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Weekend winners
BYU and the PopTarts Bowl. The Cougars rallied to win their bowl appearance over Georgia Tech. BYU is college football’s people’s champ after narrowly missing the playoff, and if Texas Tech — the only team that beat BYU this season — finds a way to the title game, all the better for the Cougars. As for the PopTarts Bowl, which non-playoff bowl has more juice, a better locale or a better recent resumé to ask for a spot in the soon-to-be-expanded playoff?
NFL bigwigs. OK, on paper, the Week 17 schedule looked blahtastic. But it was tremendous football that included two hook-and-ladder plays among the multitude of highlights. (Side question: Do you say “hook-and-ladder” or “hook-and-lateral,” friends? Side question on the side question: Is it “shuttle pass” or “shuffle pass” for you? Discuss.) Anywell, Week 17 was glorious, and moreover there are three huge-stakes Week 18 games for ultimate viewing. (Just don’t mention to those dudes that there is a real chance that the four QBs in the conference titles are Bo Nix, Drake Maye, Sam Darnold and Caleb Williams, just like we all predicted.)
Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers head coach has his team a win from an improbable division title and the NFC 1 seed, despite losing his two top defensive players early in the season. Want a cool stat: There’s a chance that the 49ers could win it all and play the next four games, including the Super Bowl, at home.