Weekend winners
The SEC, for sure. The way things played out, getting two in the four means double payouts across the league - including the full share the league office gets - and even more exposure. Yes, the SEC was top-heavy this year, but in a lot of ways, Georgia and Alabama are top heavy across the sport.
Jonathan Taylor. Dude is a monster, and in a year when the best QB has two strikes - he won it last year, and he assuredly stubbed his COVID toe with his less than honest ways - in the MVP voters' eyes, Taylor's chances to become the first non-QB MVP since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006. And dude is a fantasy football maestro right about now.
Jim Harbaugh. Yeah, all those "can he win the big one" and "what about THE Buckeyes" and all the other whispers have become background noise. AS in back-, Back-, BACK-ground noise. The Michigan fan base has been rewarded for its patience, and the Wolverines - WOLVERINES - head to the playoff for the first time.
Alabama. Yeah, pretty nice Saturday for the Tide sports programs, huh? Football topples No. 1 Georgia. Hoops topples No. 1 Gonzaga. And for the first time in what seems like forever, the Alabama football fan base got to experience what the rest of us rank-and-file fans get several times a year. They played a game and won a game they did not 100% expect to win by at least two scores before kickoff. Yes, while being an Alabama fan has the ups and downs of owning Apple stock, this was the first chance to ride the unknown and experience the joy that comes with that uncertainty.
Viktor Hovland. Is he the best golfer on the planet right now? I say fore-sure. (How about that one Spy?) And he did it against the best field we've seen in a while.
Bonus pick: South Pitt. The Pirates won the state football title, which in most years is an even-money bet for one of the state's truly dominant small-classification powers. But after their head coach quit a week into the season, South Pitt rallied and responded and delivered another great chapter in that great program's great history. Heck, maybe the most impressive chapter of them all. And that's saying something.
Weekend losers
The continued watering down of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Something called the "Golden Era" committee added six more names to the Hall, and they are a mix of good guys, folks who were good but from all-timers and a couple of names that allowed the committee to continue to try to erase our racial injustices. Egad the names will make you go, huh? Gil Hodges was a beloved player, but he's not as accomplished as Dale Murphy. (Hodges never finished higher than 8th in the MVP voting and made the all-star game eight times in an 18 year career for Pete's sake.) Jim Kaat was a great guy, but he's the all-time compiler and is a better fielding Jamie Moyer. Kat made three all-star teams in a 25-year career. His career averages over that quarter of a century was a season that was 13-11 with a 3.45 ERA and 110 Ks in 202 innings. Hall worthy? Uh Hall pass.
Kirby Smart. Yeah, that one stings. And it let the only team I think that can beat Georgia in the mix. Yeah, the vindication Michigan fans feel was what the Georgia fans were desperate to feel with Kirby. Yes, winning the whole enchilada will make missing an SEC title meaningless. But if not now with this team filled with NFL dudes, it's fair to wonder when for Kirby. Tick-tick-tick.
Vikings. Brian E survived the Eliminator Pool because the Vikings let the Lions win on the last play. Mike Zimmer, your time has to be done. (Brian, shoot me an email and let's get your prize to you before the holidays. Congrats.)
Falcons. Yes, it was always going to be a rebuilding season, and yes, your best player has missed the last two months coping with his mental health, but what is buildable with this bunch? I'll wait.
Let's bowl
Side question before we get started: Grease 2 is actually underrated in a campy, terrible and corny kind of way. And yes, I believe Michelle Pfieffer looks back on the decision to take the lead in Grease 2 with more than a heartfelt regret. But in honor of that sequel and it's somewhat infamous "Tonight, we bowl" scene, let's get to the fallout from the postseason invites, shall we?
I think we shall.
The playoff field is set. Alabama as the 1, Michigan as the 2, Georgia 3 and Cincy at 4.
OK, there was more than a little moving and shaking in that room, because I believe the nest two statements to be hard and fast:
First, the right four are dancing. Cincy beating Notre Dame made that an easy and unequivocal call. And for all the wants and needs to get Notre Dame in for the extra Catholic eyes a smilin' there is simply no way with a straight face to justify Irish over Bearcats with the evidence before us.
Second, the committee was willing to do everything to juggle the seeds to make sure the only rematch would be in the title game. There was simply no way Alabama-Georgia would be a semifinal game. None.
I think you could make the argument that Michigan could have been the 1, but those are semantics as opposed to the overall placement. Tis the needing for the seeding after all.
(Also, while we are here, if this was Cincy-Alabama in the Sugar Bowl without a title at stake, I would be all over the Bearcats. With the Alabama machine in high gear, know this: I have already put that pick on layaway and locked in all I could afford under the magic number of 14. Because the closer we get to New Year's, that line will only move north and could get to 18ish before kickoff.)
As for the rest of the bowl slate, let's handout some superlatives shall we? I think we shall.
