If the 12 CFP mascots faced off in a battle royale à la a ridiculous Anchorman-style brawl, which four mascots would be the last ones standing as playoff semifinalists? This could be the literal mascot or the animal/creature in the wild.
The contenders are:
(Oregon) Ducks
(Georgia) Bulldogs
(Boise State) Broncos
(Arizona State) Sun Devils
(Texas) Longhorns
(Penn State) Nittany Lions
(Notre Dame) Fighting Irish
(Ohio State) Buckeyes
(Tennessee) Volunteers
(Indiana) Hoosiers
(SMU) Mustangs
(Clemson) Tigers
Here are our picks.
Blake: Longhorns but Bevo specifically, Broncos, Fighting Irish, Sun Devils
Michelle: Sun Devils, Tigers, Mustangs, the Oregon Duck specifically
If you can’t get out to practice due to cold weather, try this golf fitness exercise to strengthen all the key golf swing muscles.
This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek demonstrates a kneeling around-the-world transition to a single-arm kettlebell swing that allows for more control and stability over your center of mass.
Everyone knows that elite athletes can control their center of mass. Golfers require strong and stable core muscles to maintain balance and control during the swing. This exercise targets the core, particularly the transversus abdominis, obliques and erector spine which are essential for rotational stability and power.
The movement also engages the lower back, forearms, glutes and hamstrings.
If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.
If you’re looking for more instruction, click here.
Taking time off of golf due to the winter season is every player’s worst nightmare.
This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek explains a few tips on how to combat the cold weather so you can keep your golf game sharp this winter.
Some of these tips may seem obvious, but as temperatures drop everyone could use a reminder. Showing up to the course prepared will make your round go much smoother and scores will be ready to drop.
If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.
If you’re looking for more instruction, click here
Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world.
(Editor’s note: This story originally ran in 2020.)
If you’re clicking on this on Thanksgiving, I’m imagining it’s from your recliner after you had one too many slices of pumpkin pie as you’re settling in to watch an afternoon of NFL action. Suddenly, it hits you as you’re watching two mediocre teams playing on Turkey Day: why do the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys ALWAYS play on Thanksgiving?
Let’s go back in time for the answer as to when this all started and see if we can figure out why this is still the case.
When did Thanksgiving games start in the first place?
According to Princeton University, Princeton and Yale played each other in football in 1876, and the game would become a tradition until 1893. When professional football sprouted up in the early 20th century, Thanksgiving games did as well.
OK, can we get to the Lions and —
The Pro Football Hall of Fame lists Thanksgiving games starting in 1920 between teams including the Decatur Staleys and Chicago Tigers and the Dayton Triangles and Detroit Heralds.
Thanks for the history lesson but the tryptophan is kicking in …
Fine, fine. In 1934, Detroit Lions owner George Richards decided a good way to market his team was to play on Thanksgiving. He also agreed to allow NBC’s radio station network to broadcast that first game between the Lions and Chicago Bears. He had hit on something, per the Hall of Fame:
The 26,000 tickets for the Turkey Day clash in the University of Detroit Stadium, were sold out two weeks in advance of the game. It was estimated that another 25,000 would have attended had there been seats available.
They did it again next year and the year after that, and thus a tradition was born.
How bout them Cowboys?
I see what you did there. Dallas owner Tex Schramm, too, wanted some national attention, so he volunteered his team to play. The NFL was concerned about how many tickets the Cowboys could sell that day, but the same thing that happened with the Lions: after the league got a guarantee of minimum ticket revenue, the Cowboys had a reported 80,000-plus fans show up to watch them play the Cleveland Browns.
So why is this STILL a tradition? Why not let other teams play?
Regarding that second one: they do now! There was a third game added in 2006 that allows other teams to rotate in and play.
As for the first? I haven’t found a definitive answer, so here’s an educated guess: with the Lions — who are under .500 on Thanksgiving Day — it’s tradition. And the NFL likes tradition, even if it’s a terrible franchise that can’t seem to get it right year after year playing on a national holiday.
The Cowboys are a different story. The idea that they’re “America’s Team” seems long gone, but the fact is that they’re a big national draw to begin with. We watch what is sometimes a powerful offense steamroll an opposing team, or with some schadenfreude if they’re terrible.
Earlier in the 2024-25 college football season, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule revealed that he and the other Big Ten football coaches talk perhaps a little more than people previously thought.
“We have a Big Ten coaches group chat to discuss issues, and [Illinois head coach Bret Bielema] heads up a lot of that,” Rhule said in September ahead of the Cornhuskers’ game against Illinois.
Well, that prompted us here at For The Win’s Before The Snap to wonder what that group chat is like and which Big Ten football coaches fit various stereotypes when texting. But we couldn’t do it alone, so we asked The Solid Verbal podcast’s Dan Rubenstein and Ty Hildenbrandt to weigh in as well.
Which Big Ten football coach is complaining about the refs each week?
Ohio State’s Ryan Day, definitely.
Which Big Ten football coach hypes up their past success a little too much?
USC’s Lincoln Riley or Indiana’s Curt Cignetti.
Which Big Ten football coach sends the group chat motivational messages?
Oregon’s Dan Lanning.
Which Big Ten football coach never responds or only “likes” messages?
Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.
Which Big Ten football coach is sending only TikTok videos?
Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck.
The differences between private and public golf clubs are numerous. It’s typically more than just money that sets the two apart.
This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek explains different rules that are not commonly talked about when it comes to etiquette at private clubs.
It can be stressful showing up at a nice club and not knowing what to expect. Take these few tips and apply them the next time you show up to play to feel prepared and go low.
