Legendary broadcaster Brent Musburger doesn’t just “get it.” He absolutely knocked it out of the park on this one. Just like during the 2017-18 bowl cycle, the semifinals are on January 1st, and the consist of the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl. They’re on New Year’s Day, where they belong!
This isn’t like 2015, 2016, 2021 or 2022, when College Football desperately tried to claim New Year’s Eve as it’s day, by holding the Final Four playoff games on December 31st.
It’s just not going to happen- NYE being the new college football day, and Musburger pointed out why.
College football already has its day, traditionally, and that’s New Year’s Day (January 1). However, that is is quickly eroding.
Having “your own day” is critically important, and Musburger points out why that is below. It’s a tradition we’ve all come to know and love- the NBA on Christmas Day. The NFL has Thanksgiving.
College basketball has St. Patrick’s Day. Boxing Day (December 26th) belongs to The English Premier League.
Brent Musburger did a bowl game preview teleconference in 2016 (yes, we are throwing back into the archives for this one), and the best portions of the Q&A are transcribed for you below.
Q. Brent, my question is more about to the tradition. January 1st means a lot to the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl.
Do you believe college football is best served by bowl games following the playoff games in the years when the semifinals aren’t in the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl?
Brent Musburger: “In a word, no. The last three games of the college football season, as it is now structured, should be the two semifinals and then the championship game.
You don’t go to any professional league and have regular-season games after the playoffs start.
Now, I know, I got it, love the Rose Bowl, love the Sugar Bowl. I fully understand where they’re coming from.
Let’s play those games on New Year’s and have the two semifinals after New Year’s, then the championship a quick week later. It would give it a much better buildup if you do it that way.
Of course, the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl frequently are going to be in the semifinals, and they would have to agree to move off New Year’s when they are part of the championship. That’s how I look at that.”
Now in this next part, that’s where the fun really begins. Brent Musburger admits he’s multi-tasking, and checking up on his alma mater, Northwestern, in the Pinstripe Bowl, which coincided with this conference call, and that’s the reason I did not participate in this call. I was covering that very game and hence occupied.
We are a nation of multi-taskers now, all generations, not just millenials, we’re all addicted to our phones. I would have done the same exact thing were I in the shoes of Brent Musburger.
Q. Do you see that happening, though? (follow up question from the first one)
Brent Musburger: Listen, you’re around the structure. It’s strange. Listen, I love the people on the committee. I think they’ve done a great job with the final four. I have no second guesses except one: you’re not going to remake New Year’s Eve. It’s not happening. That’s a longer tradition than a College Football Playoff. We’ve all got parties to go to.
Given today’s digital world, we don’t have to be sitting in our living room watching every commercial that pops up. We can look down at our phones. We can go into somebody’s rec room, get a quick glance at the score.
I’ve been talking to you fellows.
“Television depends on people in the living room listening to commercials, that’s why Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football became such a great success. Only show in town.
You’re not going to beat the parties on New Year’s Eve. All the wives, mothers of the world, they put up with all of us football fans through the years. But New Year’s Eve?
I don’t think so.
Obviously if you’re Ohio State, Clemson born and bred, Alabama or Washington born and bred, you’re going to stay home on New Year’s Eve and watch the football games.
That’s how I feel about New Year’s Eve.”
In addition to the New Year’s Eve analysis, he also brought up a great point- every other sport as their culmination, their champion crowning last.
College football still does, but having the semifinal/final four bowls way ahead of the rest of the New Year’s Six is still a bit odd.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.