Ho, Ho, Holy College Football Bowl Games – The 5 Things You Need To Know

If football games are on your holiday wish list, then you must have been well behaved this year because there is an abundance of college football coming your way. Been naughty? Don’t worry, here are the five things you should know about bowl game season to put you back on the nice list.

Getting coal again this year,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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Five Things To Know About College Football Bowl Games

1. If the Oscars have the most coveted swag bags, bowl games are a close second. Players cannot be paid to play in the games but they can take home some great loot. Gifts this year include nice watches, rocking headphones and a PlayStation PS4.

2. There have been quite a few head coaching positions vacated and with the new coach not starting until next season, you’ll see a handful of teams playing with an interim coach. (Think Tennessee, Florida, Nebraska and Arizona State).

3. What’s in a name? Well for bowl games, it’s big money. The committees will do just about anything to please their title sponsors including naming the game itself something odd. The most memorable bowl game names this season roll off the tongue like the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl, Taxslayer Bowl and the Potato Bowl. And yes, there used to be a game called the Salad Bowl.

4. If you want to put your name on it, it’s going to cost you. Collectively, companies spend around $100 million on the naming rights for bowl games. The money, it goes to the conference and they divvy it out amongst the teams in their conference but not before taking a little for themselves.

5. Not all teams are invited to a bowl game. A team has to have a .500-plus record to be considered bowl eligible. The top four teams in the country will play in either the Sugar Bowl or the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. The winner of those two games will play each other in the National Championship Game on January 8th.

- Why does this matter? Once again football is going to dominate the conversation this month. There are 40 games between Sunday, December 16 and Monday, January 8 so there's no escaping the discussion. SCHEDULE

Keep the conversation going

Find out what Lindsey Vonn is doing with cheese that is upping her game, how basketball is overtaking football as the most popular sport in America and why a blizzard may have cost one player $500,000. READ

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Want to learn a little about college football with minimal effort? Join our college football bowl game pool where you can do just that. Simply pick the teams you think will win (or use the autofill function – we’re not judging). There are prizes for the winners (and even a few of the losers).  

Ps – Your picks need to be submitted by this Saturday.

5 Things To Know About This College Football Season

Say goodbye to your Saturdays because college football is back. Now you can join the college football conversation, which will save you from telling your college stories.

Some things are better left unsaid,

The Last Night’s Game Team

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5 things to know about this College Football season

A little background - there are multiple divisions in college football. Today we’re going to talk about the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams, formerly known as Division IA. This division includes the majority of college football programs, including all of the massive ones you tend to hear about in the news.

1. It’s a 12-game season. For many teams the season ends with a bowl game (think Fiesta Bowl or Sugar Bowl). For the top two teams, the season culminates with the National Championship on Jan. 8th.

2. The Clemson Tigers are the defending National Champions. Their coach Dabo (pronounced da-beau) Swinney has been in the news lately for his massive contract extension.

3. Waking up to watch ESPN’s College GameDay is football's equivalent to Saturday morning cartoons. The crew, including 82-year-old Lee Corso, travels to different campuses for the big game of the week. In addition to talking football, they have other shenanigans during the show that make it fun for even the non-football fan to watch. More on College GameDay.

4. Break out the beer pong and portable BBQs because it's tailgating time. If you could care less how your team does this season, here are the top 10 tailgating schools. (Hint – the top school dots the “I” at halftime).

5. College players vie for the Heisman Trophy, which recognizes the best athlete on the field. Last year’s winner, Lamar Jackson, will return as quarterback at the University of Louisville. The odds are against him to win another Heisman as only one player has ever won the award twice – Archie Griffin.

• Curious how your team might do this season? Here are the Top 25 preseason football rankings.

But wait there’s more

• Find out how the world of sports is contributing to the flood relief efforts and why a Chicago Cubs player becomes emotional while visiting a children’s cancer hospital. You can find today’s Overtime, Sideline stat and Coaches’ corner here.

The Rundown: Wet Suits, Winter and Waiting on Santa

We hope your weekend didn’t involve hitting the mall or battling it out for a Hatchimal. We did our shopping the good old fashioned way, with a laptop in the comfort of our own home. Hence why we have what everyone is buzzing about today, besides the passing famed socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Dahling, 

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS – Tomorrow is our first birthday. Follow us on Instagram for a chance to win special birthday prizes.

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NFL (National Football League) 

• Persistence. The Oakland Raiders clinched a playoff spot. The last time they made the playoffs was 14 years ago. It was so long ago you couldn’t even post about it on Facebook, which was invented in 2004.
• The silver lining. The Salvation Army earned some serious air time in last night’s game. After Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott scored a touchdown he jumped into an oversized Salvation Army donation kettle on the sideline. Elliott was penalized for his antics and awaits a possible fine for his excessive celebration. He said he’ll “match whatever they (the NFL) fine me with a donation to the Salvation Army.” 

NBA (National Basketball Association)

• Into the rafters. Retired Tim Duncan played 19 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs winning five championships. Sunday night the team retired his jersey number (#21). In his honor, the Spurs wore game socks with his number on them. Duncan’s former coach described their relationship as “soulmates” off the court. Awkward. 

NCAA Football (College) 

• Bye Bye Bison. The North Dakota State Bison have won five consecutive FCS championships. Friday night they saw the streak come to an end when James Madison University beat them in the semifinals. (What is the FCS? See today’s coaches’ corner below).

How are your picks doing in our College Bowl Mania? Check here. 

Overtime

• Chicago Bears quarterback and California native Matt Barkley channeled his inner Scuba Steve and wore a wet suit on Sunday but not for the reasons you think. Barkley wore the wet suit to combat the subzero temperatures in Chicago, a trick passed down from Tom Brady. It didn’t help that much as the Bears lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Sideline stat

• In the Las Vegas Bowl San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey broke the FBS record for all-time rushing yards with 6,397 yards. Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne has held this record since 1999. What's FBS? See below. 

Coaches’ corner

• North Dakota State and James Madison play in the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) which is a division below the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision). The FBS is formerly known as Division 1-A football and FCS used to be called 1-AA. The FBS teams play bowl games after their conference championships and is the division where most of the notable schools play such as Ohio State, Stanford and University of Texas. Need more? Here you go.