The highly anticipated Christmas Day ratings battle between the NFL and NBA delivered major wins for both leagues, proving their dominance in the sports entertainment landscape. The NFL, however, stood tall with staggering numbers, generating over 20 million views per game.
Can Boise State continue its run of Fiesta Bowl magic? The Broncos view Arizona as their home away from home, having won three Fiesta Bowls in their history. That includes their memorable first trip, when they defeated Oklahoma on the Statue of Liberty play.
On Jan. 1st at 8:45pm the Bulldogs and the Fighting Irish will kick off in New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl with the winner to face either Boise State or Penn. State in the next round of the playoffs.
The Texas Bowl has become the Dave Aranda Bowl, as Aranda now faces his previous employer. The Baylor coach was the LSU defensive coordinator in 2019, before he left for the head job in Waco.
Is there a less impressive 9-3 team than Illinois? The Fighting Illini really benefited from a weak Big Ten schedule, as they didn’t beat a single Top 25 opponent all season. Their best win turned out to be Michigan, and that wasn’t much to write home about.
Louisville has to be kicking itself for some of its early losses. The Cardinals shot themselves in the foot at Notre Dame with three turnovers. Their defense couldn’t hold up against Miami, and they couldn’t get the offense going in the fourth quarter against SMU.
It’s been just under a year since Alabama and Michigan squared off in last year’s College Football Playoff, and neither side is where they wanted to be this time around.
These teams were supposed to play in the Music City Bowl in 2020, but COVID got in the way of that. The teams’ bowl meeting was cancelled, making this matchup a redo of what was supposed to occur four years ago.
For football fans above a certain age, the idea that Nebraska would ever spend seven years in a row without a winning record was as inconceivable as a conference that stretches from New Brunswick, N.J. to Los Angeles.