Hangovers and Football: Your New Year's Day Bowl Watching Guide

UCF comes in as a decided underdog, but star QB Blake Bortles will try to give the program its first BCS bowl win.

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

New Year's Day and I have an odd relationship.

In my younger days, I would spend the morning fighting the urge to sleep until the following year, and eventually end up gorging on a greasy breakfast at Denny's.

I don't think anyone can argue that was the best way to spend New Year's morning, but football and a comfy couch are most certainly the best way to spend the rest of your day.

Well, if you like Big Ten football that is, because these days that's what you're getting New Year's Day. Thanks to some fancy negotiating by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney, the conference has gone from three long-time bowl tie-ins (The Rose, Capital One and Outback) to five the last two years, adding the Gator Bowl and relatively new Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Last year, we had to watch Purdue lose by a bajillion in the Dallas Bowl, so thankfully the Big Ten didn't have enough bowl eligible teams to fill that slot (Since it sent two teams to the BCS). Un-thankfully (Not a word), their spot and the Big 12's spot in that game went to somewhat crappy mid-majors.

Oh hell, who cares, it's New Year's Day. Here's what to watch during the games.

Your College Football Kickoff Primer

Jadeveon Clowney (leaping) and Aaron Murray (holding ball nervously) will each represent the SEC against stiff non-conference competition this weekend.

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

You know, people love to hate on ESPN.

Fans and bloggers just love to beat up on the worldwide leader for its programming (TIM TEBOW HOUR) and its ability to control the sports landscape by acquiring the television rights to pretty much everything.

Well, ESPN is proving to be a benevolent dictator for college football (At least for fans watching at home), as the network is delivering one heck of an opening weekend. While there are certainly a lot of things wrong with college football, ESPN setting up marquee matchups to kick the season off isn't one of them. The network's pairing of Alabama and Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic is just one example of an ESPN ratings move that is beneficial to everyone involved.

Oh, and that night's late game between LSU and TCU in Dallas… Also an ESPN creation.

Anyways, here is what else you should be watching for on college football's opening weekend which, like every good college weekend, begins Thursday night.

Long and Suite Preview: The SEC

A Vanderbilt player is the pic on our SEC preview??? Believe the hype with Jordan Matthews.

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

The SEC has long been one of college football's best conferences, but the BCS era will forever be remembered as the time it became THE dominant conference.

Behind a mini-Florida dynasty and a full-blown Alabama dynasty, the SEC has won the last seven BCS National Championships, and nine out of the 15 BCS titles all time (That doesn't even count how the 2005 Auburn Tigers went undefeated and weren't given a chance to play for a title).

With the end of the BCS upon us, there are plenty of SEC teams with a chance to bring the conference its 10th BCS crown. But, with Nick Saban returning a ton of talent at Alabama, we could see the first back-to-back-to-back national champions in the poll era.