What games are you watching? How are you ringing in the New Year?
It is the last weekend of 2023 and we have football galore for the next several days.
The NFL gets us started with TNF tonight with a matchup between the NY Jets and the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have been looking like a formidable opponent lately with one of the best defenses in the NFL. I have historically not been a fan of TNF as the quality of the games has traditionally been inferior, no doubt due to the short turnaround from Sunday, but I must admit it has not been as bad as normal this season.
On Friday, we get the first of the New Years Six bowl games as Missouri and Ohio State battle in the Cotton Bowl.
Saturday has two more NY6 bowls: Ole Miss vs. Penn State in the Peach Bowl and Georgia vs. Florida State in the Orange Bowl. Let’s see if Florida State can solidify their claim that they were unjustly omitted from the Playoffs, or if Georgia can do the committee a favor by beating them and ending that conversation. Then in Primetime, the NFL has a massive showdown when the Detroit Lions go down to AT&T Stadium to take on the Dallas Cowboys. The winner of this game becomes the favorite for the #2 seed in the NFC, and would even still have a chance at the #1 spot.
Sunday belongs to the NFL. The marquee game that day is Miami at Baltimore. The Ravens clinch the #1 seed in the AFC with a win, while the Dolphins can get the top spot if they win this game and also their finale (home vs. Bills).
And to wrap up the holiday weekend, we get the last three NY6 games including the CFP semifinals on New Years Day. Liberty takes on Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. In Pasadena, the Alabama Crimson Tide takes on um in the Rose Bowl (ROLL TIDE!!!) for the right to take on the winner of the Sugar Bowl, which features the Washington Huskies and the Texas Longhorns. TOC will have a preview of the CFP before those games kick off. There is no more Monday Night Football this season.
Enjoy this super-sized serving of football over the next five days, not to mention the MSU basketball game on Saturday afternoon. Let’s hear your predictions for some of these games and let’s hear your New Years Eve plans.