CFP Random Thoughts Bowled Over: Routs and Special Teams Gaffes Ruled the Day

[With Christmas rapidly approaching and travel plans for some, we bring you Random Thoughts a day early. Ho! Ho! Ho!]

Alabama made a statement. Oregon got a little lazy. And Miami-FL and Texas A&M gave

us a classic. A classic bore. Meanwhile, it was not good week for the AAC teams with Tulane, Memphis and USF all getting embarrassingly blown out.

All in all, it was not the greatest set of games. Every match-up had badly missed field goals, blocked punts, and/or terribly executed fake punt attempts. The teams that had the least number of mistakes, were the ones that were most impressive. Starting with Alabama.

CFP: Alabama 34 Oklahoma 24 – Early on, the Tide looked like the crappy Tide we have seen for the last month or so. OU quarterback John Mateer was getting all kinds of time to survey the field while Bama’s Ty Simpson was getting crushed. Alabama had 3-&-out on their first three possessions and even the punts were being shanked. Meanwhile, the Sooners were marching down the field and built a 17-0 lead. Nothing was working for the Crimson Tide.

But then one play changed everything. Facing a fourth straight 3-&-out, Simpson connected with Lotzeir Brooks for a 29 yard gain to the OU 41. Suddenly, everything started to click. The line was giving Simpson some time and he was hitting his receivers. The Tide defense started bringing pressure and forcing Mateer into mistakes.

Trailing just 17-10, a pick-6 by Zabien Brown tied the game and swung momentum to Bama’s side going into the locker room. The second half was all Alabama as the Tide continued to punish Mateer and rack up points. Even the Tide kicker Conor Talty got into the act connecting on field goals of 35 and 40 yards, outdueling the Lou Groza Trophy winning kicker on the other sideline, who missed two of three attempts.

Alabama advances to the Rose Bowl against Indiana.

CFP: Miami-FL 10 Texas A&M 3 – 58 minutes of absolute trash quarterbacking and missed chip shot field goals were followed by a touchdown drive of 86 yards on 6 plays for the ‘Canes. A&M swiftly went the other way down to the 5 yard line, but Marcel Reed threw a pick in the end zone to end TAMU’s 2025 season on a two-game losing streak. Cue the Battered Aggie Syndrome girl.

The Aggies had 9 more first downs and 48 more yards of offense than the Hurricanes. Reed had two interceptions and a lost fumble. Carson Beck sucked ass for most of the game and still technically gets credit for a touchdown “pass” that was basically a toss that traveled less than a yard forward. He finished 14 of 30 and just made it to 103 yards but would have been under 100 yards passing if not for the jet sweep at the end.

Miami-FL now faces obliteration by 2-seed anOhio State in the Cotton Bowl.

IF YOU HAD FUN, YOU ARE A WINNER

CFP: Ole Miss 41 Tulane 10 – Lane Kiffin be damned! The Rebels dominated the Green Wave without the egomaniac. Any chance that Tulane might have had, went out the window on the first three possessions. It took three plays for Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy to score the game’s first points. Tulane drove to the OM 23 but threw a pick. Four plays later, it was 14-0 and things went down hill from there. The Wave scored a garbage touchdown against the Black Shark Bear Ackbars’ back-up players (I think I saw a tuba player in at linebacker) to make the score look slightly better.

Ole Miss heads to Nawlins for the Sugar Bowl against Georgia.

CFP: Oregon 51 James Madison 34 – The Ducks were smacking the Dukes around like they were nothing for two and a half quarters and then took the foot off the gas to almost a dangerous level. A blocked punt-scoop-N-score put UO up 48-13 midway through the 3rd quarter. Then the Dux got a little complacent and JMU scored touchdowns on their final three possessions to make it look a lot closer than it should have been.

It should be noted that Oregon ended up giving up 504 yards and allowed 4 of 4 fourth down conversions. They had to play the starters the entire game. In the video above, you can see jersey numbers 1, 31, 44, 21, 52, 4, 99, 50, etc. That is the Ducks’ first team goal line defense.

The Quackers will meet Texa$ Tech in the Orange Bowl.

