Florida State is in Miami for the Orange Bowl, and that has us hearing from the players on the topic of the Seminoles potentially claiming a national championship if they win. The answers? Ehh. Mostly yes, but not with that much conviction.
As always with nerdy stuff like this, I’m reminded by the players’ answers that they pay way less attention to nerdy stuff like this than nerdy people like us. They’ve clearly thought about it, but those of us who have the “SHOULD FLORIDA STATE CLAIM A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP” conversations would arrive to these media days with our stance definitively outlined. We’d address it in the opening statement. These guys are still considering the question.
The result of this—the result of these players being more focused on playing football—is that they’ve given some interesting answers. Most notably, the angle has surfaced where FSU could claim the title only if Alabama or Texas wins the College Football Playoff, leaving FSU as the only undefeated team standing (these guys definitely don’t know about Liberty). We didn’t think of that! We talked about this for weeks together and we didn’t think of the only–undefeated angle. We are insufficiently nerdy.
Anyway, I don’t think FSU should claim a national championship if they beat Georgia. I think nobody should claim a national championship in college football. Ever. Just keep saying, “Still got work to do.” “Haven’t earned it yet.” “Unfinished business.” That would be the football move.
Miller Moss and the Eggnog
So the Holiday Bowl was fun. Miller Moss became easy to hate, mostly by looking and playing like a USC quarterback should look and play (Caleb Williams, this is a good thing about you, you didn’t look like enough of a douchebag). USC started the “Is USC Back” narrative early. Then Lincoln Riley lived my dream, getting someone else to dump a whole tub of eggnog on top of him.
Other thoughts, on the eggnog:
- Credit to DirecTV and/or the Holiday Bowl for saying, “Wait, we can dump whatever we want on these coaches” instead of limiting themselves to a sponsor-based theme.
- The post-bowl silliness hasn’t yet jumped the shark. The eggnog was hardly hyped!
- Would be funny if they’d spiked it.
Pac-12 NIT Watch
USC, UCLA, and Oregon are all in the NIT mix tonight as Pac-12 play begins. Not a lot to add. That accomplishment alone speaks for itself. I wonder if Bronny James would defect to Oregon while in Eugene. The Nike money talks, folks.
Was Jaire Alexander Trying to Throw Sunday’s Game?
The Jaire Alexander suspension, as well as the Jaire Alexander coin toss-crashing which preceded it, is funny and maddening all around. Just so stupid. As good friend Derek (the guy who texted the group chat this morning to wish us all a happy Nathan Poole Day) put it: “The overall dumbness is concerning. When we aren’t sure who and what is dumb.” Everyone is dumb here. Welcome to the 2023 Green Bay Packers.
I like the theory most which holds that Alexander knew what he was doing and was trying to “accidentally” throw the game when he nearly made the Packers play defense to start both halves, with a Packers loss potentially costing the Bears the first overall pick (they own the Panthers’ first-rounder, for those not following). Obviously, this would be the dumbest thing of all. The Packers *want* the Bears to have the first overall pick. The greater the Bears’ access to talent, the more disastrous the fall. This is why the best Bears years, for those of us who laugh at the Bears, came when they actually had a pretty good quarterback in the form of Jay Cutler. But, the dumber the explanation, the funnier it is. Silly Jaire Alexander. (I hope he crashes the coin toss again when he’s back for Week 18. Would be funniest if he never learned his lesson.)
Today, Ontario. Tomorrow…
The Sens are now 2–1 against the Leafs on the season despite having an autumn so bad that they fired their coach and replaced him with one old man and one middle-aged man who’d never coached before. The Sens also came back from a 2–0 deficit to make the win happen. This was a Grade A Sens-ing, and I would like to take a moment to celebrate Ontario’s greatest hockey team. Next up? Well, the Devils, technically, but I would like the Sens to start conquering Quebec, as a nod to the Gatineau side of the river. Canadiens, get ready. The Sens are coming. Oh lawd. As the kids say.
In other hockey news, Newfoundland and Labrador (that’s one province, Canada is awesome) banned handshake lines because they were getting too violent, and there’s a hockey team named Torpedo in the KHL, over in Russia. We learned that last piece because they signed their 50-year-old goaltending coach, Nikolai Khabibulin, to a player contract for the rest of the season. Yes. Same Khabibulin.
