Well, Happy 2016 in full everyone.
What's that? Yes, yes we did enjoy the extra long weekend. In fact, some would call it very entertaining - more on that later.
From the "Talks too much" studios, here's hoping you have already bagged your New Year's resolutions. It's all of Jan. 4, Spy.
Weekend winners
Alabama. Wow. Simply, wow. Any questions? A nine-and-a-half-point favorite over Michigan State, Alabama made No. 3-ranked MSU look like MTSU. Seriously, that was as dominating a game in good-on-good in college sports as we can remember since UNLV housed Duke by 30 in the 1990 NCAA title game. We've said it multiple times: You simply can't out-Alabama Alabama, and Michigan State tried it and the answer was a 38-0 smackdown that could have been way, Way, WAY worse. Remember Nick Saban actually really like MSU coach Mark Dantonio, who worked for Saban at MSU. Bad news, too, for Georgia and South Carolina, who hired Saban minions: Saban is now 9-0 against for assistants and all nine wins are by double digits.
Alabama players celebrate after their 38-0 win over Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl on Thursday night. The Crimson Tide advanced to the College Football Playoff final and will take on Clemson, which topped Oklahoma 37-17 in the Orange Bowl, on Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz.SEC. The SEC went a staggering 8-2 in bowl games. Texas A&M and its troubling coaching/quarterback carousel - its top two QBs announced transfers and the OC was sent packing after the bowl loss - and Florida and its anemic offense were the losses. (Side note: Florida's stalwart defensive players gave, shall we say, less than a sterling effort in a 41-7 pantsing against Michigan. Even top-five-talent Vernon Hargreaves looked less than thrilled and borderline disinterested.) Other than Georgia's seven-point win, the rest of the SEC victories were of the boatrace variety, paced by Tennessee's 39-point drubbing over a 10-win Northwestern team that was overmatched. Yes, they will have their doubters - Hi, Jomo - but these Vols jumpstarted the hype machine Friday and more than likely will be a preseason top-10 team.
Cam Newton. Dude has been a regular here for several Mondays over the back half of the NFL season. He locked down the top overall spot for the Panthers in the NFC playoff chase with a dazzling week 17 showing. He was 21-of-26 for 293 yards passing and two scores and he rushed for two more TDs in a 38-10 win over Tampa Bay. Final numbers for Newton: 15-1 record (45-32-1 as a starter in the NFL for a team that had the No. 1 overall pick when he joined them five years ago; 14-0 as a starter at Auburn in 2010 and 11-1 as the started at Blinn Community College in 2009), with 3,837 passing yards with 35 TDs and 10 picks and 636 rushing yards and 10 more TDs. Beast mode indeed.
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning pulls grass off his helmet during the second half in an NFL football game against the San Diego Chargers, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Peyton Manning. We officially have the storybook Super Bowl storyline, as TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer pointed out today. Peyton comes off the bench, and throws more junk than Eddie Harris and Gaylord Perry combined to get Denver to the top seed in the AFC with a come-from-behind win over San Diego. Manning mixed it all - audibles, hard cadence to draw a couple of offsides, the occasional mind-reader throw that makes his lack of arm strength somewhat forgivable, you name it - and delivered in the clutch. Denver's QB situation will be as media saturated as a Trump speech. Good times.
The NFL playoffs. Wow, that's a loaded field with a ton of story lines, even beyond the Peyton Manning narrative. There's the favorites in the Panthers and Patriots. There's the overall excellence of the Broncos and Cardinals. There's the wildcard no one wants to see in Pittsburgh and Seattle. There's the slider with an all-time QB in Aaron Rodgers, who gives the Packers a puncher's chance. Kansas City is only the hottest team in the NFL with 10 straight wins. Buckle up buttercup.
