0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/22/2015
The 1981 college football season marked a very different time in the life of the sport. At this point in its evolution, college football was defined by defenses and by the old maxims about running the ball, playing defense, and being fundamentally sound in the kicking game. The poll-and-bowl system wasn’t all that close to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Roughly 90 years ago, the Alabama Crimson Tide established themselves as the signature program of the Southern United States. Today, a second straight appearance in the College Football playoff — following three BCS national championships and a full-fledged revival of the program under Nick Saban — has reaffirmed Alabama’s place as the South’s ultimate program… […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Think of the many long droughts which still exist in modern American sports. The Chicago Cubs’ World Series dry spell is number one. The Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions failing to make any of the first 50 Super Bowls would also rate highly on the list of parched-earth portraits. The city of Cleveland’s professional sports […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Sooner Magic — it’s what Oklahoma found in the 2001 Orange Bowl, and it’s what the Sooners will try to recapture when they face the Clemson Tigers in the 2015 Orange Bowl, which doubles as a College Football Playoff semifinal. The Orange Bowl is simultaneously the place of Oklahoma’s greatest triumphs and its most stinging […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/20/2015
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham had a lot to prove on Saturday. Had this game been suspended or called after one quarter, Whittingham would have looked pretty good. As it is, though, teams have to play four full quarters. Yes, Utah still defeated archrival Brigham Young in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl, but the way the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
One month into a college basketball season, a lot of teams and conferences will remain mysterious, as much of a puzzle as they were when the campaign began in the middle of November. To some extent, a college basketball season is supposed to be a study in uncertainty in the days before Christmas. This season […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/19/2015
On a Wednesday afternoon just before Christmas, many Americans will be working, either in offices or in preparation for their holiday feasts and celebrations. The Northern Illinois Huskies and Boise State Broncos will be working on a field in San Diego, thrown together in a battle of two of college football’s best little-guy strivers and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Given the strength of the American Athletic Conference in 2015, to the diminishment of the other four conferences in the Group of Five, it’s easy to think that the Temple Owls and the Toledo Rockets exist in different places as the Boca Raton Bowl approaches. The AAC dominated the Group of Five race this season. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/18/2015
It’s not Cape Canaveral, but Miami is the Florida city where launches of a different sort occur. A year ago, the first Miami Beach Bowl pitted BYU against Memphis. Bronco Mendenhall coached against Justin Fuente, in a wild game with a ridiculously entertaining overtime finish, marred by a messy and far-ranging brawl. Now, Mendenhall and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The New Mexico Bowl, played in Albuquerque, grew up in the time — and place — of Breaking Bad. This game regularly opens the bowl season. It is typically played in the middle of the day. The event usually pits a decent Mountain West team against a middle-of-the-road Pac-12 team. Schools from Conference USA (UTEP), […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/17/2015
Let’s set the buffet table, shall we? In a year when the NFL has never been less enjoyable to watch (that’s not fact, but it’s a widely-shared opinion), consider making this upcoming Saturday your big sports day and then using your Sunday as the errand day when you do all the Christmas shopping and take […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
A wonderful symmetry has existed over the past 10 years of the BYU-Utah football rivalry, discontinued in 2014 but happily renewed in Saturday’s upcoming Las Vegas Bowl: Both coaches took over their respective programs at the same time. Bronco Mendenhall — who will coach his final game for BYU before leaving for Virginia — gained […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/16/2015
So, this happened on Wednesday afternoon, although subsequent reports indicate the divorce is not yet final: Kevin Sumlin is trying to keep Kyler Murray in College Station, but the mere possibility that A&M could lose both Murray and Kyle Allen in a matter of days is rather remarkable… not in reference to the politics on […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Camellia Bowl, in its second season, is one of a number of bowls created by ESPN not for the tickets sold or the attendance generated, but for the television ratings and advertising dollars that come with it. As is the case with the Bahamas Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl, and a few other postseason contests […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
As Brigham Young University tries to nail down its next head coach, the football program with a national championship and a national schedule finds itself playing yet another bowl game before Christmas. Sure, the Saturday matchup with Utah is one of the most watchable and attractive bowls on the slate. Sure, the re-enactment of The […]