OTHER STUFF

GASPARILLA BOWL: NC State 31 Memphis 7 – The Wolfpack had explosive play after explosive play in this shellacking.

FRISCO BOWL: Arkansas State 34 Missouri State 28 – ASU barely avoided a monumental meltdown. After trailing 31-7, Mizz State stormed back with three 4th quarter touchdowns. However, the Bears also had a fumble and muffed a punt in that span as well. On Arky Lite’s final four possessions, they netted -19 yards but hung on for the win.

The victory preserves a winning season for Butch Jones’s Red Wolves (7-6). It is only his second winning record in five seasons at ASU, but second in a row (8-5 last season) and third straight bowl appearance.

CURE BOWL: Old Dominion 24 South Florida 10 – With starting quarterbacks for both teams punking out on their teammates, the quarterback play was pretty awful. Two Bulls QBs and their punter combines to throw four interceptions. The ODU QB was a lousy 11 of 25 for only 127 yards with no scores. The difference was that the Monarchs’ field general ran 107 yards and scored twice. Additionally, two of Old Dom’s running backs combined to add another 156 on the ground.

MOBILE BOWL: Delaceyunderware 20 La-Laffy 13 – The Fightin’ Blue Hens finish 7-6 in their first year of FBS play with the bowl win in “The Azalea City”.

CHOKELAHOMA

No poll needed this time, y’all. That is a miss. I blame the Daisy Dukes this snowflake wears.

BEST FAKE PUNT OF THE WEEK

DUMBEST FAKE PUNT OF THE WEEK (TIE)

Texa$ Tech must be licking their chops.

WORST FAKE FIELD GOAL OF THE WEEK

DUMBEST TRICK PLAY OF THE WEEK

On your own 12 yard line???

DUMBEST REVIEW OF THE WEEK

The officials in this game spent a ridiculously long time reviewing what should have been an open-and-close decision.

FAUX PAS OF THE WEEK

New Wazzu coach Kirby Moore was reading his speech and still got it wrong.

PRACTICE GETTING SACKED

Nobody can say John Mateer was not prepared for the Alabama game.

SABAN TREE BRANCH OF THE WEEK (NSFW!)

VOICE OF REASON

VOICE OF CLICK-BAIT TROLLS

Stewpid Mandel.

MARK INGRAM IS BACK!

TIP DRILL OF THE WEEK

BACKFIRE OF THE WEEK

ICYMI: Rapper 50 Cent performed a surprise live performance of his hit “Many Men (Wish Death)” during the fourth quarter of the Alabama-Oklahoma CFP game. Little did the Okies know, this was basically the theme song of the 2025 Crimson Tide.

Even Ty Simpson, who says Morgan Wallen, Riley Green, and Luke Combs are part of his pre-game ritual playlist, was getting juiced up on this performance. Thanks, Okie!

RESUSCITATED MEME OF THE WEEK

Of note, the Wake Forest DC in the infamous 2014 Frank Beamer 0-0 meme was… now A&M head coach Mike Elko.

STOP TRYING TO BE ZABIEN BR… OH, WAIT. YOU ARE ZABIEN BROWN!

IT’S OKAY TO TRY TO BE PROTHRO WHEN IT WORKS

IT’S OKAY TO TRY TO BE NAJEE WHEN IT WORKS

DERP OF THE WEEK

What the bleep happened here?

“IS THIS WHAT WE WANT COLLEGE FOOTBALL TO BECOME?” OF THE WEEK

Sadly, this is what it has become.

THEY ARE JUST BOOING WHAT WE ARE ALL THINKING

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO…

MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT OF THE WEEK

Bro. Never get pancaked by a quarterback.

BLOWN COVERAGE OF THE WEEK

What was that JMU defensive back doing? Covering the flats? Blitzing? Fake blitzing? Covering Manti Teo’s girlfriend? Whatever he was doing, he left the other guy covering two receivers.

DON’T LET THIS MAN AROUND CHILDREN

…OR ADULTS

I am going to go out on a limb here to say that Michael Irvin is certifiably nuts.

