New Year's Days of Old

I used to love New Year’s Day. Every college football fan did. That was the day, the only day, when you could watch football morning, afternoon and night.  And back before the BCS, the biggest bowl games were almost always on New Year’s Day. Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton (until 1994, the Cotton was a major bowl). All on New Year’s. What a day. But what made the day great wasn’t just the amount of football, or even the quality. It was the importance of the games being played.  The Big Four always featured the champions of particular conferences: Rose (PAC 10 and Big 10), Orange (Big 8), Sugar (SEC) and Cotton (SWC). So bragging rights were wrapped up in the bowl game and not just the ranking, and the bowl itself mattered. When Keith Jackson declared the Rose Bowl was “the granddaddy of 'em all,” that meant something. And teams played all season for the sake of the bowl game. I grew up in Colorado, a Big 8 ... (link)