Upset just made College Football Playoff more fun for Hogs fans to watch

When will each CFP bowl game take place on old school New Year's Day football experience?

Arkansas receiver Raylen Sharpe (6) runs after a catch as Ole Miss linebacker Jaden Yates (30) makes the tackle during the fourth quarter at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — With the clock still ticking down to the beginning of what appears to be a more watered down than expected SEC basketball season, Arkansas fans have the opportunity to fully experience a bit of a 1990s flashback today.

New Year's Day is about to be filled with meaningful bowl games where it feels like so much is on the line. However, instead of trying to impress pollsters for a shot at a mythical national title, teams are trying to advance to the semifinals for a real national championship.

Heading in, it seemed like it might be another Ohio State invitational that cut down on viewer enthusiasm. However, after former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin paced the sidelines popping his belt in another ode to the 1990s as a dad about to deliver a thorough whooping of a backside, he whipped what he could find while his old college team did the same figuratively to the Buckeyes on the field.

In the end, Miami pulled off a 10-play, 70 yard touchdown drive followed immediately by an interception that turned the College Football Playoffs into a much more fun environment.

Suddenly, any team playing on Saturday became able to join Miami as legit contenders for the national championship and almost all of the alternatives are interesting in some way.

There's already the Hurricanes, whom Notre Dame deemed so unworthy they chose to skip all bowls in a fitful protest. The resulting possibilities make it all so interesting.

Can Alabama continue to prove the haters wrong who were angry a three-loss team, regardless of playing in a conference championship game, squeezed into the field? Can Ole Miss continue a dream season despite the ghost of Lane Kiffin possibly haunting the ESPN booth at the Sugar Bowl?

Is Indiana the better financed than expected Cinderella story, or does that title belong to Texas Tech? Can Oregon and Georgia remind anyone they are still in this also?

Fans will enjoy an old school New Year's Day of eating garbage food while stuffing the brain with football that actually matters. If somehow all of the commercials can come with catchy jingles, it will be the 90s all over again.

So, go ahead and tell the kids they have to go play outside and not come back until the street lights come on because there's football to be watched and it's not worth the risk of having them interfere.

Don't worry. They'll eventually figure out how to function outside.

11 a.m.

Oregon vs. Texas Tech, ESPN

Oregon receiver Malik Benson (4) breaks a tackle from James Madison defensive lineman Immanuel Bush (0) during the fourth quarter at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Which is better at funding a national championship contender? Shoe money or oil money?

No matter how they feel about stuffing athletes pockets full of cash, fans are going to watch two of the better funded NIL programs in the world. Either Texas Tech or Oregon is going to make the semifinals, so it really doesn't matter how viewers feel about paying players.

The only thing that matters is whether there is one filthy rich program they hate more than the other so there's a good rooting interest to start the day.

3 p.m.

Alabama vs. Indiana, ESPN

Alabama's Tim Keenan III celebrates in the second half of a College Football Playoff win over Oklahoma at the Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday Dec. 19, 2025. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's the battle to determine which crimson and white team is meant to dominate college football. Alabama is clinging onto a past that many think has left them behind while Indiana is trying to prove it's the future of the sport while so few choose to believe in them.

Either way, college football is guaranteed a great story line heading into the semifinals. It's also a certain bet that whichever conference comes out on top, it will use this game as reason to gloat all week long as the dominant power.

7 p.m.

Ole Miss vs. Georgia, ESPN

Ole Miss linebacker Tahj Chambers (26) waits for the snap during the fourth quarter against Tulane at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The SEC is definitely getting a team into the semifinals. The only question is which will represent the league as the only semifinalist should Alabama fail.

Georgia provided the only blemish on the Rebels' schedule. However, it took a 17-0 fourth quarter run at home to pull off the 43-35 shootout in Athens back in mid-October.

A lot has changed at Ole Miss, including Kiffin bolting for LSU and leaving his dog Juice behind, while next to nothing has changed at Georgia. The Bulldogs would like to keep things that way.