I’D LIKE TO REPORT A MURDER

I’D LIKE TO REPORT A MURDER ASSAULT

CLASS ACT OF THE WEEK

GOOD BOY OF THE WEEK

PREGAME OF THE WEEK

You have to give Okie credit. They had a pretty good pre-game.

DOINK OF THE WEEK

OLD COOT OF THE WEEK

Max Johnson will be 25 years old by the beginning of next season. He is looking to transfer to his fourth team for 2026.

The NCAA really needs to crack down on medical redshirts. Have the player supply a signed affidavit from a legitimate doctor that says the player was physically unable to perform between Labor Day and the end of the season due to injury with a penalty for lying being medical license revocation.

NAME OF THE WEEK

His real name is Dwayne, but the story goes that when he was a toddler, his grandfather was eating some chicken wings. Without grandpa seeing, li’l Dwayne grabbed a wing and finished it by the time grandpa turned back around. Because he took grandpa’s lunch, they started calling him “Lunch” and it stuck.

MONEY BURNERS OF THE WEEK

LSU is idiotically paying Lane Kiffin $250,000 for Ole Miss’s first round CFP victory. That is the amount he would have made had he stayed in Oxford.

NICK SABAN LEGACY

AMONG THE FINAL 8:

• Alabama – The program he built.
• Indiana – Curt Cignetti, WR coach 2007–2011
• Oregon – Dan Lanning, GA 2015
• Miami-FL – Mario Cristobal, OL coach 2013–2016
• Georgia – Kirby Smart, DB coach 2007, DC 2008–2015
• Ole Miss – Lane Kiffin, OC 2014–2016; Pete Golding DC 2018–2022

STATS OF THE WEEK

• Mizz State QB Jacob Clark had 349 passing yards, 4 TDs and 0 turnovers in his final college game.
• Ever since Conor Talty was booed in Eastern Illinois game, he has gone 4-4 on FGs and 8-8 on PATs.
• Only two times in 30 instances has a team blown a lead of 17 points in the College Football Playoff. Both were Sooners squads. Of course there was Friday’s defeat to Alabama. The other was the 2017-2018 Rose Bowl loss to Georgia. In that game, Okie was up 31-14 in the 2nd quarter and would lose to the Dwags in double overtime. [I can’t quite recall what happened to that UGA team after that. Can someone remind me?]

THE WACKY WORLD OF CORSO MEATHEADS

ESPN is going all-in on the meatheads bros. And they got what they deserved. They deleted the above Tweet that proudly proclaimed that “Sooners legend Brian Bosworth” and “Aggies legend Johnny Manziel” would be the guest pickers. But there was a snag.

A funny thing happened on the way to Kyle Field. For the Saturday portion, Johnny Manziel was a no-show for College GameDay. Big surprise coming from a Peter Pan loser, huh? ESPN had to scramble to find a replacement and got stuck with one of the lamest guest pickers ever with some JAG NBA bench player named Alex Caruso who TAMU staffers tracked down. KARMA ON YOU, ESPN!

For the Bama-Okie GameDay on Friday, Nick Saban was the only picker to roll with the Tide.

Pat McAfee had nothing interesting to say for the 40th week in a row.

ADOPT-A-TEAM

MYRTLE BEACH BOWL: Western Michigan 41 Kennesaw 6 – The Broncos put a total beat down on the Owls. The very first play from scrimmage set the tone for the day with a WMU running back going 65 yards for a touchdown. A scoop-and-score on KSU’s first series suddenly made it 14-0 Broncs and the rout was on.

Coach Lance Taylor secured the first double-digit win season for WMU since P. J. Fleck was in charge in 2016.

• Southern Miss (7-5) – The Golden Eagles face WKU Tuesday night in the New Orleans Bowl.
• Georgia Tech (9-3) – The Yeller Jackets meet BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec 27.

COUSINS

Jacksonville State 17 Troy 13 – The Trojans (8-6) led 13-7 at the break, but threw two interceptions in the second half and were unable to score in the final 30 minutes. The Gamecocks (9-5) converted 8 of 17 third downs and held Troy to 2 of 12.

TAKE BACK THE MED SCHOOL

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

• Army (6-6) faces UConn in the Fenway Bowl on Dec 27.
• Navy (9-2) will take on Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl, Jan 2.

