NOTHING GUARANTEED IN ’20
Late Sunday afternoon, the Guaranteed Rate Bowl became one of the latest to be called off because of the pandemic, proving once and for all there really are no guarantees in this college football season.
What is usually a joyous day for more than 60 teams around the country was far more surreal as organizers set the annual bowl schedule two weeks later than usual.
Far below the headlines of Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Clemson, the scramble was weird — and painful. Especially for an Army team that went 9-2 and accepted an invitation to the Independence Bowl only to have the game called off because there was not an available Pac-12 team to play.
With bowl contracts still in force, it all meant that a South Carolina team with a woeful 2-8 record is going to the Gasparilla Bowl while the Black Knights miss out.
Minnesota was among a handful of teams joining the list of more than 20 Power Five conference teams that elected it will not accept an invitation to a bowl, leading to the unusual situation of postseason games not having enough teams to fill the slots.
Maybe Gophers coach P.J. Fleck summed it up best in explaining why his team opted out.
“School is done. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go,” said Fleck, whose Gophers announced they were done after going 3-4 with two cancellations. “You are talking about 11 days of doing what? Sitting there, doing nothing.”
Notable
Florida standout Kyle Pitts, the team’s best player and the top tight end in the country, is turning pro and skipping a potential bowl game.
No. 1 Alabama 52, No. 7 Florida 46: Najee Harris scored five touchdowns and
Alabama (11-0) held off Florida (8-3) in the SEC championship Saturday night in Atlanta.
No. 9 Cincinnati 27, No. 23 Tulsa 24: Cole Smith made a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give host Cincinnati (9-0) victory over Tulsa (6-2) on Saturday night in the rainy American Conference Championship game.
Arizona State 46, Oregon State 33: Jayden Daniels passed for a touchdown and had two of rushing TDs as visiting Arizona State (2-2 Pac-12) defeated Oregon State (2-5) on Saturday night.