Riding a five-game win streak, the Oakland Raiders climbed two spots to No. 2 in ESPNs NFL Power Rankings. ESPNs power panel (a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities) retained the Dallas Cowboys as the No. 1-ranked team and moved the Seattle Seahawks down to No. 4 following their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Methodology note: These rankings reflect which teams voters think would win head-to-head matchups. Higher-ranked teams would be favored against lower-ranked teams. Coming off a win doesnt guarantee a jump, and coming off a loss doesnt guarantee a fall.Check out the rest of the league and where each team ranks.Previous rankings: Week 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | PreseasonESPN Stats & Information contributed the following research.1. Dallas Cowboys2016 record: 10-1 | Week 12 ranking: 1QB Dak Prescott has now completed 30 of his past 33 pass attempts in the fourth quarter or overtime this season, as the Cowboys have won 10 consecutive games. Prescott has an NFL-best 89.8 Total QBR in the fourth quarter and overtime this season. The Cowboys take their show on the road Thursday against Minnesota.2. Oakland Raiders2016 record: 9-2 | Week 12 ranking: 4The Raiders have clinched their first winning season since 2002, thanks to Derek Carrs late-game heroics. Carr has 13 game-tying or go-ahead touchdown passes in the fourth quarter or overtime the past two seasons, six more than any other QB, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.3. New England Patriots2016 record: 9-2 | Week 12 ranking: 3QB Tom Brady is always the talk when it comes to the Patriots, but the defense has once again fallen under the radar. The Patriots have held opponents to fewer than 20 points seven times this season, tied with the Chiefs and Seahawks for most such games. The Rams and their low-powered offense are next for New England.4. Seattle Seahawks2016 record: 7-3-1 | Week 12 ranking: 2The Seahawks have the third-best record in the NFC, so theres no need to panic. But Week 12 marked the third time this season that the Seahawks failed to score a touchdown. The Seahawks, with their 23rd-ranked scoring offense (20.4 points per game), host the Panthers in Week 13.5. Denver Broncos2016 record: 7-4 | Week 12 ranking: 5Its a pretty simple formula for the Broncos: win the turnover battle, and win the game (5-0 this season). Break even or worse in the turnover battle, and lose the game (2-4). Can Denver win the turnover battle this week at Jacksonville?6. Kansas City Chiefs2016 record: 8-3 | Week 12 ranking: 7Whenever youre the first since Gale Sayers, youre probably doing something right. Tyreek Hill became the first since Sayers with rushing, receiving and kick return touchdowns in the same game, which was a very good thing for the Chiefs, as they improved to 8-3. The Chiefs head to Atlanta this week.7. Detroit Lions2016 record: 7-4 | Week 12 ranking: 10Who is the more valuable Matt in Detroit? Is it Matthew Stafford, who has seven game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime this season? Or is it Matt Prater, who has never missed a game-tying or go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter or overtime in his career (25-of-25 and 6-of-6 this season). The division-leading Lions play at New Orleans this week.8. Atlanta Falcons2016 record: 7-4 | Week 12 ranking: 8The Falcons continue to fly high offensively, leading the NFL in points and scoring at least 30 in four of their past five games. The Chiefs, who have allowed fewer than 20 points in seven games this season, come to town Sunday.9. Pittsburgh Steelers2016 record: 6-5 | Week 12 ranking: 13LeVeon Bell and Antonio Brown have accounted for 63 percent of the Steelers yards from scrimmage since Bells return to the lineup, the highest of any duo since Week 4. Theyll look to continue racking up yards against the Giants in Week 13.10. New York Giants2016 record: 8-3 | Week 12 ranking: 6According to Elias Sports Bureau research, the Giants have played the fourth-easiest schedule so far this season, so that six-game win streak (which featured wins against the Rams, Bears and Browns) might need to be taken with a grain of salt. The Steelers should provide a tougher test this weekend.11. Washington Redskins2016 record: 6-4-1 | Week 12 ranking: 9The Redskins are 2-2-1 in their past five games, but QB Kirk Cousins is averaging 72.0 percent completion and 369.0 pass yards with 11 touchdowns and one interception in those games. Washington plays at Arizona in Week 13.12. Miami Dolphins2016 record: 7-4 | Week 12 ranking: 17The Dolphins have won six straight for the first time since 2005, Nick Sabans first year as head coach of the team. Think about that for a minute. The Dolphins look for their first seven-game win streak since 1985 when they play at Baltimore this week.13. Baltimore Ravens2016 record: 6-5 | Week 12 ranking: 14Is Justin Tucker the Ravens MVP? He has made 34 straight field goals (27 this season), made three 50-yarders in a half and is the only kicker who has yet to miss a field goal or extra point this season. Tucker and the Ravens will look to halt the Dolphins six-game win streak this