ELIMINATED FROM CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENTION

Eliminated: Washington State, Oregon State, Boston College, Cal, Clemson, FSU, Georgia Tech, Louisville, UNC, NC State, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Pitt, Arizona State, Arizona, Baylor, Center Florida, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, West Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Sparty, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Southern Cal, UCLA, Washington, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Miss State, Mizz, South Carolina, Tennessee, Tejas, BYU, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Duke, Utah, NOTRE DAME!!!!, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, JMU, Tulane

Still Alive: Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Texa$ Tech, Oregon, Ole Miss, Alabama, Miami-FL

A way WAY WAY too early look at the College Football Playoff (CFP) picture

INDIES

• Miami-FL and TAMU > Notre Dame. The CFP game between the Aggies and ‘Canes did not do the South Bend crybabies any good. The two teams that the Crying Irish lost to in 2025 were on full display for the trash teams that they are.

PARTICIPATION TROPHY

Was it fun? Neither one of these teams should have been ranked and should not be in the end. But the AP is full of a bunch of whiny excuse-makers who will likely put them in their Top 25.

• Tulane (11-3)
• James Madison (12-2)

RANK ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM

Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1987:

1. “Walk Like An Egyptian” The Bangles
2. “Alone” Heart
3. “Shake You Down” Gregory Abbott – ???
4. “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” Whitney Houston
5. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” Starship
6. “C’est La Vie” Robbie Nevil
7. “Here I Go Again” Whitesnake
8. “The Way It Is” Bruce Hornsby and the Range
9. “Shakedown” Bob Seger
10. “Livin’ on a Prayer” Bon Jovi

LET’S GO BOWLING!

• SEC – The SEC is 2-2 in bowl season so far. One loss was guaranteed with Bama facing Okie. There will be another guaranteed defeat with Ole Miss going up against Georgia next week.
• Big Ten – The B1G has two wins so far with both victors being former PAC-12 teams (Ore, UW), and both faced non-Power teams (JMU, Boise).
• Big 12 – 0-0
• ACC – NCSU and Mia make the conference look good… for now.
• AAC 0-3
• C-USA 2-2
• Sun Belt 2-3
• MAC 1-0
• PAC 0-0
• MWC 0-1

LET’S GO BLOWING!

• Tulane, Memphis and USF lost by a collective score of 96-27. The average score was 32-9.

Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week goes to Beau Pribula. Quitting really becomes a habit for some guys. Mizzou’s starting quarterback from this season is again on the move. He famously left Penn State last December as the back-up as the Brittany Lions were headed into the 2024 CFP. Most people like myself defended the move because of the stupid Transfer Portal calendar. There is no excuse this time. He is just a spoiled little baby who does not want to compete and work hard to get better.

HEISMAN HYPE

It was mere seconds after the name “Mendoza” was uttered in New York City that the names of 2026 candidates were floated out into the public.

• Ohio State QB Julian Sayin is not good enough to go pro just yet, so he’ll be back on another ranked team. However, it won’t be so easy on the Buckys next year with the likes of @Texas, @Indiana, @Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, @Southern Cal on the docket.
• If he is granted an extra year of college eligibility, Ole Miss or LSU QB Trinidad Chambliss will probably be a name we hear. He came from D-II and the hype monsters love a good story.
• If he returns to Eugene instead of going pro, Oregon QB Dante Moore will get some attention.
• Notre Dame QB CJ Carr will get some legacy sports media love because he plays for Notre Dame.
• Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed will need to show some improvement.
• Three true sophomores will battle it out for the designated non-quarterback slot: Mizzou RB Ahmad Hardy, anOSU WR Jeremiah Smith, and underrated OM running back Kewan Lacy.

QUIT REPORT

• Southern Cal will be without both of their top receivers, Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, for the Alamo Bowl.

NOT QUITTING REPORT

• SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings said last Thursday that he plans to return to the Mustangs for his final year of eligibility.