Motivated edge: This is a monster part of picking bowl games. Who will be approaching the bowl chances as business trips and who will be looking at it as a getaway with swag tossed in. Give me Notre Dame with a monster edge as of right now in the Fiesta against an Oklahoma State team that will have to wonder what if by not being Baylor despite two trips inside the Bears' 5 in the final quarter and a half. Because if Oklahoma State is a one-loss conference champ, would the committee have punted the Bulldogs? OSU can't answer that either, but the Cowboys did not handle their business regardless.
The individual motivation bowl. Let's go with the aforementioned Kenny Pickett, the Pitt QB who will get to state his case as the best QB in this draft cycle in the Peach against Michigan State.
The LSU got us nice raises bowl: That would be the Sugar - which feels appropriate - as Dave Aranda and Lane Kiffin face off.
The points will be plenty bowl: That would be the Music City, which got Purdue and Tennessee.
The depressed fan bases but good programs bowl: The Alamo landed 10-win Oklahoma and 10-win Oregon - each of which entertained playoff trips into mid-November - for a game that may not have either coach who won those 10 games. Yes, college football is surreal these days.
The anything but proximity bowl: Let's look at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl which is played in Phoenix and will include Minnesota and West Virginia. That's 1,644 miles from Minneapolis to Phoenix (ripAdvisor estimates it's more than 30 hours by car) and 2,083 miles from Morgantown to Phoenix (more than 32 hours by car). The only true sure thing here is that each side will return allotted tickets, and that Rate is Guaranteed.
The early pick for the Group of 5 whipping of a power 5: Yeah, let's go to Birmingham, where an 11-win Houston team will play an Auburn team that could have, what, as many as a half-dozen (and maybe more) players opt out to get ready for the draft. When the Cougars are favored, do not be surprised. (And lay the points.)
The second pick for Group of 5 whipping of a power 5: UCF vs. Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa. Florida has the glazed over look of a hungover high school junior taking his third PSAT prep course because mom knows he's bound for the Ivy League even though Skippy's brain is filled with hopps and week-old bong resin. And how many of those UCF dudes dreamed of playing for the Gators. Plus, there's the Gus factor. Yeah, I'll watch.
Are there too many bowls? Sure. Is it about the money? Of course it is, but what in sports - or in life - is not about the money?
But here's the big thing: If you are lathered up about too many bowls, then don't watch. As for me. Someone had me a betting app and let's rock, let's roll, let's bet, let's bowl.
(And yes, if you had not one but two Grease 2 references in today's 5-at-10, well, that paid handsomely.)
This and that
- Speaking of bowls, we're good for the annual "Bowling for bowls of bowl game success, bowler optional" contest right? Right?
- Kenyan Drake is not wrong. OK, yes, the NFL has too many rules - especially when we're not even sure what constitutes a catch a lot of the time - and this year's emphasis on the 'taunting' mumbo-jumbo is comical. (And never mind the arbitrary way in which enforces its rules, right Aaron?) But Drake had his second season end with a severe leg injury after having his legs rolled over from behind on a tackle. If the NFL is concerned about player safety, more games are missed with leg injuries - and a lot of those are from tackles Drake's referencing - than head injuries. But that then shifts the question to whether the NFL truly is worried about injuries, or just injuries that could be litigious and/or have momma's fretting about whether to let the next line of potential stars play Pop Warner. The former seems like the cost of doing business, while the latter could cost them their business.
- While we are here on football rules, we got a bit of a potential issue before us. Pitt QB Kenny Pickett pulled a great fake slide during a QB run that became a 58-yard TD in the Panthers' 45-21 destruction of Wake Forest in the ACC title game. (Uh, there were plenty of good sections available.) But if the fake slide becomes a thing, then playing through the slide will have to become a thing too. And we all know how fragile QBs are.
- Hmmmmmmmm, Dabo Swinney in Raiders gear on the sideline of a high-profile franchise - with some high-profile former Clemson players - that will have a high-profile coaching position open in the next few months is more than interesting. In fact, if Dabo was going to jump, considering the uncertainty of Clemson - and longtime defensive coordinator Brent Venables vamoosing for Oklahoma, Sooner rather than later - now would be the best time, no?
- While we are pondering everything in abstract ways this morning, did Quinn Ewers win the weekend or lose it? Ewers was the slam-dunk top prospect in this recruiting cycle but the QB enrolled early at THE Ohio State primarily because the state of Texas would not allow its high school football stars to cash NIL deals. So Ewers enrolled and cashed deals worth a reported $1 million, including one with a Columbus-area Ford dealership. Now, after not getting on the field - a long shot at best from the start all things considered - Ewers is transferring. So the NIL has, Ewers case flipped the old "Pay for Play" cliché as he was paid and not played.
- So the picks went 3-2 and closed with a red-hot November finished with (drumroll please) a 47-45 mark. Uh, Matt H to the white courtesy email, Matt H to the white courtesy email please.
- You know the drill. Here's Paschall and his SEC wrap column on Alabama's dominance.
Today's questions
Weekend winners and losers, go.
As for today's Rushmore, well, let's spin it another direction.
Rushmore of 'bowls' and be creative.