week.14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers2016 record: 6-5 | Week 12 ranking: 22The Buccaneers have won three straight for the first time since 2013 (Weeks 10-12), and if they can win Sunday at San Diego, they will be two games over .500 for the first time since 2012, when they were 6-4.15. San Diego Chargers2016 record: 5-6 | Week 12 ranking: 25The Chargers might be in the wrong division. They are 3-1 against the AFC South this season and 2-5 against all other divisions, including 1-3 against the rest of the AFC West. The Chargers get a nondivision foe this week in the Buccaneers.16. Houston Texans2016 record: 6-5 | Week 12 ranking: 16Three qualified quarterbacks have thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this season: Case Keenum (lost his job), Ryan Fitzpatrick (fighting for his job) and Brock Osweiler (doesnt seem to be in much danger of losing his job). The host Packers await in Week 13.17. Buffalo Bills2016 record: 6-5 | Week 12 ranking: 17Not only are the Bills 6-5, but they also have the sixth-best point differential this season, better than the 8-3 Chiefs, the 7-3-1 Seahawks and even the 9-2 Raiders, whom Buffalo travels to play this week.18. Minnesota Vikings2016 record: 6-5 | Week 12 ranking: 12The Vikings are 1-5 in their past six games and have scored the fourth-fewest points per game (16.5) in that stretch. However, the Vikings are still given a 56 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to NFL FPI. A win Thursday against the Cowboys would go a long way toward helping the cause.19. Tennessee Titans2016 record: 6-6 | Week 12 ranking: 19Marcus Mariota has thrown multiple touchdown passes in eight straight games and has a league-leading 21 touchdowns since Week 5. Mariota and the Titans finally get a break in the form of a bye this week.20. Philadelphia Eagles2016 record: 5-6 | Week 12 ranking: 15Rookie QB Carson Wentz has certainly been hurt by the lack of weapons in the passing game. Eagles wide receivers rank 28th in yards this season and 30th in yards per reception. The Eagles play the Bengals and their A.J. Green-less wide receiver group this week.21. New Orleans Saints2016 record: 5-6 | Week 12 ranking: 23Lets take a second to appreciate Drew Brees, who has thrown 30 touchdowns in a season for the ninth time, tied with Brett Favre and Peyton Manning for most such seasons. Brees looks to pad his league lead Sunday against the Lions.22. Carolina Panthers2016 record: 4-7 | Week 12 ranking: 20QB Cam Newton has five touchdown passes in his past five games. Last season, he threw five touchdown passes in a game three times in a five-game span. The struggles continue for Newton, who will face the Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle.23. Arizona Cardinals2016 record: 4-6-1 | Week 12 ranking: 21Carson Palmer has already taken more sacks than he did all of last season, and he has equaled his interception total (11) from last season. The Cardinals are 1-3-1 in their past five games, and you have to wonder if the 36-year-old Palmer will be in Arizona much longer.24. Green Bay Packers2016 record: 5-6 | Week 12 ranking: 24The Packers stopped the bleeding following their four-game losing streak with a victory over the Eagles on Monday. They allowed 13 points, their second-fewest this season, after allowing at least 30 points in four straight. The Texans struggling offense arrives in Green Bay in Week 13.25. Indianapolis Colts2016 record: 5-6 | Week 12 ranking: 18Backup QB Scott Tolzien was able to drive the Colts, but he wasnt able to finish, as they reached the Steelers 1-yard line twice but failed to score either time in their Week 12 game on Thanksgiving. Andrew Luck could return for the Colts game Monday at the Jets.26. New York Jets2016 record: 3-8 | Week 12 ranking: 28During the Jets three-game losing streak, the defense has failed to force a turnover. The Jets have the second-worst turnover differential in the NFL this season (minus-13). The Colts, whom New York hosts in Week 13, dont turn it over very often (13 turnovers in 11 games).27. Los Angeles Rams2016 record: 4-7 | Week 12 ranking: 27Against the Saints, rookie QB Jared Goffs three touchdowns in the first half -- the first Rams quarterback to do that since Sam Bradford in 2010 -- were good. His throwing only 47 yards and a pick in a scoreless second half was bad. The Rams will need a lot more of the good to topple the Patriots this week.28. Cincinnati Bengals2016 record: 3-7-1 | Week 12 ranking: 26In his first game without A.J. Green this season, Andy Dalton completed a season-low 50 percent of his passes to wide receivers. Dalton and the Bengals are in must-win mode this week against the Eagles if they want to have any chance of making the playoffs.29. Jacksonville Jaguars2016 record: 2-9 | Week 12 ranking: 30Sundays loss to Buffalo clinched a sixth consecutive losing season for the Jaguars, who have the fourth-worst point differential in the NFL this season. The Jags, who host Denver on Sunday, grabbed some notable former Broncos in recent offseasons (Julius Thomas, Malik Jackson, Zane Beadles).30. Chicago Bears2016 record: 2-9 | Week 12 ranking: 29Eight drops. Eight! That would be too much for any quarterback to overcome, let