PORTALLING

• Add QB Ashton Daniels and starting strongside corner CB Kayin Lee to the list of players that want out of Lee County. Fellow starting cornerback Jay Crawford announced last week that he intended to enter the TP. If you have a friend who is an Auburn fan, check in on that poor person every now and then. And hide all the butter knives.
• A bit of a surprise and a real gut-punch for TCU fans is hearing that three-year starting QB Josh Hoover intends to enter the transfer portal. He trails only Trevone Boykin and Andy Dalton in most school career records. Had he stay, he would have likely passed them in every category with somewhat ease. 2026 will be Hoover’s final season of eligibility.
• The least surprising move of the weekend is the announcement that Iowa State QB Rocco Becht will enter the portal. He spent three seasons as ISU’s starter, where he logged over 9,700 total yards and 83 TDs. The real shocker would be if he is not reunited with Matt Campbell at Penn State.

NOTABLE NFL DECLARATIONS

• Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love
• Southern Cal recevier Makai Lemon (1,156 yds, 11 TD) and Ja’Kobi Lane (745, 4)
• Tennessee WR Chris Brazzell (1,017 yds, 9 TD)
• Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy (4 INT)
• Texas LB Anthony Hill
• Nebraska RB Emmett Johnson (1,451 yds, 12 rush TD, 3 rec TD)
• Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson (711 yds, 8 TD)
• Clemson second leading receiver Antonio Williams (55, 64, 4)
• Clemson DT Peter Woods (Alabama native) #LifeChoices
• Auburn EDGE Keldric Faulk (disappointing junior campaign)
• South Carolina S Jalon Kilgore (second-team All-SEC)

DRAMARAMA

Former Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore gets a respite from the headlines for a little while after news broke about THE Ohio University coach Brian Smith’s firing with cause, despite an 8-4 record in his only season with the Bobcats. Smith is accused of having romantic relationships, including one he admitted to with a student, as well as an allegation of public intoxication. But there are some big problems with OU’s claims.

In the termination letter, the OU president states that Smith “carried on an affair” while at the Ohio University Inn, where he was seen by athletes’ families, donors and others connected to the university and that the university was aware of a public appearance where Smith “smelled strongly of alcohol” and was “intoxicated in your demeanor.”

The first problem with the university’s case is that Smith and his wife “separated earlier this year, were going through a divorce and were living apart during the fall.” Therefore, he was staying at the Ohio University Inn. It would seem that some of these pearl-clutching observers were not aware of this fact and assumed he was using the inn as some kind of “love hotel” to cheat on his wife and then went running to the AD and president to squeal.

Smith was seen with the student and later a “41-year old woman” at various times. However gross it seems, the university has no policy or language in Smith’s contract against him dating a student or a anyone else. Smith’s attorney retorted that his client and the student dated for about four months until early November, and that the student was not part of the athletic department – unlike a certain Captain Pervert to the north. Smith says he ended the relationship once he learned she was a student. [It seems like that might have come up a little sooner, but here again, prove he did something wrong.]

In regards to the drinking, saying he smelled like alcohol is not exactly concrete evidence of anything. It’s hearsay at best. Additionally, he was seen drinking at a university function that was serving alcohol! The lawyer added that Ohio University serves and encourages alcohol usage at other university-sponsored events and cited examples of faculty and staff drinking in their offices and other campus facilities. Ironically, the booze he had in his office was a bottle given to him by the AD. The whole thing seems pretty shady. OU has a slim chance of not having to pay him his full $2.5 million in remaining salary, and he might have a good case for defamation of character after the school painted him as a philandering drunk.

In his one season as head coach, Smith was 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the MAC.

SCHEDULING

The ACC says 12 teams will play nine conference games next year, and five teams will play eight ACC games, due to “contractual obligations and scheduling balance”. Those five and their OOC games of note:

• Boston College – at Cincinnati, Rutgers, at Notre Dame
• Clemson – at LSU, South Carolina
• FSU – at Alabama, Florida
• Georgia Tech – Colorado, Tennessee, at Georgia
• UNC – TCU (in Dublin, Ireland), Notre Dame

The tiebreakers for the 2026 ACCCG are going to be NUTS.

In 2027, the ACC will have 16 teams play nine ACC games and one play eight, due to the math of a 17-team league.

This is a good time remind everyone of Indiana’s 2026 OOC foes: North Texas, Howard, WKU.

