College football may just be better in 2024-2025

It's that time of year, folks: The end of the calendar year and the peak of college football bowl season. Here in 2024-2025, it also means college football playoff games.

The prior order of the "New Year's Six" bowls has been re-ordered for playoff purposes. The Peach, Cotton, Rose, Fiesta, Orange, and Sugar bowls are now playoff games - quarterfinals and semifinals. The national championship game is scheduled for Monday night, January 20, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta - also the site of the Peach Bowl.

Here in 2024-2025, the Peach Bowl is a quarterfinal game: Texas Longhorns of the SEC vs. Arizona State Sun Devils of the Big XII. Catch it on ESPN at 1:00 Eastern Time on January 1.

All of the other, lower-tier, bowl games are still there. Perhaps you have not had time to pay attention to any of the games, let alone those games that feature the best college football teams and prime time billing.

From here in Nashville: Teams from the state of Tennessee in the Football Bowl Subdivision have, generally, done well. Three of four said teams either qualified for the new twelve-team playoff or won their respective bowl game. The Memphis Tigers beat the West Virginia Mountaineers, 42-37, in Frisco, Texas, on December 17.

The suddenly-swaggering Vanderbilt Commodores, fresh off of the news that a federal court has allowed Diego Pavia another year of eligibility due to anti-trust issues that I am not qualified to comment on, defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Birmingham Bowl, 35-27, on December 27.

The Tennessee Volunteers qualified for the first twelve-team playoff in history, alongside SEC programs Texas and Georgia. Georgia is the SEC champion this year. But the Vols drew a hard first-round task and lost on the road to Ohio State, 42-17, on December 21.

Have any of you considered the current college football postseason lineup and the prominent players that could have scooted out on their teams to "go pro" and prepare for the NFL draft?

Cam Ward of Miami, Shedeur Sanders of Colorado, and numerous others seem to be gravitating back to the college game - not so eager to be gone next spring. They may be entering the draft, but they are staying with their respective college teams through bowl season.

Ward played in an offensive blast of a one-point loss to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando on December 28. Per theScore, he was 12/19 for 190 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 199.3. Final score: Cyclones 42, Hurricanes 41.

As I write this article, Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes is battling the BYU Cougars (both schools are members of the Big XII Conference) in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

Diego Pavia of Vandy reportedly will profit immensely from another year of college eligibility. One million dollars? Who's paying this money LOL? Much more listening and watching are ahead.

But, if I had to comment definitively right now, I say that the transfer portal (which has made the Vanderbilt rise possible) and Name - Image - Likeness money (which I have yet to understand regarding the earning and collection of funds) have made college bowl season more meaningful.

If you ask me, it's a good thing.