Sunday December 3, 2023
With all of the college Conference Championship games having been played over the last two days, Selection Sunday was finally here.
We would now see the fallout from the chaos that #8 Alabama's upset of #1 Georgia had created for the Playoff Selection Committee.
I was up early and had listened to about two hours of ESPN experts discussing the relative merits of 13-0 Florida State's, 12-1 Texas' and 12-1 Alabama's relative merits to get the #3 and #4 final playoff spots.
All were in agreement that 13-0 Michigan and 13-0 Washington would be slotted #1 and #2 respectively.
I had had enough and decided to go for a two mile walk to clear my head.
Interesting "Christmas in the Desert"
motif on a nearby home
I finally made my decision during this early morning stroll as to who I wanted to see in the playoffs.
For me it would be #1 Michigan, #2 Washington, #3 Florida State and #4 Texas.
Suck it Alabama, Georgia, the entire SEC and the pompous SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
Soon after I returned home, the final CFP rankings were announced.
DAMN IT, Alabama got in
Florida State's marvelous regular season was greatly diminished by the committee's decision.
Hate it.
But where are the Huskies going to play?
On to New Orleans it is then!
The #3 Texas Longhorns
12-1, BIG-XII Champion
vs.
The #2 Washington Huskies
13-0, PAC-12 Champion
Wait, haven't we played Texas in a bowl game before?
Oh yes, in last year's Alamo Bowl
in beautiful San Antonio, Texas
These two universities with rich football traditions have also played each other in bowl games on two other occasions.
In the 1979 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, the Huskies prevailed in a defensive battle, 14-7.
They met again in San Diego, California's 2001 Holiday Bowl with the Longhorns winning a shootout, 47-43. We were at this highly entertaining game 22 years ago.
#1 Michigan vs. #4 Alabama
in the Rose Bowl, the other
CFP Semi-Final Game
I'm looking at wins by Michigan and Washington to set up an old school BIG-10 vs. PAC-12 Championship Game on January 8, 2024 in Houston, Texas.
The only PAC-12 teams to
ever make the CFP are
Washington and Oregon
Ten years and no USC playoff appearances. Who would have known?
Next year, the CFP will expand from only four teams to a much less controversial twelve.
If this format was in place this year, this would be the playoff brackets:
Now #12 Oklahoma would be irate
because the highest rated Group of
Five team, 13-0 Liberty, knocked them
out of the playoffs
Oh how we all love to argue about anything and everything in college football.
New Year's Day will see our family
glued to a TV screen somewhere
The final PAC-12 season saw eight teams achieve the minimum requirement for bowl eligibility, six wins.
Here is the PAC-12's post-season bowl assignments with PAC-12 schools in BOLD:
Los Angeles Bowl
December 16, 2023
Boise State (8-5) vs. UCLA (7-5)
Independence Bowl
December 16, 2023
Texas Tech (6-6) vs. California (6-6)
Las Vegas Bowl
December 23, 2023
Northwestern (7-5) vs. Utah (8-4)
Holiday Bowl
December 27, 2023
#15 Louisville (10-3) vs. USC (7-5)
Alamo Bowl
December 28, 2023
#12 Oklahoma (10-2) vs. #14 Arizona (9-3)
Sun Bowl
December 29, 2023
#16 Notre Dame (9-3) vs. #19 Oregon State (8-4)
Fiesta Bowl
January 1, 2024
#23 Liberty (13-0) vs. #8 Oregon (11-2)
Sugar Bowl
January 1, 2024
#3 Texas (12-1) vs. #2 Washington (13-0)
National Championship Game
January 8, 2024
? vs. ?
Michael Penix, Jr. may or may not
win the 2023 Heisman Trophy
He has won the hearts of all of Husky Nation in leading the Dawgs to a 25-2 record over the last two seasons since transferring from Indiana.
In the afternoon, we attended the grandkids' Piano Recital in Newbury Park.
For her first ever piano recital, Mary
played the Nursery Rhyme Suite
"Mary Had a Little Lamb"
Sensational!
Veteran Recital Pianist Jacob
entertained us with Bach's
"Minuet in G"
Fantastic!
Mary with her
Piano Teacher Angela
Jacob's Piano Teacher
is also Angela
Michael and Vanessa were
proud of the kids' performances
Poppo and Gigi were equally
proud of these two rapscallions'
musical efforts today
On the way home, Jacob rode with us
as we heard the last two plays of this
Rams-Browns game on our car radio
Getting this particular group of Rams to a 6-6 record and in contention for an NFC playoff spot may just be Sean McVay's best coaching effort to date.
We celebrated the afternoon's musical triumph with dinner at Camarillo's iconic Mexican restaurant and cantina, El Tecolote.
No Enchiladas for me,
three hard shelled shredded
beef tacos was my go to order
What a DELICIOUS way
to celebrate the day!
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