Happy New Year! Here come the Big Bois.
Peach Bowl
Noon, ESPN
Georgia v. Cincinnati
A good matchup on paper (Cincy 7th and Georgia 8th). Georgia was somewhat unimpressive until they switched to J.T. Daniels at quarterback and seemed to get right on offense. Cincy brings a balanced offense and strong defense which should provide a good test for the new QB. Biggest question is whether Cincy, passed over for the playoffs, will really want to be there. How motivated can they be?
Citrus Bowl
1 pm, ABC
Northwestern v. Auburn
Another good matchup on paper, albeit between worse teams, as NW clocks in at 28 and Auburn 311 on F+. All Northwestern games are more or less the same thing - they will try to play really sound defense, keep the score really low, and hope to pull out enough points to win the game in the end. So it will be today - Auburn can score a few points, though they make enough of their own mistakes that it would be surprising if they score at will. Rock fight engage.
Not the Rose Bowl
4 pm, ESPN
Alabama v. Notre Dame
Here comes the big bois. Though this is a bit of a mismatch on paper, with Alabama coming in at a healthy #1 while ND is all the way back at 9. The Irish are well coached defensively and can run the ball and have an experienced quarterback. You can see a world where they run clock and make just enough stops or turnovers to get a victory. Just not sure it's this world - Bama has been vulnerable to teams that can shoot it out with them, and that isn't Notre Dame.
Sugar Bowl
8 pm, ESPN
Clemson v. Ohio State
Well, here we go again. OSU hoping third time is the charm as they take on Clemson again in the playoffs. Clemson is rightfully favored, as they have the best quarterback in the land and OSU has, uh, not the best secondary in the land. Conversely, Justin Fields has suddenly looked mortal and Clemson has the best defense in the land. So I'm not expecting great things, though it feels like OSU is getting a bit more buried than they deserve. They have pretty good players and the only single digit win was a game where they were up 35-7.