BIG TEN SYCOPHANT OF THE WEEK

I wouldn’t give the B1G too much credit, Adam. The conference started playing a 9-game conference football schedule for all teams in 2016. That year, Penn State won the conference crown. From 2017 through 2023 – the last year before the PAC 4 expansion/poaching – either Michigan or anOhio State won the Big Ten. It’s a Top Heavy conference. Nine B1G games or eight games and a non-Power in that time span are mostly equal.

KOACHES KORNER

For the record, that was 14 coaches to LSU and three to Ole Miss. Frank Wilson was LSU interim coach and a favorite among the team. He will now serve as the Rebs’ running backs coach.

• Coaching Carousel:
  • Arkansas > Ryan Silverfield
  • Auburn > Alex Golesh
  • Cal > Tosh Lupoi
  • Coastal Carolina > Ryan Beard
  • Colorado State > Jim Mora, The Younger
  • Florida > Jon Sumrall
  • JMU > Billy Napier
  • K-State > Collin Klein
  • Kent State > Mark Carney
  • Kentucky > Will Stein
  • LSU > Lane Kiffin
  • Memphis > Charles Huff
  • Michigan – OPEN
  • Michigan State > Pat Fitzgerald
  • Missouri State – Casey Woods
  • North Texas > Neal Brown
  • Ohio – NEW
  • Oklahoma State > Eric Morris
  • Ole Miss > Pete Golding
  • Oregon State > JaMarcus Shephard
  • Penn State > Matt Campbell
  • South Florida > Brian Hartline
  • Southern Miss > Blake Anderson
  • Stanford > Tavita Pritchard
  • Toledo > Mike Jacobs
  • Tulane > Will Hall
  • UAB > Alex Mortensen
  • UCLA > Bob Chesney
  • UConn > Jason Candle
  • Utah > Morgan Scalley
  • Virginia Tech > James Franklin
  • Washington State > Jimmy Rogers

• Chip Lindsey has left Michigan for Missouri’s offensive coordinator job. The University of Alabama graduate and former Troy head coach (2019-2021) spent one season in Ann Arbor.
• Kenny Dillingham has signed a new 5-year contract at Arizona State, which will average $7.5 million over the course of the deal. The staff salary pool is up to $11 million, which puts it near the top of the Big 12.
• Many folks believed that Washington coach Jedd Fisch was the top target at Michigan. Rumor has it that something in his background check scared UM off. After the Captain Pervert escapades, the next Wolverines coach will need to be a choir boy.
• Will Muschamp has added another line to his phone book-thick resume. Following two years as a Georgia defensive analyst, he will become Texas’s new defensive coordinator. He makes a return to Austin where he was the Longhorns DC under Mack Brown from 2008–2010.
• After an extended suspension, Ohio officially fired Brian Smith with cause for engaging “in serious professional misconduct and participating in activities that reflect unfavorably on the University.”
• Missouri State made SMU OC Casey Woods the next head coach. He has worked as OC on SMU’s playoff team that helped develop QB Kevin Jennings and also spent time at Auburn, UAB, and Missouri.
• Indiana has finalized a new three-year contract with offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan (no relation to the Mike and Kyle Shanahan of the NFL).
• Urban Meyer got in a fight with his wife. She exclaimed “You’ll never find someone like me.” Urbie responded “Lawd, I hope not!”
• It is impossible for Fat F*** Phil Fulmer to go skinny-dipping.

TEEVEE

Monday, December 22

POTATO BOWL: Washington State vs Utah State 1pm/2pm ESPN

Tuesday, December 23

BOCA RATON BOWL: Toledo vs Louisville 1pm/2pm ESPN
NEW ORLEANS BOWL: Western Kentucky vs Southern Miss 4:30/5:30 ESPN
FRISCO BOWL: UNLV vs Ohio 8pm/9pm ESPN

Wednesday, December 24 – Merry Christmas Eve!

HAWAII BOWL: Cal at Hawaii 7pm/8pm ESPN

Friday, December 26 – Happy Boxing Day!

