Happy New Year everyone.
You know the drill. Five quick things, although one of them will be our picks, so we’re not exactly sure how quick that will be.
From the “Talks too much studios,” let’s welcome in 2019 with a bang.
Good-bye 2018
Tough year for me personally. Hoping for less sorrow this year.
We have a tradition of writing down the things we are happy to be done with and throwing them in the fire pit on New Year’s Eve.
Some of the words were “Cancer” and “Sadness” and “August 2018.”
My sheets included “Writing Eulogies” (I wrote three in a 10-day stretch in August alone) and “Forgetting the pain and embracing the memories.”
Calendar flip
I got a great Friday mailbag question on 2019 predictions, and we’ll save most of them for later this week.
That said, I know this: The national conversation does not give Nick Saban enough credit for the what he’s done and what he’s doing at Alabama.
He’s our sports dude of 2018 and does anyone expect any type of step back in the next 12 months.
Side note: He still looked and acted like a petulant child during that outburst in the semifinal, and if one of his players acted like that, he would have blown a gasket.
Black Monday
New Year’s Eve or not, the NFL dropped a slew of pink slips on Black Monday.
Eight head coaching jobs were opened.
If we were an NFL owner we’d make Saban say no, even though he almost assuredly will. Still ask him what it would take and then nod your head. (Side note: If you are Jimmy Haslam and own the Browns, think of the benefits of hiring Saban right now. The Browns become better – heck I’m a better football coach than Hue Jackson – and Johnny Vols Fans everywhere would love the move to ge the Dark Lord out of the SEC in general and Tuscaloosa in particular.)
The Browns gig will be highly coveted, as will Lincoln Riley.
Let’s spend a moment on a wave of assistants moves, though, as the Falcons fired their coordinators Monday.
We get the DC getting walked to the parking lot, but the offense was top five or six in most NFL categories and Matt Ryan starting over with a new OC at this point in his career does not bode for immediate success next year.
Side note: We know a lot of UT fans who also are Falcons fans who are quite pleased that Steve Sarkisian was dismissed and quite terrified that he will be the OC in Knoxville. Just a thought.
Fab 4 picks for today
OK, we finished strong last night with Texas A&M and the over hitting against NC State and Northwestern’s monster third-quarter rally over Utah. That made us 4-2-1 in NYE picks, and that was with taking Oregon minus-1 even though the line flipped to MSU minus-1 or 2 right before kickoff. (We took the push because the lines when we pick are the lines when we pick. And of course, all lines are from VegasInsider.com.)
Where do we go from here? Glad you asked.
LSU minus-whatever over UCF. Here’s betting Coach O has shown his Tigers the snoozefest the Auburn Tigers dropped against a much-better Knights team last January. The line is 7 and we’ll buy the hook here, but this one feels like it’s going to get nasty. Seriously, UCF gave up 600-plus yards to Temple for Pete Maravich’s sake.
Mississippi State minus-6.5 over Iowa. Iowa’s best offensive player is skipping this one. MSU’s defensive line is a game-changer and unlike anything Iowa has seen all year. Points will be at a premium – the total is a bowl-season low of 40 – but we think MSU will get the majority of them.
Georgia minus-12 over Texas. Bloodbath. For real. What does Alejandro say on UGA games? Georgia by 90. This time he may be right.
THE Ohio State minus-6.5 over Washington. We were 100 percent prepared to pick the Huskies when this bowl was announced. Sincerely. But the Urban Liar retirement and the emotional back and forth makes me believe that THE Buckeyes are going to play one of their best games of the season.This one may get nasty too.
UK plus-6 over Penn State. Yes, it does feel rather SEC-homerish today. So what. We have noticed that physical teams have fared well in these bowl games and in large part that is because the rest and time off really helps them. Same for Benny Snell, who could have a monster day against PSU.
Bowl season: 16-10-2 (61.5 percent)
Regular season: 53-38-2 (58.2 percent)
Today’s questions
Resolutions, true or false.
True of false, Nick Saban will never coach anywhere but Alabama.
True or false, you are rooting for UCF to get hammered.
Verne Troyer, aka Mini-Me, would have been 50 today. His life was cut short. Sorry.
Today is National Hangover Day. Just sharing. Hope you are not celebrating that one.
In honor of the excellent feature film “Hangover” what makes the Rushmore comedy movies of the 2000s.
Go, and remember the mailbag.
5-at-10: Saban’s dominance, More Fab 4 bowl picks, True or False Tuesday, Rushmore of 2000s comedies
