Bowled Over

  The furor over the College Football Playoff selections is justified. Even if the committee may have gotten it right. 

The tumult deals with Florida State and Alabama. The Seminoles did everything right—to the point of going undefeated in the regular season. 

On the other hand, Alabama lost in the early season to Texas, a squad which went 12-1 and won the Big 12 Championship. For their efforts, the Longhorns were given the #3 seed. 

Yet Alabama got the nod from the Committee because of their win over Georgia, a stronger strength of schedule from being in the Southeastern Conference. Atlantic Coast Conference Champion FSU was penalized for its strength of schedule, even if it included wins over SEC schools LSU in Orlando and arch rival Florida in Gainesville, plus the loss of the star quarterback to injury doomed the Seminoles chances to overtake the Crimson Tide. 

What was Alabama’s big accomplishment? Knocking off top-ranked and twice-defending National Champion Georgia in Atlanta on Saturday. This ended the Bulldogs 29 game unbeaten streak and plummeted the ‘Dogs to a #6 seed and a date with those Florida State Seminoles in the Capital One Orange bowl on December 30. 

Detractors say that Alabama barely beat its arch rival, Auburn, winning with a 4th and 31 miracle pass to stay in the playoff picture. And that Texas soundly beat the Tide in Tuscaloosa. 

Look, I get the angst which FSU fans and the team has. A win over Georgia might help ease the pain. Or, conversely, enrage the fan base even more, especially if top seed Michigan soundly defeats ‘Bama. Even if Alabama should surprise the Wolverines, the FSU faithful will still claim that they were more deserving, having remained undefeated and having taken down Georgia. 

This mania exemplifies why the playoffs are being expanded in 2024. To rightly determine a winner, teams like Florida State need to be included. However, the Seminoles would still be unhappy with a #5 seed, as they would have to play an extra game against the #12 seed, which could weaken the team heading into the next contest versus the #4 seed. 

Whatever way the playoffs play out, some school and its fan base are going to be unhappy with their seed. Ohio State dropped to #7 after its loss to Michigan and Alabama defeated Georgia. The Buckeyes now have to play #9 Missouri from the SEC in the Cotton Bowl on December 29, without their starting quarterback, who opted to enter the transfer portal with a record number of over 1,000 other student-athletes looking for a better fit—playing time-wise or for greater NIL money. 

Will the playoffs be enough for me to watch? Yes. For others, maybe not so much. 

What I can tell you is this: when the Direct TV broadcast of the College Football Playoff Show aired on ESPN while my wife and I were airborne Sunday on our flight from Atlanta to Newark, a big cheer erupted in the cabin when the announcement of Alabama as the #4 seed was made. Either there were a good number of Crimson Tide alumni and fans on board, or the Committee got it right. On New Year’s Day, with the Rose and Sugar Bowls as the settings, the quest to be the top team will begin. 

I looked at some of the bowl matchups. For openers, USF and Syracuse clash in the Boca Raton Bowl. Georgia Tech and UCF meet in the Gasparilla Bowl, named after a mythical pirate who operated in the Tampa Bay vicinity, and which will be held in Tampa.  Neophyte FBS school James Madison gets to prove it belongs with the big boys when they meet the Air Force Academy at the Armed Services Bowl. 

Meanwhile, the Holiday Bowl will lose some of its attractiveness with the absence of probable top 2024 NFL draft choice and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, who opted out of the game against Louisville to avoid injury and the loss of the payday which awaits him in the pros. QBs at Ohio State, Oklahoma, UCLA, Kansas State Duke, Oregon State and Coastal Carolina either are sitting out the bowls or are in the transfer portal. I wonder how this sits with their (former) teammates?

New Mexico State plays in the New Mexico Bowl at the University of New Mexico; I am picking Fresno State to win the game despite the handicap. A curiously different matchup is Georgia State playing Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Two teams which would be highly unlikely to ever meet. 

