Published - 7:59am

These days most non-major bowl games are controlled by ESPN and their mission is to get TV ratings with compelling matchups. Gone are the days of conference affiliation with bowls and now network schedule makers decide, for the most part, who plays where.

There was speculation about where UCF would play in its bowl game. It's no secret, the Knights preferred to play in the state as opposed to losing money by playing on the road and seeing few fans travel during the holiday season. The Gasparilla Bowl was a desired destination because it was a pre-Christmas game and fans could easily make the trip. But UCF had played in the bowl in 2019 when the Knights rolled Marshall and this year's opponent was going to determine how many would return to the Bay Area. Many assumed the winner of the Florida-FSU game would be the choice. Some wondered if Florida would want to play UCF. Not afraid of the Knights, but did AD Scott Stricklin prefer a P5 opponent instead of UCF. 

Names like South Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech were projected by some but in the end there was no opposition from Florida and ESPN and local bowl officials loved the idea of pitting the social media rivals in a bowl game. And did fans react. Both Florida and UCF fans jumped on the original allotment of tickets for each school. That forced bowl officials to open the upper-bowl and tickets sold quickly. 

A sold out stadium awaits the Gators and Knights in a game that often hopes to attract 20,000. Bravo to Florida fans who love their team despite all the issues of a 6-6 campaign. Florida still has one of the strongest fan bases in the country. Tampa has always been a great town for the Gators. UCF fans have a reason to celebrate an 8-4 season because Gus Malzahn may have done one of his best coaching jobs dealing with the many injuries. But UCF fans have wanted a game with the Gators for years and will now get one before their new scheduled series begins in 2024.

My guess is UCF will have 60% of the crowd and if the Knights win it would mark their third win against an FBS opponent at Raymond James Stadium since 2019 (Marshall in bowl game and South Florida game in 2020). Their rival Bulls have two FBS wins at their home stadium over that same period of time...

My official Heisman Ballot: 1. Bryce Young, Alabama 2. Aidan Hutchinson-Michigan 3. CJ Stroud, Ohio State

Whether the NCAA has any chance to really go after a school for NIL deals set up with players remains to be seen as Sportico reports. But I spoke with two non-UCF people who coach in college football tell me that no one really opposes true name, image and likeness deal but they are concerned with what appears to be happening. What appears to be happening is some schools are just flat out finding supporters to pay players. It may be presented as a foundation promising something but it's basically pay-for-play. Both added that this recruiting season has turned into a lot of recruits just asking how much they would get or can get by signing. It's a dangerous area with little oversight and a problem they think will only get worse...

I think if Urban Meyer can figure a way out that doesn't look as bad as quitting after one year, he will leave the Jaguars. I said Dan Mullen was likely done when he could no longer control the negative narrative at Florida. Mullen eventually was done. Meyer cannot and will not be able to stop the snowball building of negativity surrounding him and his coaching style. Most college coaches can control the noise within a program. Meyer did in college for years. College coaches control playing time. Not in the NFL. In the NFL, salaries often dictate playing time. Meyer now sees he has players willing to whisper culture issues to the press or just have players flat out tell the media publicly how bad it is. At 2-11, the Jags are no better after 13 games and Meyer looks miserable. I think he and the Jags find a way out go their separate ways. This cannot continue for an off-season, where the Jags need to continue to rebuild, let alone a second season of Meyer being in charge...

During his time in Tampa, Tom Brady has 60 touchdown passes in the red zone and 0 interceptions. Everyone of those TD passes has happened with Brady at the age of 43 and 44...

Steph Curry is about to set the record for most three point baskets in a career. No player has impacted a sport more than Curry. I mean he has impacted the NBA game, the college game, the high school game and the youth game. Curry's ability to shoot threes, and have fun doing it, saw the NBA fast track a shift to style of play where the three-point shot is as common as a fast break layup. But Curry makes all of us think we can shoot a three like him because anyone can shoot a basketball. LeBron James has earned the right to be in the debate for greatest player ever(although I still maintain Michael Jordan and Bill Russell sit 1-2) but very few people in the world can do what James does well. Most people are not 6-9 275 but a person under 5-feet tall can still shoot a three...

I paid $3.50 for a 20-ounce bottle of water at a theme park this weekend. I paid $4.50 for a 20-ounce bottle of soda (for my wife, I don't drink soda) as well at that same theme park. That's insane. And don't tell me "well they have you, you are there and people know they are going to pay those prices". It's not necessary. Just because you can charge that much doesn't mean you have to. So many families save their money for years to visit our theme parks and they create memories that will last a lifetime. One of the memories doesn't need to be unnecessary pricing for food and drinks...

Final note: Atlanta, LA and Chicago are the top three airports for travelers in the US