Quite a Saturday of college football. The Crimson Tide looked like a national championship team, though it was too late for that. Still, a good sign for their future.

No.3 TCU took an 18 point lead into the fourth quarter and held on in the final minutes to knock off No.2 Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl, 51-45. The Horned Frogs keep defying the odds. Georgia, behind the heroics of Stetson Bennett, came back from 14 down late in the game, and survived Ohio State, 42-41. You wouldn’t think Bennett played well listening to Kirby Smart talk about him after the game. Smart, being the tough taskmaster that he is, was pointing out that Bennett made too many mistakes. I know he wants his team to play a lot better next Monday Night versus the Horned Frogs, but at least give your quarterback, who won the game for you, a little credit. He’s hard on him. I’ve noticed some coaches, when they’re trying to repeat for anything, a national title in football basketball, a Super Bowl, any other championship, may be a little too hard on their team and it can cost them in the end. You gotta build your players up too, especially your quarterback. Bennett’s the reason Georgia won it all last season, along with a stellar defense, and certainly this season keeping the team undefeated at 14-0.

So, it’ll be the Cinderella Frogs versus the Goliath Bulldogs. Georgia is a 13 point favorite. Seems like a lot of points. I’m “working through issues” to figure this game out, and will have a complete preview and prediction next Monday morning, 1/9/23 around 10:30-11. I’m looking at more of a classic, but want to dig into this some more and have a definitive opinion next Monday. The game kicks off at 7:15 PM CT on ESPN at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Cali, just outside of LA. It’s a majestic masterpiece of a stadium. Should be fun to watch a game in that mausoleum. It’s like watching a game in Derrill Crowe’s house.

Here’s a look at today’s games.

Record, Straight Up, Bowls, 13-10, Overall, 169-70, 71%

ATS, 7-15, 120-115, 51%.

ReliaQuest Bowl

No. 22 Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Illinois (8-4)

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, 65, 890

11 AM CT

ESPN2

Dave Flemming, Rod Gilmore, Tiffany Blackmon

Refs, ACC, Adam Savoie

Miss State by 3

I like the Bullies to play hard for their deceased Coach, Mike Leach. Very tragic. The players honor their late coach by playing their hearts out for him and winning the ReliaQuest.

Mississippi State 21. Illinois 17

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

No. 16 Tulane (11-2) vs. No. 10 USC (11-2)

AT&T Stadium, Sugar Magnolia’s Place, Arlington, TX., 80,000

12 PM CT

ESPN

Mark Jones, RGIII, Quint Kessenich

Refs, SEC, Steve Marlowe

USC by 2 1/2

Give me my nephew and his Fightin Green Wave to upset the Trojans in a New Year’s Six classic.

Tulane 35, USC 34

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

No.17 LSU (9-4) vs. Purdue (8-4)

Camping World Stadium, Orlando, 65,438

12 PM CT

ABC

Bob Wischusen, Dan Orlovsky, Kris Budden

Laundry, Big 12, Kevin Mar

LSU by 15

I like LSU to kind of sleep walk through this one and for Purdue to be very competitive and keep it close with the Bengal Tigers holding on at the end for the victory.

LSU 31, Purdue 27

Rose Bowl

No. 11 Penn State (10-2) vs. No.8 Utah (10-3)

Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, CA. 92,542

4 PM CT

ESPN

Chris, Kirk, Holly

Refs, Big 12, Michael Vandervelde

Penn State by 1

Give me the Utes in the Grandaddy of them All. Like an epic here.

Utah 31, Penn State 30