alone Matt Barkley in his first career start. Despite the drops, the Bears had a chance to beat Tennessee. This weeks matchup with the 49ers will be big for the 2017 draft order.31. San Francisco 49ers2016 record: 1-10 | Week 12 ranking: 31Can you imagine the 49ers losing 15 straight games and not getting the No. 1 overall pick? It could happen. NFL FPI has the 49ers favored in only one of their remaining games, and it isnt the upcoming one at Chicago.32. Cleveland Browns2016 record: 0-12 | Week 12 ranking: 32The Browns enter their bye week 0-12, but lets focus on the positives. The Browns have converted a league-best 10 fourth downs. Terrelle Pryor Sr. is eighth in the NFL in receiving. The team is eighth in average yards per rush. Christian Kirksey is second in tackles. The Cavs are 13-2. John Starks Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Cheap Knicks Jerseys China . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. http://www.cheapknicksjerseys.com/ . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Mark Jackson Jersey .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Wholesale Knicks Jerseys . 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. I want to expand on the good news about the academic success of our football student-athletes, shed some light on the bad news, and give an example of a success story.Today, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida released its annual Keeping Score When It Counts: Assessing the Academic Records of the 2016-2017 Bowl-bound College Football Teams. The report contains the football student-athlete Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the 80 bowl-bound teams. The overall academic progress of college football student-athletes continued apace, while the substantial gap between white and African-American football student-athletes remained wide.The general football student-athlete GSR for bowl-bound teams is 75 percent, up from 73 percent in 2015. These rates have been consistently rising since the introduction of the concept of GSR. They have been improving for all football student-athletes, both white and African-American. Seventy-nine of the 80 teams participating in a bowl game had at least a 50 percent GSR; also, 79 of the 80 teams met the NCAAs APR.However, it is the persistently wide gap between white and African-American football student-athletes in this metric that is most troubling; this year it is a stark 19 percent. The average GSR for African-American football student-athletes is 68 percent, up from 66 percent in 2015. The average GSR for white football student-athletes is 87 percent, up from 85 percent in 2015. Thirteen schools (16 percent) had GSRs for African-American football student-athletes that were at least 30 percentage points lower than their rates for white football student-athletes.Making the Good News BetterFirst, lets make the good news better. In 2004, the NCAA introduced the APR as part of an academic reform package designed to more accurately measure student-athletes academic success as well as improve graduation rates at member institutions. The APR holds each team accountable for the success of student-athletes in the classroom and their progress toward graduation. Individual teams are penalized if they fall below an APR score of 930, which is an expected graduation rate of 50 percent of its student-athletes. Schools falling below that can lose scholarships and become ineligible for postseason play.It is time to raise the bar to the equivalent of a 60 percent graduation rate. While that may have been hard to imagine in 2004, in the last two years only one school (Idaho this year) has been below the 930 score, and only seven have been below it in the last four years combined. Athletes and teams are prepared to compete at the next level; we need institute that now. If the 930 standard were already in place, 71 bowl-bound schools would be at 60 percent or higher. In fact, 62 bowl-bound schools would be at 70 percent or higher.Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told me, Now is the time to increase what we ask of our student-athletes. If our teams now average a 75 percent graduation rate, then lets incentivize the schools who are not performing as well as the leaders to step up. You can win big and educate your players.Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and the University of Washington, which will contend in the College Football Playoff National Championship, all had good academic records. Their respective APR rates were 979, 985, 971 and 974. They graduated 80 percent, 84 percent, 74 percent and 78 percent of all their football student-athletes, respectively. As for their African-American student-athletes, they graduated 74 percent, 81 percent, 64 percent and 71 percent, respectively, while their white football student-athletes graduated at rates of 95 percent, 94 percent, 84 percent and 89 percent, respectively.The Racial Gap Is More ComplexFor almost two decades, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, has been a strong proponent of the need to assure student-athletes to get a real and meaningful education. Reverend Jackson told me, While theres good news to report about