Back-up quarterbacks and their agents. OK, did you see the names of guys who played in Week 17 of the NFL season. Zach Mettenberger to Ryan Lindley to Josh Freeman to Alex Tanney saw meaningful minutes - in the same game, for Pete's sake. Now add in the household names of Austin Davis, Kellen Moore, Case Kennum, Blaine Gabbert AJ McCarron and Ryan Mallett. Plus, there will be at least five teams looking for a starting quarterback answer in a weak QB draft class, and all of them would love to roll the dice and come up with a Ryan Fitzpatrick or Kirk Cousins. Have film will travel. Have good film - and a strong arm - will get paid.
Weekend losers
College football. Take away the fastbreaking West Virginia-Arizona State shootout and the Oregon collapse in what was a wildly entertaining TCU comeback, and the heavyweight bowls were heavy sleepers for more the most part. Whether it was bad play, random indifference, coaching turnover or exaggerated conference imbalance, it felt like every game was decided by two touchdowns or more. Add to the fact that the college football playoff TV audience was off by almost 15 percent (maybe we were the only ones who were a fan of that New Year's Eve idea after all) and even the tradition-rich Rose Bowl was down almost 10 percent, well, it was not a grand bowl season. (That said, we watched a ton of them. You did too. So there's that.)
Cleveland Browns fans. Another coach and GM fired after two pathetic seasons. Another first-round quarterback bust. Seriously, being a Cleveland Browns fan is the s;porting equivalent of being the guy that cleans out the port-a-potties at Riverbend. It pretty much stinks all the time. Now comedian Denis Leary is lobbying for the Browns to hire the actors from "Draft Day". Seriously, how much worse can he do?
FILE - In this Dec. 27, 2015, file photo, Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City, Mo. Manziel's footwork, decision making and grasp of a pro offense improved significantly in his second season. But now that it is over, the Browns want him to concentrate on his off-field issues. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File) Johnny Manziel. He is the reverse Cam Newton, and has found his name in the weekend losers a lot. Like a whole lot. After being ruled out of the Week 17 game with a concussion, there are reports that Manziel skipped the weekend and was in Vegas living large. Man, it's hard to fathom how a new regime in Cleveland commits to building around this joker. It's also impossible not to think that Johnny Football won'y be a Dallas Cowboy next year. (And if that's the case, Ken Rodgers and the "Hard Knocks" folks have, Have, HAVE to get Dallas for their preseason profile show. Buckets.)
Ndamukong Suh' reputation. Dude is now at a point that anything he does is called dirty. Suh was pushed into Brady's legs, and there are some calling it cheep. Come on, guys. It's tackle football after all. Yes, Suh has done a lot to earn that rep, but c'mon.
- Quarterback draft prospects not named Jared Goff. According to Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, two of the best draft analysts out there, the top five of the NFL draft class of QBs included Memphis junior Paxton Lynch, who was ranked No. 1, and Michigan State senior Connor Cook, who was No. 3. Each of those dudes got completely overwhelmed by a mediocre-at-best Auburn defense and an elite Alabama defense, respectively. Add in TCU's Trevone Boykin's run-in with the law, Penn State's Christian Hackenberg hurting his throwing shoulder, NC State's Jacoby Brissett struggling and Cincy's Gunner Kiel and FSU's Everett Golson not even making the bowl trip for whatever reasons, and it was a tough end to the season for some guys with hopes of being NFL QBs.
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Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Success (Bowler optional)
We mentioned the stinkiness of the overall face of the bowl season. (Here's an interesting ranking of all the bowls ranked 1-40 on enjoyability.)
What was not stinky was our annual bowl contest and the Fab 4 picks.
The picks were a very entertaining 8-2, closing fast. With one game left - and of course we'll pick that next Monday - we went 14-9 against the spread during the bowls. That's 56 percent and below our goal of 60 percent, but after a 1-4 start to the bowls, it represented a nice comeback.
Overall, we finished 71-48 (59.7 percent) against the spread this season. If you bet 100 entertainment vouchers on each of the Fab 4 picks you would have pocketed a fabulous $1,820 entertainment vouchers (and that's with factoring in the 10-percent entertainment charge to your broker on losses).
