FiveThirtyEight’s top stories this week

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Popular This Week] Sunday, December 03, 2017 [1. Should Alabama’s Résumé Have Trumped Ohio State’s Conference Crown?]( The College Football Playoff selection committee had almost gotten away free and clear, without having to make any truly tough decisions this season. Although USC won Friday night (preserving its sneaky playoff campaign), Saturday began playing out exactly how the committee needed in order to avoid controversy: Oklahoma manhandled TCU in the Big 12 title game, eliminating one of the biggest sources of chaos left on the schedule; then, Georgia and Clemson rolled to their respective conference championships, punching certain tickets to the playoff as well. Three teams were in, and the fourth would have been obvious if then undefeated Wisconsin could just take the Big Ten title over Ohio State. [Read more]( [2. Russia’s Group Is The Easiest In Modern World Cup History]( Before the World Cup draw on Friday, there was reason to suspect that Russia would get off easy. As the host country, it was slotted into Pot 1, which made it impossible for them to be grouped with a powerhouse like Brazil or Germany. But it looks like the Russians also had a little luck on their side. In fact, by one metric, Russia’s Group A is the weakest group in modern World Cup history. [Read more]( [3. The GOP Takes A Big Step Towards Passing A Big Policy Goal]( Friday was really bad for the Republican Party in that President Trump’s one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI and there are indications that he might testify to politically damaging and possibly illegal actions by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and maybe even the president himself. But Friday (and early Saturday) was really great for Republicans in that the party took a huge step towards a goal it had long before Trump was even running for president: a huge cut in corporate tax rates that GOP leaders say will encourage American companies to increase their current workers’ pay and hire more employees. (Many economics experts strongly dispute these claims.) [Read more]( [4. Russia’s Group Is The Easiest In Modern World Cup History]( Before the World Cup draw on Friday, there was reason to suspect that Russia would get off easy. As the host country, it were slotted into Pot 1, which made it impossible for them to be grouped with a powerhouse like Brazil or Germany. But it looks like the Russians also had a little luck on their side. In fact, by one metric, Russia’s Group A is the weakest group in modern World Cup history. [Read more]( [5. Michael Flynn’s Guilty Plea Is Bad For Trump In Lots Of Ways]( The guilty plea of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn -- the fourth official from President Trump’s campaign implicated in criminal activity -- is in several ways even more damaging to the president than special counsel Robert Mueller’s charges earlier this fall against Paul Manafort, who actually ran Trump’s campaign for a time. In short: Flynn’s plea is a sign that Mueller’s investigation has reached a more central place within Trump’s orbit, and that it could creep closer to Trump still. But let’s go through why in more detail. [Read more]( [6. The Bills’ Season Hinges On Beating The Patriots]( The Buffalo Bills probably need to beat the New England Patriots if they want to secure a playoff spot, but it didn't have to be that way. As you'll see in the video above, their odds would be higher if they hadn't messed around and benched Tyrod Taylor, who's been surprisingly good, a few weeks back. [Read more]( [7. Tiger Woods Never Really Left]( The 18-man field of this week’s Hero World Challenge -- a tournament that seems to function mostly as an excuse to wrangle the world’s best golfers and Derek Jeter for a hang in the Bahamas -- features eight players ranked in the top 10 and nine others ranked no lower than No. 32. Rounding out the field is the world’s 1,199th-ranked golfer, otherwise known as Tiger Woods. Take a guess at who’s getting the lion’s share of attention? [Read more]( [8. Michael Flynn’s Guilty Plea Is Bad For Trump In Lots Of Ways]( The guilty plea of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn -- the fourth official from President Trump’s campaign implicated in criminal activity -- is in several ways even more damaging to the president than special counsel Robert Mueller’s charges earlier this fall against Paul Manafort, who actually ran Trump’s campaign for a time. In short: Flynn’s plea is a sign that Mueller’s investigation has reached a more central place within Trump’s orbit, and that it could creep closer to Trump still. But let’s go through why in more detail. [Read more]( [9. Beside The Points For Friday, Dec. 1, 2017]( Things That Caught My Eye [Read more]( [10. Three Lessons From How Congress Is Handling Sexual Misconduct Allegations]( The sexual harassment allegations against Michigan congressman John Conyers and the groping accusations against Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, both Democrats, have brought the issues around sexual misconduct that have rocked other industries to Capitol Hill. The Senate candidacy of Alabama’s Roy Moore, accused of harassing or assaulting women as young as age 14, has forced congressional Republicans to grapple with sexual misconduct allegations as well. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Emergency Podcast: Flynn Flips]( Lastly, The Riddler Edited by Oliver Roeder From Pierre Bierre, think inside the box: Given the cube shown below,[2](#fn-2) with its two black diagonals, your job is to locate the shortest line segment — shown in orange — that bridges the gap between the diagonals. Solve for the coordinates of its two endpoints, ep1 and ep2. [Solve it!]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ESPN]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 147 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023.