graduation rates for our student athletes, the persistent gap between black and white players is unacceptable. Too many African-American kids are still treated like little more than disposable gridiron gladiators, who entertain in the fall but do not graduate in the spring. We are free but not equal. The country still has much work to do.How do we fix the persistent gap in graduation rates between African-American and white student-athletes? The problem stems at least in part from the comparatively poor education available in urban and rural schools. While he was Secretary of Education, Duncan consiistently addressed this not only for high school and middle school student-athletes but for all students trapped in inferior schools.dddddddddddd.But at the college level, our admissions offices need to only admit student-athletes who have a chance to succeed. If they are academically below the levels of other students being admitted, then we have to provide additional academic support.TIDES recently reported on the lack of football head coaches of color in our D1 Leadership Study. Only 10 percent of FBS head coaches and 34 percent of assistant coaches are of color. Nearly 54 percent of FBS football student-athletes are African-American.Might African-American student-athletes perform better in class with a coach who looks like them? Lets look at the teams coached by African-Americans in the bowl games.The overall GSR average is 75 percent. Teams coached by an African-American head coach have an average GSR of 84 percent! Equally noteworthy, the combined graduation rate for the African-American head coaches for African-American student-athletes is 71 percent vs. the 68 percent average for the bowl-bound teams.?The argument for diversity goes beyond justice and the moral perspective; diversity is also good for the business of academics and athletics.How to Turn Around a Program and Make a Bad Situation a Great OneWhen I see programs struggling with academics and hear fans, boosters and the media say, This school will never win and do it right academically, I tell them I have seen what can be accomplished with great leadership.Todays report included this statement: Stanford, South Carolina, Northwestern, UCF and Wake Forest would have played for the National Championship if there was a college football playoff based on Graduation Success Rates among bowl teams, with UCF and Wake Forest achieving the same GSR. All teams graduated at least 91 percent of all football student-athletes and at least 83 percent of African-American football student-athletes.UCF was in the house.When I came to UCF in 2001, they were not even close. I knew that the graduation rates were very poor, and frankly I was glad that UCFs football team was not good enough to be in a bowl game, so I didnt have to report the UCF record in the annual graduation-rate study. But I came to UCF knowing that it had just hired Karl Mooney, one of the best people in the country in terms of academic issues for student-athletes. I knew he would turn it around with the strong support of the president.Then suddenly, in 2005, UCF was in a bowl game, and therefore, in that years report with the worst graduation rates and the next-to-worst APR score. The headline in the Orlando Sentinel reported it exactly that way. When I came to campus that morning, I was getting phone calls and emails from people working at UCF saying, How could you possibly print this?Coincidentally, I had a meeting scheduled that afternoon with President John Hitt about other things. We talked about the presidents vision for UCF, about our families and about the programs that I was involved with at UCF. He did not mention the study or the Sentinel headline. As I got up to leave, Hitt shook my hand and said, Thank you for holding our feet to the fire. We are going to get better as a result.It is 11 years later, and here is what better meant.? Overall UCF Athletics GSR is 93 percent, and we are ranked No. 1 in the nation among FBS public institutions. UCF is tied for No. 6 nationally (with Vanderbilt and Tulane) when you include private institutions. UCF trails only Notre Dame, Stanford, Northwestern, Duke and Boston College.? UCFs football GSR is 91 percent, which ranks No. 2 in the nation among public institutions. UCF is No. 7 nationally among all FBS schools.? UCFs APR score is 983, which ranks sixth among all public FBS institutions and No. 11 when you include private institutions.When a school commits, dramatic changes can take place.So we have some proposals and ideas for how to make things better, but we also have work to do. But it can be done.Richard E. Lapchick is the chair of the DeVos Sport Business Management Graduate Program in the College of Business Administration at the University of Central Florida. Lapchick also directs UCFs Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, is the author of 16 books and the annual Racial and Gender Report Card, and is the President of the National Consortium for Academics and Sport. He has been a regular commentator for ESPN.com on issues of diversity in sport. Follow him on Twitter @richardlapchick and on Facebook. 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