We start by previewing the college football title game between Alabama and Ohio State, the latter of which swept in to save the playoff committee’s choices this year by decisively beating Clemson in the semifinals; it must also be said, of course, that Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina helped the committee out by losing their bowl […]
Defenders of the establishment were rewarded again over the holidays by the College Football Playoff. Only those with all of human history as a barometer could have foreseen that even in a batty season in which the Rose Bowl would be played in Texas, the selection committee would shun undefeated Group of Five conference champions […]
This year disrupted the sports world like no other in modern history. First, the COVID-19 pandemic shut sports down almost completely in the spring and early summer; then, it dramatically altered the schedules and formats of most leagues when they did return. The NBA and WNBA played their postseasons in neutral-site bubbles, for instance, while […]
In the first edition of the College Football Playoff, the sport’s new method of selecting a champion worked almost exactly as intended. The four teams chosen to play for a national title in 2014 were four of the Power Five conference champions — 12-1 SEC champion Alabama, 12-1 Pac-12 champion Oregon, 13-0 ACC champion Florida […]
Garrison Smith wasn’t expecting an athletic scholarship when he became a placekicker. As soon as he started booting a football, the Ohio high school senior realized he had a knack for it. A soccer transplant, Smith wanted to continue his athletic career in football but had already accepted that he wouldn’t be receiving a full […]