I’ll be the first to admit that the holiday season always screws up my sports schedule. Non-stop parties constantly leaves me in a daze, scrambling to see what happened in the sports world on this day and that. I also celebrated my birthday, or at least I tried to, given how exhausted I’d become from all the holiday revelry. Oh, and out-of-town visitors also arrived and we all know how these visits always seem to throw a monkey wrench on anybody’s schedule. Through it all, I did find time to get up-to-speed with some of the biggest happenings in sports, including an unlikely college football National Championship game, a pretty exciting Winter Classic and the unfortunate passing of an iconic sports anchor.

Oregon – Ohio State set up National Championship date

No. I didn’t watch Oregon put a pasting on Florida State and I also didn’t get to see Ohio State wax Alabama to set up a date for the national title on January 12. Since both games happened on January 1, I was probably slumped over my couch, grabbing for the nearest ice bag to help drive away that massive New Year’s Eve hangover. At least that’s what I remember. I do remember checking up on both games and  while I was a little surprised to see Oregon and Ohio State beating their much-ballyhooed opponents to set up this title game, I didn’t really think much of it until I realized that this could be the first college title football game in a long time where we dedicate a majority of the hype to the actual teams playing in the game.

So, no Jameis Winston coverage and there sure as hell won’t be any of those “Roll Tide!” bellyaches to accompany it in the lead-up to the game. That’s a good thing because we get to focus our attention on two of the best programs in college football. No talk of this or that, or who did this and who said that. This one should be all about football between two teams that deserve to be playing in the National Championship game at Cowboys Stadium.

A quick peek at the betting odds and it shows a pretty surprising picture: Oregon is a -7 favorite against Ohio State. That’s taking into account the fact that when you look at these guys side-by-side, you’re looking at two teams that aren’t too different from one another. Public betting seems to be heavy on the side of the Ducks, too, but I expect those backing the Buckeyes to come in heavy as game day approaches.

Either way, this game should have plenty of fireworks, the kind that sets up very well in one of the biggest stages in football.

Winter Classic lives up to the hype…again