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NEW YORK -- While NBCs prime-time television ratings are down, fans are clearly seeking out the Olympics on other devices.The network said Tuesday it had surpassed 2 billion minutes of live streamed action from the Rio de Janeiro Games. Not only does that comfortably surpass the 818 million streamed minutes for the London Games, it beats by 500 million the number for all previous Olympics combined.Within the first three days of the Olympics, 80 percent of people who watched the games said they used at least one other device to follow what was going on. That was up from 61 percent for the Sochi Winter Olympics two years ago, NBC said.An estimated 24.3 million people watched Monday nights prime-time telecast on NBC, the level rising by 5 percent to 25.5 million when streaming and cable coverage is added in. For the same Monday night in London four years ago, there were 26.6 million viewers.And the Olympics appear to be big in Utah this year. NBC said that for nine of the 11 prime-time nights of Olympics action, Salt Lake City was the market with the best ratings in the country.A GAME!: With two minutes to go in the first half of Tuesdays womens basketball game between the United States and Japan, NBCs Marc Zumoff and Anne Meyer Drysdale were juiced. They had a game! The U.S., which had won its first five games by an average of 45 points, was up by only two. Zumoff and Drysdale were enthralled by the pesky and entertaining Japanese players, who came after their better-known rivals relentlessly. Japan is putting up a great fight, Zumoff said. By the second half, the U.S. put the hammer down. It was 89-59 when NBCs cameras caught the U.S. mens team in the stands; they were all staring at their devices. The Americans won by 46.QUOTE: He just took a little run to warm up today. -- NBCs Tom Hammond on Usain Bolt, after he eased to the finish line in his 200-meter heat.VIRTUAL REALITY: NBC and Samsung have been touting their virtual-reality coverage, but the quality of the video has been such that Olympians look like video-game characters on Samsungs Gear VR headset. Meanwhile, 360-degree still images from Getty Images havent gotten as much attention, but have been stunning. NBCs VR video relies on cameras at fixed locations off to the sides of the fields of play. With no camera operator, theres no control over the shots. Getty gave a 360-degree camera to each of its photographers, and theyve been able to capture the flexibility and strength of Simone Biles on the vault, and Argentinas Juan Martin del Potro diving into the crowd after winning his tennis gold medal. The images are available for free on the 360 Photos app on the Gear VR and Oculus Rift headsets.---AP Technology Writer Anick Jesdanun in New York contributed to this report.---Follow David Bauder at twitter.com/dbauder. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauder Hydro Flask Sale . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Hydro Flask Rietje . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. http://www.belgiehydroflask.com/hydro-flask-40-oz.html . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. Hydro Flask Bestellen . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Hydro Flask Wit . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. The Big Ten this week embarks on its first nine-game conference schedule, rekindling the debate whether all Power Five conferences should play the same number of league games in the era of the College Football Playoff.The Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference have eight-game conference schedules. The Big 12 and Pac-12, and now the Big Ten, play nine league games.Those leagues tout their nine conference games as a way of boosting schedule strength and, hopefully, increase their members chances of being selected for the playoff. But there is another component. Conference games tend to be more attractive inventory for league television networks and partners, and they also help keep stadiums full, compared with matchups against lower-tier competition.Nebraska coach Mike Riley argued consistency in number of conference games across the Power Five is a matter of fairness.I think that probably with the playoffs at stake, he said, that should be equitable that way.Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said he hadnt thought about conferences playing the same number of league games but added, Coach Riley has a good point there.The College Football Playoff selection committee evaluates each teams body of work, with strength of schedule part of the criteria, with no regard to how that schedule in composed. It also does not take a position on how conferences determine their champions.I really believe the data points that are going to be evaluated to decide who is going to be a national championship-caliber team should be decided the same way, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. If that means we all play nine, we all play eight, we all play 10 in the Power Five, I dont really care what we do and how many we play. We should just be playing the same if were going to be evaluated the same way.The SEC decided in 2014 to continue with its eight-game conference schedule with a requirement that each team play at least one nonconference game against a Power Five opponent. Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart said last month that the SEC has not had any discussions about reconsidering conference scheduling.ACC athletic directors are scheduled to meet next month and could discuss future football scheduling. The ACC is mulling whether to continue with eight conference games but require each team to play two nonconference games against Power Five opponents, or whether to go to nine conference games and require onne non-conference game against a Power Five team.ddddddddddddWere the only sport in America that doesnt have the same set of rules for everyone that plays, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. Ive never figured that out. Everyone goes to their own neighborhood and makes their own rules. Im for uniform for everything across the board in everything we do. Why cant we play the same number of games, same conference championship?Even if all Power Five conferences played the same number of league games, it wouldnt necessarily create the same criteria for the playoff selection committee to consider. For example, a team playing eight conference games along with two nonconference games against high-caliber opponents could be held in higher regard than a team with a nine-game conference schedule that, depending on the year, could include crossover games against bottom feeders and weak non-conference opponents.Also at issue: keeping alive nonconference geographical rivalry games, many of them between SEC and ACC teams, and maintain the flexibility in nonconference scheduling that allows schools to generate the significant revenue that comes with playing seven home games.In the Big Ten, the nine-game conference schedule is not embraced by everybody. East Division teams will have five conference games at home and four away in even-numbered years, with West Division teams following that schedule in odd-numbered years.Minnesotas Tracy Claeys and Northwesterns Fitzgerald would prefer 10 conference games so each team would get five at home and five on the road.There is a huge advantage to playing home football games, especially in some of these cathedrals of college football we have in Big Ten play, Fitzgerald said. The traditional powers of our conference, it might not impact them that much. But the programs like ours, that are trying to build from historically being in the bottom of the conference to building to the middle of the conference and fighting and scratching and clawing to get to the top... having four home games and the other side has five makes it really challenging.---AP Sports Writers Joe Reedy in Tallahassee, Florida, Dave Campbell in Minneapolis and Steve Megargee in Knoxville, Tennessee, contributed.---Online:AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '