By Daniel Winningham
Starting Friday, Dec. 17, what is dubbed as “a celebration of college football” is set to begin. So says bowlseason.com. Yes, it is bowl season, and over the course of 19 days there are 43 bowl games. The only days without a college bowl game are Sunday, Dec. 19 and Sunday and Monday, Jan. 2-3. (The NFL owns Sunday, so I’m guessing the television networks don’t want to compete with the professionals those three days.)
I’m sure a trip to Florida, Texas or California is great for alumni of schools in the Upper Midwest. Is that even a question? Spend the holidays in the cold, or go cheer on the football team in the South at the YouNameTheSponsorBowl.com.
Thirty-seven of the games are televised on either ESPN or ESPN2. The good news…if one has ESPN, there is almost guaranteed to be a college football game on during the holiday. Tuesday, Dec. 28, at 10:15 p.m. will be a great opportunity to catch the Guaranteed Rate Bowl (between Minnesota and West Virginia) live from Phoenix, Ariz.
Can there be too much of a good thing? The answer to this is a resounding “Yes!”
I suppose I’m too much of a traditionalist. High school football on Friday nights, college football on Saturdays, then NFL on Sundays sounds realistic for much of the year, right? The only games that truly matter are the playoff semifinal games (both Friday, Dec. 31) and possibly a few of the contests held on New Year’s Day.
I had the privilege of attending the Missouri football team’s home opener this season (thanks to tickets from the Missouri Press Association) with my son, Dominic. It was a fun time, even though we arrived late. More than 46,000 were in attendance at Faurot Field and it got the 2021 season started on a positive note. Missouri defeated the Central Michigan University Chippewas by 10. In Southeastern Conference games, the Tigers wound up losing five of eight. Their reward for winning six games overall and becoming a “bowl eligible” squad? A trip to Fort Worth, Texas. Missouri football is taking on Army in the Armed Forces Bowl Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 7 p.m. It is the same day as the annual Braggin’ Rights game in St. Louis between Missouri’s men’s basketball team against the University of Illinois. (I didn’t see the highlights but read that Missouri recently lost by 37 to Kansas, so perhaps it’s a down year for the hoops squad?)
Missouri’s Labor Day weekend opponent, Central Michigan, faces Boise State in the Arizona Bowl on New Year’s Eve. More than 80 teams are headed to a bowl game. The real winners, to me, the squads that are fortunate enough to get selected to play in the Bahamas Bowl or Hawaii Bowl. Who’s up for a mid-December trip to the Bahamas or a Christmas Eve visit to Hawaii?
I’m curious to see how Michigan State performs in the Peach Bowl, Notre Dame does in the Fiesta Bowl, how Ohio State fares in the Rose Bowl against Utah. However, since I don’t have ESPN I guess I’ll have to settle for listening to the games on the radio.
-Thanks for reading!
Daniel Winningham is the managing editor of the Republic-Monitor. He can be reached at 573-547-4567, ext. 227 or email editor@perryvillenews.com.