DETROIT BOWL: Central Michigan vs Northwestern noon/1pm ESPN
PHOENIX BOWL: New Mexico vs Minnesota 3:30/4:30 ESPN
FIRST RESPONDER BOWL: FIU vs UTSA 7pm/8pm ESPN

Saturday, December 27

MILITARY BOWL: Pitt vs East Carolina 10am/11am ESPN
PINSTRIPE BOWL: Penn State vs Clemson 11am/noon ABC
FENWAY BOWL: UConn vs Army 1:15/2:15 ESPN
POP-TARTS BOWL: Georgia Tech vs BYU 2:30/3:30 ABC
ARIZONA BOWL: Miami (OH) vs Fresno 3:30/4:30 The CW – Snoop Dogg
NEW MEXICO BOWL: North Texas bSan Diego Maradona State 4:45/5:45 ESPN
GATOR BOWL: Virginia vs Missouri 6:30/7:30 ABC
TEXAS BOWL: LSU vs Houston 8:15/9:15 ESPN

Monday, December 29 – Happy Return Crap to Amazon Day!

BIRMINGHAM BOWL: Georgia Southern vs App State 1pm/2pm ESPN – The bowl Aubie declined.

Tuesday, December 30

INDEPENDENCE BOWL: Coastal Carolina vs Louisiana Tech 1pm/2pm ESPN
MUSIC CITY BOWL: Tennessee vs Illinois 4:30/5:30 ESPN
ALAMO BOWL: Southern Cal vs TCU 8pm/9pm ESPN

Wednesday, December 31

CFP COTTON BOWL: 10 Miami-FL vs 2 Ohio State 6:30/7:30 ESPN

Thursday, January 1 – Happy New Year!

CFP ORANGE BOWL: 5 Oregon vs 4 Texa$ Tech 11am/noon ESPN
CFP SUGAR BOWL: 6 Ole Miss vs 3 Georgia 7pm/8pm ESPN

#ALABAMA

• Wow, what a difference having a healthy Josh Cuevas back on the field. The unsung hero of this season only had four catches for 43 yards, but having him as a trusty outlet for Ty Simpson was huge. It feels like his presence was the one thing missing from the passing game the last couple of weeks.
• Alabama got out of the Oklahoma game pretty cleanly health-wise. Tim Keenan and Red Morgan both needed help off the field from trainers and entered the sideline medical tent on Friday. Though, there is nothing significant to report. Both returned to the game.
• The trio of LT Kadyn Proctor, RG Wilkin Formby, and center Parker Brailsford all played every offensive snap (55). True freshman Michael Carroll was in on 50 plays with Jaeden Roberts spelling him for five offensive snaps. Geno VanDeMark (30 snaps) and Kam Dewberry (25) shared time at left guard.
• Game MVP Lotzeir Brooks made the most of his 24 snaps.
• True freshman Ivan Taylor did as well, making a solo tackle and an assist on just two first-team defensive reps.
• Four Tide players logged double-digit snaps at the Wolf linebacker: Yhonzae Pierre (45 snaps), Qua Russaw (24), Noah Carter (12) and Justin Hill (11).
• Domani Jackson saw extensive playing time (46 snaps, his third-most of the season) on defense and was in on several plays, though the stats sheets won’t show it (3 solos, 2 assists). True frosh Dijon Lee played 39.
• Has Keon Keeley finally arrived? With LT Overton out once again with his mystery illness, he and Jordan Renaud filled in. Keeley played 35 snaps and recorded 2 pressures (1 hit, 1 sack), had 2 solos, four assists, and broke up a pass.
• A familiar face is expected to replace JaMarcus Shephard as Alabama WR coach in former Auburn OC Derrick Nix. The Attalla, Alabama native has spent the last two years at Auburn as OC after 16 seasons as an assistant coach at Ole Miss under four different head coaches (Nutt, Freeze, Luke, LFK). He is a solid recruiter. You may recall that Shephard is heading to Oregon State as the new head coach.
• The following Tide players have accepted invitations to participate in the Senior Bowl in Mobile: WR Germie Bernard, LB Justin Jefferson, DL Tim Keenan, RB Jam Miller, TE Josh Cuevas, and LB Deontae Lawson.
• Several freshmen early enrollees are expected to arrive at the Capstone this week. They are all eligible to practice with the team ahead of the game against Indiana, but they cannot play until next fall. Among them is QB Jett Thomalla, who at 6-4 / 220 will most likely mimic Fernando Mendoza, 6-5 / 225.

• Former Tide QB AJ McCarron has ended his odd bid for lieutenant governor in the state of Alabama to become head coach of the UFL Birmingham Stallions. Much more qualified Secretary of State Wes Allen was a walk-on wide receiver for the Crimson Tide (Gene Stallings and Mike DuBose years). He has served as a probate judge and was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives before being elected SoS. Kay Ivey is an Aubie. Will Ainsworth is an Aubie. Tommy Tuberville coached Aubie and trolled Tide fans. It’s embarrassing having so many of those booger-eaters in charge. We need more Capstone graduates running the state. Y’all vote for Allen please. #NoMoreAubies

• Oklahoma State transfer TE Josh Ford has signed with Alabama. A new rule was enacted in October in regards to when a coach leaves or is fired: Players now get a 15-day window to enter the portal, but it only opens five days after the new coach is hired. This move was made to help crack down on mid-season quits. However since Okie Lite fired Mike Gundy so early in the season, it had an opposite effect. The Stillwater, OK native Ford played in all 12 games as a true freshman in 2024. Gundy was canned after the third game of the 2025 season. Ford played in the next game – his fourth of the season – and then decided to sit out to preserve his redshirt. This fall, he caught a 14 yard pass at Oregon, a 5-yarder versus Tulsa, and a 26 yard touchdown versus Baylor. He will have three years of eligibility remaining.

REMEMBER THE ROSE BOWL!

College Football Playoff Quarterfinal: Thursday, January 1, 2026

Alabama Crimson Tide (11-3) vs Indiana Hoosiers (13-0)

Pasadena, CA ~ 3pm/4pm ESPN

• History: It was 100 years ago that Alabama made the first statement about Crimson Tide AND southern football in general. To that point, most fans and journalists turned up their noses at the south’s emergence in the sport. The 1925 Tide team changed college football history with an upset of undefeated top ranked Washington in the Rose Bowl to claim their first Alabama National Championship. This moment is from whence the lyric of “Remember the Rose Bowl, we’ll win then” in Yea, Alabama was derived.
• Editorial: It’s another due or die situation for the Tide. This time, the foe is a substantially better team on both sides of the ball.
• Indy Coach: Curt Cignetti took an unusual career path to get to the top of FBS. He had several assistant jobs to begin his vocation. None were more important than the 2007–2011 span he spent coaching Alabama receivers. From there, he took an unusual strategy of head coaching D-II IUP. After six seasons there, he led Elon to two postseasons in two years, and then went 52–9 with James Madison as they transitioned to FBS. Now in his second season with Indy, he has gone 24–2 and 17-1 in the B1G. The 64 year old is famous for saying “I win. Google me.” At 143–37 and 79.4% win percentage, it is true but the guy he will be coaching against does to (124–19, .932).
• Indy 2025: The Hoosiers are the last remaining undefeated team at 13–0 (9–0 Big Ten). Indy has made the controversial decision to schedule nothing but cupcakes (Old Dominion, Kennesaw, Indiana State) outside of conference play, and it appears to have worked so far. Their first three B1G games of Illinois, @Iowa, and @Oregon were a tough run, but that was followed by a ridiculously sad slate of Michigan State, UCLA, @Maryland, @Penn State, Wisconsin, and @Purdue – none of whom ended up with a winning season. The crowning achievement was a 13-10 snoozefest against anOhio State. The Hoosiers are a good team, but how good are they really?
• Series: Indiana is one of the very few Power teams that Alabama has never faced in football.
• Weather: It’s a pretty long way off, but forecast calls for a high of 67° and partly cloudy skies in the Los Angeles suburb.
• TV Announcers: TBA
• Radio: Chris Stewart, Tyler Watts, Corey Reamer on Alabama Radio.
• Vegas: The FanDuel opening point spread has Alabama as a 6.5 point underdog. Over/Under is 48.5.