If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.
If you’re looking for more instruction, click here
The latest College Football Playoff rankings are out, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, chaos in the SEC has left some fan bases less than thrilled with how everything is shaking out.
Obviously, there are still multiple rankings left before the committee drops the final ones on Sunday, December 8 after conference championship weekend. But that’s never stopped college football fans from debating playoff resumes, quality wins and losses, who’s passing the eye test with style points and who’s just lucky to be considered.
Here’s For The Win’s super unserious take on how the many playoff contenders’ fan bases are feeling about the latest rankings, probably.
Everyone wants to be able to shallow the golf club in your transition to the downswing.
Everyone wants to be able to shallow the golf club in your transition to the downswing.
This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek explains how to shallow the club in your transition and how to stop coming over-the-top in your golf swing.
A few simple adjustments within taking the club back, the width between your shoulders and hands at the top and getting your hands high at the top of your swing will make all the difference.
If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.
If you’re looking for more instruction, click here
It’s not a great feeling when you’re in between clubs on the course.
This week, Golfweek’s fitness guru and long driver Averee Dovsek explains how to take off five to 10 yards from a traditional full-yardage swing when in between clubs.
A few simple adjustments with grip, stance and shoulder turn will allow for the ball to carry a shorter distance when successfully completed. These adjustments may also help lower the ball flight, and this shot can be used on windy days to help knock down the ball.
If you’re interested in any of Averee’s fitness content, click here.
If you’re looking for more instruction, click here
Now, in the 11th season of the College Football Playoff, the field expanded to 12 teams and 11 total games with a first round and quarterfinals added to the semis and title game.
While there will surely still be debates about who should have gotten in, who didn’t deserve a spot and what seeds were earned or not, most college football fans would probably agree that expansion was necessary. And with it comes an extended postseason with playoff games beginning in mid-December and the title game pushed back to January 20.
So what would make the 12-team College Football Playoff a success in its first season?
For The Win’s college football show, Before The Snap, was joined by The Solid Verbal podcast’s Dan Rubenstein and Ty Hildenbrandt to zoom out and consider what factors would make the playoff expansion a win.
1. Incredible first-round games on college campuses
Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Dan Rubenstein, The Solid Verbal: I think it’s incredible games on campus because if we have incredible games on campus that first weekend… it’s going to generate buzz, right? There’s nothing like a great game deep into the season that is going to get and keep people excited for the playoff.
So whether it is Penn State hosting a game, whether it is Miami hosting a game, whether it’s Texas hosting a game, there is going to be something new and novel about having a December game on campus. Maybe that goes to overtime, maybe that gets us a matchup we’ve never seen or rarely seen. That, I think, would for me [make the 12-team playoff a success] because I think we’re gonna end up seeing a lot of the familiar teams later on in the playoff. But if we can get that early, that’s almost a justification for the move.
2. A regular season that doesn’t feel watered down in hindsight
Sara Diggins/USA TODAY Network
Ty Hildenbrandt, The Solid Verbal: If we make it through the full regular season without it feeling like things got watered down, that would be a huge plus because that was the argument against this system. “Oh, they’re going to add the playoff.” “Oh, losses aren’t going to have the same weight that they did before.” “People won’t watch.”
I have not detected that thus far, and maybe it’s because it’s a weird year in college football, and we don’t have any obvious powerhouses this season [besides Oregon]. … It feels to me like we have not gotten to that point yet where people are saying, “Yeah, this feels watered down. We don’t like the product.” So if we make it the full way through, that would be a plus.
3. An air of unpredictability, especially early in the playoff
Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images
Ty Hildenbrandt, The Solid Verbal: Just this air of unpredictability. If we have that with the playoff, that would, in and of itself, be a success. I think, part of the vibes we have picked up from our listeners over the years — why they don’t like the playoff as much, why they hate talking about the playoff is because it feels like it is the same teams. It feels like, oh, it’s going to be Alabama, or it’s going to be Georgia, it’s going to be Clemson or Ohio State. …
But if we can get to that point where it doesn’t feel like this is pre-ordained, and there is a real, legit reason to watch the first round on campus … kind of like you get with the NCAA tournament where you’re intrigued by the teams that are in it, you’re not necessarily sure who’s gonna win — that would be a success in my eyes.
4. A Group of Five or Cinderella team winning at least one playoff game
Brian Losness-Imagn Images
Michelle Martinelli, FTW: What I was thinking would make it a success is we do have those staples, and I think an expanded College Football Playoff actually helps the haves more than the have-nots, and we will see the usual suspects back in the playoff. But I think another indicator of what would make it a success is if one of those lower-ranked playoff teams, or a Group of Five team, makes it to the semifinals and sees success there — whether it’s Boise State or Indiana or BYU or someone who’s never been in the conversation really in the four-team playoff.
I think that if we look back at past years of teams, like Cincinnati, who actually made it in, or we go all the way back and look at UCF, who definitely felt like they should have made it in 2017, I think that would make it a success is if we see some of these lower-ranked playoff teams who are not typically in the playoff conversation, making it past the first round.
Ty Hildenbrandt, The Solid Verbal: You need the Cinderella, right? Every good tournament has the Cinderella. You need the Cinderella that everybody else can root for if their team isn’t in it. That gives them a reason to watch, gives them someone to rally behind.
5. A first-round upset on an opponent’s campus
Randy Sartin-Imagn Images
Blake Schuster, BetFTW: A higher-ranked team losing a home game on campus would be incredible scenes. But similarly, a first-round conference rematch on campus ending with the home team rushing the field would be just as iconic. The only thing the College Football Playoff absolutely must avoid is blowouts.