Completing year five of our annual hunt for college football entertainment, we are now 363-240-6 (60.2 percent) against the spread.
As for the final contest results, well, a fast-paced weekend saw a lot of movement. Here are the unofficial results. If you have a dispute with your total - and that could be legit because we graded this puppies last night in between binge-watching "Homeland" so there's that - you have until 5 p.m. today to lodge a complaint. (Complaining that you should have known that no one out-Alabamas Alabama or that Oregon had no BID-ness losing that lead are not legitimate complaints.)
Unofficially, congrats to Justin S., who is the leader in the clubhouse right now. And we have a tie-breaker scenario for the No. 2 spot, between War Eagle Terry and some dashing, big-hearted, Family-oriented-internet-based sports columnist. Good luck Terry. War Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Success (Bowler optional).
Maximum per round - 16 + 38 + 36 + 25 + 17 =127
Justin S. - 10 + 24 + 27 + 25 + 5 = 91 (Alabama)
5-at-10 - 9 + 24 + 19 + 25 + 13 = 90 (Alabama)
War Eagle Terry - 14 + 20 + 22 + 25 + 9 = 90 (Clemson)
scole023 - 10 + 18 + 20 + 25 + 17 = 90 (Oklahoma)
Josh T. - 8 + 23 + 24 + 25 + 9= 89 (Alabama)
Mrs. 5-at-10 - 13 + 19 + 20 + 20 + 17 = 89 (Clemson)
Ted P. - 5 + 27 + 25 + 20 + 12 = 89 (Alabama)
Blake J. - 8 + 24 + 27 + 20 + 8 = 87 (Alabama)
Mr. Spud - 9 + 22 + 24 + 15 + 17 = 87 (Alabama)
J Stinks - 5 + 17 + 27 + 25 + 13 = 87 (Alabama)
McPell - 5 + 17 + 23 + 25 + 13 = 83 (Alabama)
Mark W. - 6 + 26 + 15 + 25 + 9 = 81 (Alabama)
Robert K - 8 + 24 + 11 + 25 + 13 = 81 (Alabama)
Joseph W. - 7 + 21 + 20 + 25 + 8 = 81 (Alabama)
Tracy03 - 9 + 15 + 20 + 20 + 17 = 81 (Alabama)
Jomo - 8 + 20 + 22 + 20 + 9 = 79 (Alabama)
Max - 8 + 17 + 20 + 20 + 13 = 78 (Alabama)
Roll Terry - 8 + 12 + 20 + 25 + 13 = 78 (Alabama)
Patty H. - 5 + 18 + 16 + 20 + 17 = 78 (Alabama)
Mark P. - 8 + 20 + 15 + 25 + 9 = 77 (Alabama)
Brandon E. - 9 + 9 + 34 + 20 + 5 = 77 (Oklahoma)
Auburn Andy - 8 + 24 + 20 + 20 + 5 = 77 (Clemson)
Mark S. - 6 + 21 + 16 + 25 + 8 = 76 (Alabama)
Bama Bill - 7+ 24 + 20 + 20 + 4 = 75 (Alabama)
Todd G. - 9 + 22 + 11 + 20 + 13 = 75 (Clemson)
VolFan - 6 + 15 + 20 + 25 + 9 = 75 (Oklahoma)
Dwayne B. - 8 + 26 + 7 + 25 + 9 = 75 (Alabama)
Sucker - 3 + 9 + 28 + 25 + 9 = 74 (Alabama)
Sportsfan - 8 + 18 + 20 + 15 + 12 = 73 (Alabama)
Big Shot Bob - 2 + 16 + 20 + 20 + 13 = 71 (Alabama)
Todd C. - 11 + 18 + 16 + 15 + 9 = 69 (Bama)
Brent R. - 6 + 22 + 16 + 15 + 9 = 68 (Clemson)
Larry C. - 8 + 20 + 15 + 20 + 4 = 67 (Clemson)
Spy - 12 + 21 + 11 + 5 + 17 = 65 (Clemson)
Mr. Big - 9 + 17 + 20 + 15 + 4 = 65 (Michigan State)
Stroker Ace - 3 + 17 + 20 + 15 + 9 = 64 (Clemson)
Killer - 11 + 14 + 11 + 10 + 17 = 63 (Alabama)
Mike P. - 6 + 18 + 9 + 20 + 9 = 62 (Alabama)
Tex B. - 6 + 15 + 16 + 20 + 5 = 62 (Alabama)
JonMac - 6 + 23 + 20 + 5 + 8 = 62 (Alabama)
Dcrotty22 - 7 + 19 + 15 + 15 + 4 = 60 (Alabama)
