Somewhere in the fight-filled, money-chasing hustle that the college bowl season has become, a national champion will emerge.
Too bad that so far, hardly any of the games on the road to that national championship have been worth a hoot.
And interesting to see that all the games that supposedly mean nothing is where most of the fun and mayhem has played out.
The day after New Year’s Day used to be when college football folded up the tent, but now it’s simply time for a break. Including Thursday’s Sugar Bowl — the quarterfinal showdown between Georgia and Notre Dame that was pushed back a day due to the deadly attack in New Orleans — Jan. 2 opened with four meaningful games left on the schedule and 18 days left before a champion is crowned.
The most notable stuff over bowl season, meanwhile, has come out of the nearly three dozen bowl games that aren’t supposed to mean that much, but in many ways, still do.
A look at who won, who lost and what we’d all be missing if we boiled down college football to only its 12-team playoff.
It’s still a money game
Colorado and Alabama were among the teams that focused on the “brotherhood” of football and leaned into the idea that even their NFL-bound stars were showing solidarity by playing in these bowl games.
At CU, that meant amping up the insurance policies for Heisman winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
“To talk about where the game is, where it’s going and how leadership is taking care of the players, I thought that’s excellent,” Colorado linebackers coach Andre’ Hart said.
On a similar note, quarterback Jalen Milroe singed up for Alabama’s game against Michigan, but the Tide fell flat 19-13. Turns out, more than a dozen of Milroe’s teammates opted not to join him, and not even a first-round quarterback can overcome that.
From Snoop Dogg to Cam Ward
Nothing these days says “big” in sports better than Snoop Dogg himself. This year, the rapper-commentator-celebrity put his name on the Arizona Bowl, and also offered all the Colorado State and Miami (Ohio) players in that game a chance to make some NIL money.
“College football fans are exhausted by the constant talk around NIL, conference realignment, coach movement, transfer portal and super conferences,” Snoop said in a video posted on social media.
Just as everyone was saying “Amen to that,” Heisman finalist Cam Ward put his own spin on all of this. The Miami quarterback threw for three touchdowns in the first half, but sat out the second in a 42-41 loss to Iowa State in the tastiest game on the schedule — the Pop Tarts Bowl.
Asked what led to that decision, Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said he was keeping that information private. But not much needed to be said. Either Ward and Sanders could end up as the top pick in this year’s draft.
