Happy 2013 everybody! This has long been one of my favorite days of the year. Forget Christmas. For a college football fan the Holiday we live for is this day right here. Wall to wall football! I now plan to do what I do every year on this day - wear pajamas for hours on end, brew a 2nd pot of coffee after the 1st one is gone, order a pizza, indulge in a beer or two and become a complete mush-brained football watching zombie until the last play is run sometime around 10:30 tonight when Northern Illinois and Florida State are wrapping things up. And this year I'll suffer even less feelings of worthlessness as there's a steady pour of rain outside and it's expected to stay that way for most of the day. I have no choice but to do this, right?
Here's my bowl rundown:
1. 11 a.m. Mississippi State vs. Northwestern: Judging by the way Dan Mullen's team finished the season, many people think the Bulldogs stand a good chance to lose this one, myself included, which means they'll probably win (my Bowl Pick 'em is an embarrassment to Bowl Pick 'ems at this point). This day will start off with a bang for me if Northwestern can put it on the Bulldogs. However, if State can visualize the Wildcats as a Sunbelt team it might stand a chance to do some damage. The Big 10 was fairly awful this year, so I could see a resurgence by Mississippi State being quite possible, and if that happens good for the Bulldogs. They could use another championship. During commercials I'll flip to Oklahoma State vs. Purdue over on ESPNU, but I couldn't care less about either team or that game...
2. Noon. Georgia vs. Nebraska or South Carolina vs. Michigan. Once the State game is over, or if it gets out of hand, I'll choose between UGA vs. Nebraska or South Carolina vs. Michigan. I really have a hard time watching two games at once. It's too much to process and my mind can never fully get into either game, so I'll probably choose the closer game or the one that has an SEC school dominating. During bowl season I'm an SEC fan. That's why I nearly flew into a rage when Les Miles passed on 2nd and 2 and 3rd and 2 in the closing minutes of the Chick-fil-a Bowl last night. What a disaster. LSU fans must be absolutely miserable this morning, which actually does make me feel somewhat better about the whole ordeal. Anyway, I prefer Spurrier to Richt and Pelini to Hoke. I wish Spurrier was playing Pelini for that reason, but that's not the case. Richt bores me to tears. However, if Georgia can really put it on the Huskers then I'd get some joy out of watching Pelini melt down and try to keep the veins from exploding out of his forehead. I'd also like to see Spurrier completely rain down points on Michigan. We'll just have to see how these two play out before I can commit to either game...
3. 4 p.m. Wisconsin vs. Stanford. Yawn. I'm only going to watch the Rose Bowl because it's a New Year's Day tradition to watch football until I can't watch football anymore. If I can find anything else to do during this three hour window I'll probably do it. Maybe some legal work. Perhaps a Rebel Nation chat? Anybody up for that today? Let me know.
4. 7:30 p.m. Florida State vs. Northern Illinois. The year 2013 will be complete for me if NIU could beat the Seminoles on national television in front of a national audience of people just like me who are only watching because there's no other game to watch. After years and years of controversy I was finally convinced that the BCS truly is a messed up system when I learned Northern Illinois would play Florida State in the Orange Bowl. I wouldn't want to watch that during the regular season. Why would I want to watch it during bowl season? It sounds awful. Maybe the worst bowl match-up of all time. In order to make it more entertaining for myself I'll be pulling for the Huskies. I'll also spice it up with some wings. Watching FSU lose and hearing the moans from the ACC as its "we beat LSU" bubble was burst would be a nice way to finish off the day. Hopefully, that's what'll happen, but my money is on an FSU blowout. Depending on how it turns out at some point I'll wake up from the couch, let to dog out, make the coffee for the next day, stumble to the bedroom, read about all the games that I just watched and fall asleep.
Happy New Year to me! Oh yeah, and Happy New Year to you, too!