James B. - 7 + 11 + 9 + 20 + 13= 60 (Bama)
Dawg747 - 6 + 14 + 16 + 15 + 9 = 60 (Alabama)
Shelley B. - 7 + 13 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 60 (Alabama)
Tommy T. - 6 + 14 + 15 + 20 + 4 = 59 (Oklahoma)
Scooter H. - 6 + 14 + 16 + 10 + 9 = 55 (Alabama)
Scott P. - 6 + 18 + 16 + 10 + 4 = 54 (Alabama)
Randy C. - 6 + 12 + 15 + 15 + 5 = 53 (Clemson)
Brian E. - 9 + 14 + 8 + 15 + 5 = 51 (Alabama)
Joel C. - 8 + 9 + 11 + 20 + 0 = 48 (Alabama)
Kevin C. - 3 + 15 + 9 + 15 + 5 = 47 (Clemson)
Frank C. - 4 + 9 + 9 + 10 + 4 = 36 (Alabama)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) catches a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in East Rutherford, N.J. Mariota scored a touchdown on the play. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)---
This and that
- Your Tennessee Titans have the No. 1 overall pick. Of course, being the Titans, there is not a real franchise guy atop the board. The first pick - whether it's a defensive line/pass-rusher like Joey Bosa or an offensive lineman to keep Marcus Mariota upright - will depend on the head coach the team hires. That said, a lineman No. 1 and hoping for Derrick Henry to fall to the first pick in the second round would be a nice start.
- The current Super Bowl odds are New England, Arizona and Carolina at 9-to-2; Seattle and Denver at 5-to-1; Pittsburgh at 8-to-1; Cincinnati at 20-to-1; Kansas City at 25-to-1; Minnesota and Green Bay at 30-to-1; Washington at 40-to-1; Houston at 60-to-1.
- At the other end of the spectrum from the franchises above, here are the NFL teams with head coaching vacancies: Philadelphia, Tennessee, Miami, Cleveland and San Francisco. (Side note: We know he has said his future is in Tuscaloosa, but if you are an NFL owner, don't you call Nick Saban and make him say no. Dude can build a program and coach a defense. And know this, yes drafting and recruiting are not the same thing, but Saban is an elite talent evaluator. Yes, he lands a truckload of five-star talent, but those five stars rarely miss. Think of the number of five-star busts that are out there, and next to none of them end up at Alabama. That's either elite talent development or elite talent evaluation, and each of those skills are in much demand in the NFL.)
This photo provided by Lucasfilm shows Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca and Harrison Ford as Han Solo in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," directed by J.J. Abrams. The movie opened in U.S. theaters on Dec. 18, 2015. (Film Frame/Lucasfilm via AP) - - More records within reach for Star Wars' "The Force Awakens". Yep, the all-time grossing movie ever is within reach, and the latest Star Wars vehicle has been out like three weeks. Wow.
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Today's question
Let's deal with some winners and losers.
Who won the weekend? Who won the bowl season?
Who lost the weekend? Who lost the bowl season?
Whatcha' got?