Gang, today is the recognized New Year's holiday since we brought in 2017 on a Sunday.
Hooray.
In 5-at-10 holiday fashion, we'll have a quick (for us) list of five observations from the weekend. We'll discuss winners and losers from a football-filled weekend Tuesday around these parts and on Press Row from 3-6 on ESPN 105.1 FM. (No radio show today; enjoy the bowl broadcasts.)
Without further ado - and we've been plenty ado this weekend (well over the 24, Todd C.) - let's do this.
From the "Talks too much" studios, girls rock your boy.
College football takeaways
Where do we start - and remember, we'll have wall-to-wall takeaways Tuesday around these parts and when Press Row returns - from a weekend that full, that lopsided at times and that dramatic at others.
Well, we'll go with a list of five college football takeaways, and around these parts we try to do it in fewer than 10 words. (So, yes, we're attempting the 5-in-10 from the 5-at-10.)
1. Alabama is good. Wow, that's a defense worthy of all-time discussion.
2. Farewell Mr. Dobbs. UT Fans will miss Josh Dobbs more than they know.
3. Fab 4 rocks. A 5-2 (with more to come) returns the entertainment.
4. Georgia rings in '17. Bowl win, recruiting success raise Bulldogs' hopes.
5. What was that, Urban? Clemson crushes THE OSU; bowl committee remains silent.
(As for that last one, man anyone else hoping for Penn State to drop a hammer on USC? Clemson dropped the first shutout ever endured by an Urban Meyer team, a Buckeyes bunch that made the playoff despite not even winning its division and losing head-to-head to Penn State. So it goes, but it's hard imagine Penn State's offense not doing more than zero if it had made the semifinal.)
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Philadelphia Eagles' Carson Wentz passes against Dallas Cowboys' Barry Church during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Michael Perez) NFL takeaways
The regular season wrapped Sunday. Good times. Let's cover three things we know:
1. Dallas and New England have homefield and a Cowboys-Patriots Super Bowl would be, well, super. In a year in which NFL ratings struggled - did you know that according to numbers November was the first loss in ad revenue for NFL broadcasters year-to-year in 13 years? - America's team vs. Belichick and Brady chasing history would be a monster.
2. If you had Sam Bradford being the most accurate single-season quarterback in NFL history before the season, well, you would have gotten great odds. Bradford completed 71.9 percent of his passes this year to top Drew Brees' single-season mark. All things considered, Bradford, who Minnesota got eight days before the season by sending a first-rounder to Philadelphia, had a way better year than anyone other than his family may be aware. He completed 71.9 percent of his passes for 3,877 yards, 20 TDs and only five picks in 14 games. And all of that despite the injuries to the offensive line and running back Adrian Peterson.
3. The Frisky 4 NFL picks are smoking. Another week, another 3-1 - we had Arizona minus-6 in 44-6 win over hapless L.A.; Denver minus-1.5 in a 24-6 win over Oakland; Green Bay minus-3 over Detroit in a 31-24 win and over the 44 in Washington-New York that finished 19-10 as the Redskins gagged away a playoff spot - mark. So, after starting this after the college season ended, we are now 12-4 against the number on NFL games. Gang, that's more than entertaining, that's Rogue One entertaining people. That's plus-760 in entertainment ducats if you placed 100 entertainment tickets on each pick. Good times.
Now, let's cover three things we believe:
1. As much as the NFL and TV folks would love the Patriots-Cowboys, only one will make it. (Hint: It's not the one with a rookie QB.) We will breakdown the playoffs later this week, and yes, we'll definitely have more picks against the number.
2. If we had an MVP ballot, we'd vote Rodgers-Ryan-Brady, and admit that any order of those three would be just quibbles and bits. Best case for each: Brady was11-1 in his 12 games with a 28-to-2 TD-to-interception ratio; Ryan finished the season with a 117.1 passer rating - the fifth best in NFL history, mind you - for a team that surprisingly won its division with relative ease; Rodgers made a ballsy playoff guarantee with the Packers sitting at 4-6 and Green Bay won out to win the NFC North as Rodgers completed 142 of 200 passes for 1,663 yards and 15 touchdowns (and no picks) in that six-game winnings streak.
3. That said, we'd likely vote for Falcons boss Dan Quinn as coach of the year. And while we are here we need to add another chapter to our growing book of "We were pretty wrong about this" in regard to Vic Beasley, who in year two, lead the league in sacks with 15.5. Monster year for that dude, who we may have called a bust a time or three last year.
