Thursday, January 1, 2026
The Happiest of New Years to everyone!
We'll start 2026 with more Happy New Year's Day greetings from around the globe.
Italy was celebrating!
So were the down home
Clemson Tigers
Las Rozas Black Demons
American DI Football Team
Spain
Ferrara Aquile
American DI Football Team
Italy
Speaking of American football, there were three games being played today of some import to the collegiate scene.
They were all College Football Playoff (CFP) Quarterfinals games with the winners joining the Miami Hurricanes in the CFP Semifinals next week.
Miami (12-2) won their CFP Quarterfinal over Ohio State (12-2) on New Year's Eve.
The First Game of the Day
The Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida was expected to be a great game featuring the BIG-10's, #5 seeded Oregon Ducks (12-1) against the BIG-XII's, #4 seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders (12-1).
The Oregon Defense made the
Orange Bowl an absolute ROUT!
A disturbing trend these first
two years of a 12 team CFP
The second game of the day was the Rose Bowl played in Pasadena, California.
"The Grand Daddy of Them All"
The all-powerful SEC's #9 seeded Alabama Crimson Tide (11-3) going against the BIG-10's #1 seeded Indiana Hoosiers (13-0).
The Hoosiers rise to power these past two seasons have been a tremendous story, but could they play with mighty Alabama?
The Hoosiers simply . . .
. . . curb stomped the Crimson Tide!
Indiana dominated every phase of the game from start to finish with their physical style of play.
A harsh historical opinion from
General William Tecumseh Sherman
An even harsher historical opinion,
YIKES!
CFP SEMIFINAL
Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia
#5 seeded Oregon (13-1)
vs.
#1 seeded Indiana (14-0)
This will be an all BIG-10 affair.
In their regular season meeting played in Eugene, Oregon on October 11th, Indiana was victorious, 30-20.
I think that the Hoosiers will win the rematch.
The BIG New Year's day finale
The Sugar Bowl was played in New Orleans, Louisiana and figured to be a good one.
This year's game saw two SEC team's doing battle, the #3 seeded Georgia Bulldogs (12-1) and #6 seeded Ole Miss Rebels (12-1).
The regular season game between the Bulldogs and Rebels was played on October 18th, with Georgia winning a high scoring close one at home, 43-35.
Easily the most competitive
game of the day with a bizarre
but interesting finish
Ole Miss avenged their loss and now move on to the CFP Semifinals.
CFP SEMIFINAL
Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona
#10 seeded Miami (12-2)
vs.
#6 seeded Ole Miss (13-1)
Getting a CFP Bye appears
to not be the blessing most
of us thought it would be
No CFP Semifinal repeaters
from last year . . .
. . . it points to a much more
competitive landscape in these
NIL and Transfer Portal days
The Nick Saban Coaching Tree
is a STRONG one!
Indiana vs. Miami is my pick
for the CFP Championship Game
In news from the net . . .
The San Diego Rebellion
announced an important signing
A native of Chihuahua, Mexico, she brings 13 years of experience playing Defensive End in both Mexico and the USA. She earned All-Pro honors in 2022 while playing for the Phoenix Prowlers.
In Mexico, Irlanda Diaz is a practicing lawyer with a Master's degree in Tax Law.
Upon signing with the Rebellion, she gave this advice to young women playing sports in general and American football in particular, "Never shrink yourself to fit in anywhere."
I have to get down to San Diego to see one of their games this Spring.
A CLASSIC photo resurfaced from the 1960s
It was a great publicity picture of then West Texas State Buffaloes RB Eugene "Mercury" Morris, hence the wings.
Morris would go on to be a key player on the dominant Miami Dolphins teams of the early 1970s.
NFL Trivia for your next
trip to your local sports bar
AMEN!
100% the TRUTH!
Still dreaming of more
travel in 2026
Happy New Year Everybody!
