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.

The Rundown: We're Never Eating Again

We made it through the holiday season and 2017 is finally here. We don’t know about you but the diet starts today. All that couch surfing while watching sports and spiked eggnog has finally caught up with us.

Break out the stretchy pants,

The Last Night’s Game Team

PS – Don’t forget to share your excitement for Last Night’s Game with your newly found treadmill buddy. 2017 is the year of the sports savvy!

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NCAA Football (College)

• Have we met? While you were celebrating the end of 2016, Alabama beat Washington and Clemson shutout Ohio State. The winners move on to the National Championship game on January 9th. The game will be a rematch of last year’s final game, which Alabama won. 
• But wait there’s more. Don’t worry, if you missed out on bowl season football there are still a few major bowl games today. These games were moved from their typical New Year’s Day time slot because of an NFL scheduling conflict (the NFL played on Sunday).
  • Cotton Bowl (Arlington, TX) - Western Michigan vs Wisconsin
  • Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA) - Penn State vs USC
  • Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA) - Oklahoma vs Auburn  

NFL (National Football League)

• See ya. Unlike most NFL coaches, Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak is leaving the games on his terms. Kubiak informed the team he is retiring as head coach. Rumors have it he’s retiring for health reasons but we think it’s because he misses Peyton Manning.

Overtime

• NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. may have been out most of the season with a concussion but he took the plunge on New Year's Eve. Earnhardt married his longtime girlfriend and everyone was there. Guess which leading lady caught the bouquet and might be the next one to walk down the aisle? (FYI - NASCAR stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing).  

Sideline stat

• On Friday night Ronda Rousey made her much anticipated return to fighting after a lengthy absence. Albeit all that training for her comeback fight didn’t pay off as she hoped because she was knocked out in 48 seconds by champion Amanda Nunes. All signs point to Rousey retiring after her loss but pour one out for her because she’s a pioneer - the Amelia Earhart of women’s MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) if you will.

Coaches’ corner

• Today is known as Black Monday in the NFL. It is the Monday after the regular season finishes when many losing coaches are shown the door. There have already been five coaches fired before today therefore the infamous day might not live up to the hype this year. “Tell me about it” said Black Friday.

The Rundown: Hear Me Roar...Sports Talk

The playoff teams for college football were announced yesterday and unlike finding last year’s $20 bill in your coat pocket, there were no surprises here. Like spending your $20, the games are still going to be exciting.

Cha-ching!

The Last Night’s Game Team

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NCAA Football (College)

• One step closer. Yesterday was “Selection Sunday.” It’s not another commercialized Hallmark holiday but where the College Football Playoff Selection Committee determines the final four teams as well as the teams who will play in the various bowl games.
• Bring it on. The final four teams will play each other and the winners of the two games below will play for the National Championship in January.

- Alabama (#1) will play Washington (#4) on 12/31 in the Peach Bowl (Atlanta)

- Clemson (#2) will play Ohio State (#3) on 12/31 in the Fiesta Bowl (Phoenix)

• FOMO. Penn State handed Ohio State their only loss and won the Big 10 Championship, but they were left out of the Final Four. The Nittany Lions will have to settle for a spot in the Rose Bowl against USC.
• Bowling for dollars. Here are the matchups for all 42 bowl games. Find your team and book your flights for an early holiday gift to yourself.

Soccer

• Bittersweet. Last week we saw the unthinkable, the plane that was carrying the Brazilian soccer team, Chapecoense, to their championship games crashed. Their opposition for the championship started a campaign to give the team the championship title, without playing the game. The South American Football Confederation agreed and will name the Brazilian club as 2016 Copa Sudamericana Champions.

NFL (National Football League)

• Homecoming. Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry calls Atlanta home and he returned home this week to play the Atlanta Falcons – nearly two years to the day he was diagnosed with cancer. Berry kicked cancer’s butt and he did the same thing to the Falcons’ offense during his homecoming.  

F1 Racing (Formula One)

• Going out on top. Last week we reported that Nico Rosberg won the World Championship, the first of his career. Well it’s going to be his last because the 31-year-old shocked the racing community by announcing his retirement Friday.

Overtime

• This weekend the NFL allowed the players to pay tribute to their favorite charity on their cleats. The cleats will be auctioned off to benefit the players’ designated charity. Need a unique gift for under the tree? You can bid on your beloved player’s cleats here. 

Sideline stat

• NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) announced a multiyear deal with Monster Energy as its Premier Series title sponsor. Monster is replacing Sprint (i.e. the Sprint Cup). The dollars and cents of the deal weren’t released but it was rumored that NASCAR wanted 10-years, $1 billion for this sponsorship level. We want to win the lottery too.  

Coaches’ corner

• Penn State’s mascot is a Nittany Lion. We’ve never seen a Nittany Lion in the zoo, what is it? The Nittany Lion refers to the mountain lions that are thought to have once roamed Mount Nittany, a University Park (where Penn State is located) landmark.