thependulumswings

We listened.  We learned.  You want your nuggets and you want them on Monday.

It’s only four days till Christmas.  Get some exercise after this helping or you’ll feel like a stuffed turkey all week.

1.  The final CFP rankings are in and let the debate begin, er, continue.  It’s easy to get the no-doubters out of the way.  Alabama is the best team in the US and the second isn’t too close.  Clemson avenged an earlier loss to Notre Dame by walloping the fighting Irish by 24 Saturday to claim the second spot.
2. But the fun/controversy starts from there.  Does Notre Dame belong as the fourth seed after the walloping?  Yes says the selection committee chairman.  CFP chairman Gary Barta explained the decision to include the Irish over No. 5 Texas A&M, saying it was “based on the complete analysis of the résumé” and the Irish had an additional win over a ranked team.
3. And, more than a few “experts” and pundits aren’t sure that #3 THE Ohio St. even belongs.  The Buckeyes played in only six games as three were squashed by a bug as opposed to the other way around.  Aggie Coach Jimbo Fisher, he of the left out fifth rated A&M team, is amongst the dissenters.  Fisher had taken aim at Ohio State’s schedule following the Aggies’ win over Tennessee on Saturday.   “Seven straight SEC wins,” Fisher said. “Some schools ain’t even playing seven games.”  We thought “ain’t” ain’t a word, but we digress.  Fisher and his $75 can talk the talk, but they head to the Orange Bowl as a consolation prize none the less.
4. So in the end, THE passed the eye test with fewer letters(games) on that wonky triangular chart. Close one eye and read all of line four, please.  They travel to the Sugar Bowl as 6.5 point dogs to Clemson.  It’s a rematch of last year’s 2 v 3 that Clemson won.
5. Alabama heads to the Rose Bowl in Arlington, TX to begin its coronation as a big 17.5 point favorite over ND.  Wait, isn’t the Rose Bowl played in Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA?  Yep, it normally (read as always) is.  However, this is the year of, well, you know.  The game was moved from Pasadena, California, to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, because of the growing number of COVID-19 cases in Southern California, along with the inability for players’ and coaches’ families to attend because of state restrictions during the pandemic.
6. BBR reached out to Cali Governor Gavin Newsome, who declined the Rose Bowl’s request for an exemption to the state’s tough stance, for comment.  We were told that he was dining at the French Laundry Restaurant all the while trying to convince Elon Musk to keep Tesla in Cali and not move it to Texas as well.   Tough times.  Newsome, facing a recall, could use some LL Cool J right about now.  The petition has 844k signatures and needs 1.5 million by March to force a vote.  We wonder if people can mail in their signature on the recall vote during these unprecedented times, but we digress once more.
7.  Unlike the Lexus December to Remember yearly jingle, this bowl season might be one to forget.  There will be only 29 bowl games in all, down from 45 a year ago.  Sixteen were canceled.  Twenty-one teams opted out.  You need not have a winning record to play.   Army had a nine-win season and they were left out.  The SEC has 12 teams playing, six with a losing record.  The PAC-12 has two.
8. In the NFL Antonio Brown caught his first TD pass since September 2019 as Tampa Bay completed a comeback from a 17-0 hole against Atlanta.  It was the second-biggest comeback ever for the Tampa Bay franchise.  For Atlanta, it was yet another come from ahead defeat.  The latest is the second time Tom Brady turned the trick.  Remember Atlanta leading New England 28-3 in Super Bowl LI?  Atlanta made NFL history earlier this season as the first team to lose twice in one season while holding a 15-point-plus lead in the fourth quarter. The Falcons have blown leads of more than 10 points seven times since 2015!
9. Rookie Jalen Hurts made a strong case that he should continue as the Philadelphia Eagles’ starter, tossing three touchdowns and running for another in a wild 33-26 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Hurts has pumped life into the Philly team in two weeks.  Whining Carson Wentz weighed in.   Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Wentz is not pleased with the way things have unfolded in the organization and wants to move on from the Eagles if the current situation continues.  Wentz went there.
10. There is NO QB controversy in Kansas City.  If you caught any of the KC 32-29 win over New Orleans yesterday, you saw “the best quarterback in all of the land.”  Mahomes can do it all.   He buys time and sucks defenders to him only to pass over, around, behind, and backward like no other.  He’s the highest-paid QB for a reason.  It’s because he’s the best QB in the NFL.  If you were starting an NFL team from scratch and could pick anyone at all to lead it, Mahomes would be your man.  Meanwhile, Drew Brees has some rust to shake off if New Orleans has any hope of seeing the Chiefs seven weeks from now in Tampa for Super Bowl LV.

It’s a short week.  Today is hump day.