Northwestern tangles with Utah in Las Vegas. An all-Texas affair will be held in Dallas when Texas State and Rice get together. Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, two former Southwestern Conference members, lock horns in Houston—not too far from College Station. 

Another two nearly home field advantage bowl games involve SMU and Boston College at Fenway Park and Rutgers hosts Miami (FL) in Yankee Stadium. With the RU-UM game, it pits Rutgers Greg Schiano and his former assistant, Mario Cristobal. 

Some interesting bowls with funny names have some quality teams. It’s NC State and Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl and Notre Dame and Oregon State in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. 

Penn State and Mississippi headline the Peach Bowl. Iowa and Tennessee made the Citrus Bowl. Bowl craziness begins on December 19 and ends on January 8 with the College Football Playoff National Championship in Houston. It’s a real odyssey. 

Three players are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy. Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr., LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. made the cut. Each one could win the award. I think that either Daniels or Harrison will walk away holding the prestigious trophy. 

On to the NFL. The Jets and Falcons played a stinkeroo in the Meadowlands. Starting QB Tim Boyle was benched for his ineffectiveness, then waived by the team. The word is that deposed QB Zach Wilson may return to guide the team. What a dysfunctional bunch. 

A battle of backup QB’s ensued in Jacksonville when Trevor Lawrence suffered a high ankle sprain. Cincinnati outlasted the Jaguars in OT. Is Jake Browning going to head the Bengals to an unlikely playoff berth without Joe Burrow at QB?

Taylor Swift as a good luck charm fizzled Sunday night in Green Bay. The suddenly resurgent Packers defeated Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs. KC’s offense isn’t as potent as they would like it to be. Jordan Love is emerging as a solid NFL quarterback; the Green Bay fans aren’t missing Aaron Rodgers so much anymore. 

San Francisco was motivated in its game at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles. It was Philadelphia that eliminated SF en route to winning the NFC. This time the Niners could do very little wrong, and even when they did, it hardly hurt the team in a beat down of the Eagles. Let’s see if these two powerhouses can renew the new rivalry in the playoffs. 

What has become the norm is inconsistent officiating. In the three games mentioned, officials made a number of really good calls, but they were either overshadowed by some very questionable ones, or mysterious non-calls. One hopes that this zebra flu goes away by January, but I am thinking it’s a prolonged illness. 

While in Northern Georgia last weekend, we traveled to Kennesaw State University. A beautiful, new campus looks like the wave of the future for the Metro Atlanta student. Over 45,000 undergrads and grad students attend the school, just 15 miles outside of Atlanta. The athletic teams are poised to join Conference USA in 2024. Keep an eye out for the rise of the Owls. 

I close with this; UConn fell out of the top 15 in the recent women’s basketball poll. This is the Huskies worst ranking in 30 years and ends a 357-week run within the top 15. Only Tennessee had a longer stretch, and that was for a remarkable 428 consecutive weeks. 

All good things have to end sometime. Somehow, I feel sadness with this. Probably because I liken the Huskies women’s teams to the New York Yankees dynasties. I hope that they don’t fall upon the harder times the Yankees have had since 2009.

A great program in an era where women’s college basketball began to thrive. Look at Tennessee. When Pat Summit no longer ran the program, the Lady Vols became more ordinary. Should UConn icon Geno Auriemma decide that he’s had enough, could that mark the end of UConn’s the great run?

On Tuesday, the Hughes brothers—Jack and Luke for the New Jersey Devils and Quinlin for the Canucks will all be on the ice in Vancouver. This marks the 9th time in NHL history that 3+ brothers have played in the same game. 

New Jersey is in the midst of a Western trip. Tuesday in Vancouver, Thursday in Seattle, then Saturday afternoon in Calgary, where my son and I will be. A lot of flight time for this one game trip, our sixth of seven Canadian cities. Next year it’s Montreal. 

That’s it. I hope I haven’t bowled you over too much.