PAC12 and Sage

ACQUIRE as NEEDED (daily) December 18

Friday Night Lights - PAC 12 edition

Imagine a horny teenage boy, looking forward to his senior prom. He's a good looking kid, with an undefeated record, though shy on experience. He's anticipating a date with the hot girl, who's got a reputation of her own, but, hey, he might get lucky. At the last minute, she can't make it and he has to settle for a less attractive date, but a popular one, at least. She's not so spotless, so his expectation is higher, but at the end of the night, she kisses him on the cheek and sends him away defeated. Thus is the story of the 5-0 USC Trojans, as they were defeated by Mario Cristobal's 3-2 Oregon Ducks. Final score: 31 - 24.

While full of itself and big booster money, USC suffered the same plight as the rest of the PAC 12 football programs. Bureaucracy and political dick measuring led to such a late start of their season, none really had a shot at the ESPN invitational we call the College Football Playoffs. The Big 10 would have a similar fate were it not for Ohio State being a college football darling. They've earned it, I suppose, but the disparity in the sport is glaring. Notre Dame looks to be the revolving team in the final four with Alabama, Clemson and the Buckeyes. Since the four-team playoff was implemented in 2014, the champions have been as follows:

2019 LSU

2018 Clemson

2017 Alabama

2016 Clemson

2015 Alabama

2014 Ohio State

(Alabama was the champion in 2009, 2011 and 2012 as well.)

In unrelated news, Kyrie Irving dominated sports media by saging the arena before his preseason game against the Celtics. You're probably unfamiliar with the native practice of spreading sage to cleanse a physical space as is probably 99% of the country's population. Let's just say it's not hard for us "pawns" to doubt the validity of information from Kyrie Irving. This video clip is the best! I'm going to really enjoy watching Brooklyn Nets basketball this season. December 22 can't come soon enough. Let the season and saging begin!