The Great Debate

We harangued the lords of college football for many years.

Give us a playoff system, we pleaded. Let us have a real champion crowned in a championship game, we beseeched.

Well, be careful what you ask for. Those lords of college football can play a mean prank.

Here it is, New Year’s Eve. You’d like to take your best girl – or your wife, but certainly not both of them – out on the town. A little dining, a little dancing, a little Champagne at midnight. And if you do, you will miss one of the two semifinal playoffs.

Yeah, the lords of college football turned New Year’s Eve into a doubleheader in the second season of the College Football Playoffs. Grr.

Out of respect for your various relationships, we cannot urge you to watch one, both or either. It’s New Year’s Eve. Your old acquaintances might forget you if you hide in the corner at their party and try to sneak peeks at the TV. Same with those furtive glances at the smartphone. Thank you, lords of college football.

At 4 p.m., No. 1 Clemson and No. 4 Oklahoma meet in the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla. Clemson is unbeaten, but Oklahoma is favored. Go figure.

At 8 p.m., No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Michigan State go at it in Arlington, Texas. Bama is a heavy favorite.

The winners meet Jan. 11, a Monday night with (so far as we can tell) no other distractions.

Maybe you’ll watch and maybe you won’t. Maybe you can and maybe you can’t. The best parties, it seems, always have a huge video monitor tuned to the day’s (or night’s) premier sports event. That’s where the coolest people gather, right?

So make the party you’re going to one of the best. Demand the remote control and don’t let go. Check your local listings.

Happy New Year.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman