Teams from the SouthEastern Conference (SEC) played in all 5 New Year's Day bowl games. The league, it seems, was bent on re-establishing a monopoly on the national championship, and in the playoff games at the end of the night, they'd accomplished that goal.
Alabama, and future Hall of Fame coach Nick Saban, just won't go away. The Crimson Tide exacted revenge on Clemson in the Sugar Bowl, 24-6, but some of us, including ye scribe, just didn't feel like staying up past midnight (ET) for the game. On the other hand, the Rose Bowl provided more excitement, what with the first overtime game in the history of the event, as Georgia, the SEC champion, defeated Big 12 champ Oklahoma in double OT, 54-48.
The only other SEC team to win on Monday was South Carolina, returning to the scene of one of the most famous defensive plays in college history, and against the same opponent, to boot, defeated Michigan in the Outback Bowl, 26-19. Auburn, the biggest favorite among bettors as a 10 point favorite in the Peach Bowl, once again didn't find Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium to their liking, as the Tigers fell to Central Florida, 34-27. In the Florida Citrus Bowl, Notre Dame needed some late magic of their own to down LSU, 21-17.
The common thread in all but the Sugar Bowl was that the SEC teams fell behind, then went ahead. In Georgia's case, it was virtually a track meet vs. Oklahoma, as defenses took the day off. Now, 2nd year coach Kirby (Get) Smart will face off with his former mentor, Saban, right back in Atlanta next Monday night for the all the marbles.
In watching the Rose Bowl, I couldn't help but notice that the game officials, from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), decided to let the players play, and called very few penalties. The game still slogged along because of all the scoring.
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Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians decided to retire Monday after a disappointing 2017 campaign. Something tells me that had he not made the decision, Arians probably would've been out the door anyway.
Yahoo! reports that Oakland hasn't extended a formal contract offer to former coach Jon Gruden to return, waiting until after he calls Saturday's NFL Wild Card game for ESPN. Gruden didn't work yesterday, contrary to what I'd assumed, but was only heard when they replayed Jadaveon Clowney's now famous hit on Michigan's Vincent Smith in the 2013 Outback Bowl. Smith's helmet landed about 10-15 yards behind him, the hit was so ferocious.
As for Gruden, his departure, if he leaves, spells the end of his "Gruden Grinder" segment on Monday Night Football. I speculated yesterday that Indianapolis might put some feelers out to former QB and current insurance agent/general nuisance to country music Peyton Manning to be their next coach, but if coaching's not in the telegenically challenged Manning, ESPN might be calling instead.......
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