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Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara is tackled by Nebraska safety Kieron Williams, left, during Friday's Music City Bowl. Kamara, a junior, is entering the NFL draft after two seasons with the Vols.Fab 4 picks
Now that was more like it.
(Side note: If you took our advice in regard to entertainment this weekend, you pulled a nice 8-3 week with the college and NFL combined. Cha-Entertainment.)
The 5-2 third week of bowl picks inched us above .500 for the postseason, and that was with missing the over-60 in Arkansas-Virginia Tech as the teams combined to score 59 points. Alas.
We have a few options today, although none of them feel as comfortable as the semifinals or the UT over Nebraksa picks.
But we can't go silently into that good night trying to slow walk a 10-9 record. Nope, that's not us.
Oklahoma minus-3 over Auburn. Buy the half, and we are a) a little tentative as a entertainment hunter that this line is that low considering the offensive edges at all the skill positions for the Sooners, and b) quite encouraged as an Auburn graduate that Vegas only things OU is a three-point favorite. Still, you can't let your heart and your following get in the way of your entertainment gang. And of course buy the half.
Penn State plus-7. Buy the half for extra protection, but here are a couple of things. In the last half of the season, Penn State has been as good as any team in the country not named Alabama. The only other team close could be USC, which has won eight in a row. We expect each to roll out a few ball plays in the center stage that is the Rose Bowl. We initially liked the over-59 in this game but are a bit scared off by USC's athletic defense. (Side note: Did you know that the under is 9-3 in Trojans' games this year? Research, folks. Research.) Still, here's thinking this will be a one-possession game down to the end, and that means catching more than a TD feels like great value.
Wisconsin minus-8.5 over Western Michigan. Yes, the whole 'It's their Super Bowl' thing is in effect with Western Michigan. Yes, the Broncos could pull out all the stops like Boise State did a few years ago. Yes, the Broncos have been an underdog exactly once all year, and that became a 22-21 win over Northwestern. Yes, the Broncos added a convincing 34-10 win over Illinois this year as well. Still, Wisconsin is salty and perpetually undervalued simply because they are not flashy. (More research: Did you know that Wisconsin is 6-2-1 against the number vs. in their last nine against teams with a winning record and 11-3-1 against the spread in their last 15 games? Exactly.) And if you need some connective math: Wisconsin beat Northwestern by two touchdowns and Illinois 48-3.
Florida-Iowa under the 40.5. This is the ugliest big bowl game of the season, right? In fact, we have no faith in either offense to side a field goal either way. In fact, this pick is based on the fact that Vegas put this line so low, they are daring players to take the under. So, what do we do when Vegas tries to con us, we go the other way.
College regular season: 49-34 (59 percent)
NFL picks: 12-4 (75 percent)
Bowl picks to date: 10-9 (52.6 percent)
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Bowl leaders
We will have complete results at noon for the Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Game Success (Bowler optional).
We got covered up this morning and, well, even the holiday version of the 5-at-10 ran long.
So there's that.
Stay tuned, and as always, if you have any questions, please raise your hand and Tommy will come by and hit you in the head with a tack hammer.
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TCU defender Tipa Galeai (47) celebrates a sack and fumble recovery against Georgia during the second quarter of the Liberty Bowl NCAA college football game, Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, in Memphis, Tenn. (Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal via AP)Today's question
OK, as we were doing our research (zip it Spy) we noticed that the Sugar Bowl and the Orange Bowl started in the same year. We also saw that on this day in 1939, the fifth version of each was played.
The thing that jumped at us was the teams involved. In the Orange Bowl, No. 2 Tennessee beat No. 4 Oklahoma 17-0. In the Sugar, No. 1 TCU beat No. 6 Carnegie Tech 15-7. Carnegie Tech? Wow. Good times.
Also on this day in 1982, the Chargers beat the Dolphins in the AFC playoffs 41-38 in what we'll always call the "Kellen Winslow Game."
Five years later in 1987, the Penn State defense picked Vinnie Testaverde off five times in a shocking 14-10 upset of the Hurricanes. That Miami team was awesome and did not win the title.
So there's that.
As for a Rushmore, let's wrap the bowl season with this: Rushmore of most memorable bowl games ever. (Here's betting the alums of Carnegie Tech are still pretty chapped about that '39 Orange Bowl, huh?)
Go and enjoy the day.