texas 3-2 on Oct. 29 in Lawrence, Kansas, and they finish the regular season at West Virginia (Wednesday), at home against Iowa State (Saturday) and at Baylor (Nov. 26).Texas will close the season with three matches at home -- vs. Texas Tech (Wednesday), Kansas State (Saturday), and West Virginia (Nov. 26).In last weeks NCAA top-10 reveal, the Longhorns were No. 4 and Kansas was No. 6. Though they spplit their meetings, Texas has an overall better strength of schedule.dddddddddddd But well have to see how the teams are evaluated for real if the Jayhawks are the outright winners of the league.No surprise at 1-2-3The NCAA had Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin as its top three teams. In the Big Ten standings, however, theyre in this order: Nebraska (15-1), Wisconsin (14-2) and Minnesota (13-3). But there remain three real blockbuster matches in the Big Ten. Two of them involve Nebraska: The Huskers are host to seven-time NCAA champ Penn State (Wednesday) and then play at Minnesota (Nov. 23). The Huskers finish their season at home against Michigan (Nov. 26). The Wolverines are tough, too, sitting in sixth place in the Big Ten at 10-6.The Huskers and Nittany Lions went five sets on Nov. 4 at Penn State, with Nebraska winning 15-11 in the finale. Nebraska also beat Minnesota 3-2 on Oct. 23; that final set was 15-8.And then its only fitting that Wisconsin and Minnesota get another shot at each other. They meet Nov. 26 in Minneapolis.Buckeyes move into rankingsThe final four is in Columbus, Ohio, and admittedly its a long shot that the hometown team will be there. But Ohio State is now ranked No. 24 in the American Volleyball Association Coaches poll after the Buckeyes prevailed 3-2 over Penn State this past Saturday.Ohio State is 17-11 overall and 7-9 in the Big Ten. Having a losing record in conference play doesnt preclude an NCAA berth in a league as strong as the Big Ten. That said, the Buckeyes would like to secure their postseason position over the next two weeks. They play Friday at Northwestern -- which put a scare into Wisconsin last week before falling 3-2 -- and Saturday at Illinois.SEC showdownMissouri was upset by South Carolina last week, which means Florida is now alone in first place in the SEC at 14-1. Then Kentucky is 13-2, with Missouri and Texas A&M at 12-2.Whats the biggest obstacle between the Gators and the SEC title? Missouri, which is host to Florida on Sunday and will be trying to atone for slipping up against the Gamecocks. The Gators are unbeaten on the road in SEC play this year. Also on Sunday, Kentucky is host to Texas A&M. ' ' '