Anyone who’s ever been to Las Vegas will tell you two nights is the perfect length for a trip, and proceed with caution after the 48-hour mark, or you’ll risk going full James Harden and slapping your buddy outside the club. Three days on the strip is excessive even for the most degenerate of addicts, and at some point, the partying stops being fun because the slots, casino lights, and alcohol beat you into submission to the point that you tap out voluntarily. We’ll see how the expanded College Football Playoff feels after its inaugural run-through in 2024-25, but I’m getting strong too-many-days in Vegas vibes. The dates were released, and the first round is set for the Friday and Saturday before Christmas (Dec. 19 and 20). The quarterfinals are the New Year’s Eve and Day games — a Tuesday and Wednesday. The semis are Jan. 9 and 10, a Thursday, and Friday, before the title game caps the season Jan. 20, which is a Monday, and also Martin Luther King Day. The semifinals are being played on a Thursday and Friday presumably because the NCAA doesn’t want to compete with NFL Wild Card Weekend. That means the second weekend in January will be a five-day stretch of do-or-die contests because remember the NFL postseason expanded to Monday night. Yes, the games will matter, so fans will watch, and outlets will cover them as such, yet has Thursday Night Football’s lukewarm reception taught us nothing? I’ll be interested to see at what point the novelty wears off because I have a sneaking suspicion that the casual viewer will be less likely to sit through blowouts (and those CFP games will feature blowouts). Will viewership taper off, or will sports fans treat the first round like they do 76ers-Nets playoff games on NBA TV? Maybe it will be a month-long ratings behemoth — for network partners and fans alike — right in the middle of the holidays, at the tail end of bowl season, and up against the start of NFL playoffs. I hope you’re dedicated to those resolutions because they’re going to get tested with wings, beers, and games three to five times a week for the first month of 2025. A disregard for moderation I’m sure that amount of football, drinking, and Christmas cookies sounds great to people in their 20s, yet that’s a sizable ask for people with family obligations, or just a girlfriend who wants to watch literally anything else. One college football columnist called the smorgasbord a “never-before-experienced football-viewing nirvana,” and something tells me Dan Wetzel has never done 72 hours in Sin City. Here’s another parallel: You know when 15 of your shows are all running simultaneously, and it’s more TV than you can watch on a night-to-night basis? The typical response is to commit to your favorites, and then binge all the secondary programming when you get around to it. Well, that’s not really possible for live sports unless you record them and have the conviction to avoid checking social media or ESPN until you can watch, and I think lopsided CFP games will be first up on the chopping block. I’m also interested to see how well fans travel to all these neutral sites. The first round will be played on campus, so that’s good. However, the rest of the slate likely requires a plane ride and accommodations on top of game tickets. Do the morons over at the NCAA league office not know that a lot of vacation budgets and days are already allocated for the holidays? That amount of travel isn’t realistic financially, or even relaxing for the people who can afford it. Wetzel at least acknowledged that his football euphoria really only applies to those watching on from home. Complain about NIL deals and the transfer portal fomenting a Wild West culture in collegiate sports all you want, but stop acting like players, and programs are the only ones doing the looting. It’s a free-for-all, and every faction of the system — including the NCAA and Big Conference — is taking whatever they can carry. Fans are stuck with a bloated product, and an untenable schedule that’s only redeemable quality is its quantity. I don’t know how many more ways and analogies I can present to communicate that less is more, so in the spirit of knowing when to call it, I’ll do just that. Relatedbetting on football onlinenfl prop bettingcollege football betting sitesbetting sites for nbamlb oddsnhl linesufc oddssafe soccer betting siteslegit copa america betting sites
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Competition: Premier League
Market: Brighton to beat Bournemouth
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The exceptionally busy festive schedule continues into the new year as every side in the Premier League is looking to start the year off with a victory. With the league well past the halfway point, teams will be looking at their remaining games and what they hope to achieve, and winning their first game of the year could start the side on a very positive run of form. With this in mind, Brighton host Bournemouth on Monday.
Brighton have looked good this season and they are battling to maintain the gap between themselves and the relegation zone. After 21 games they have won five, drawn seven and lost nine, scoring 15 goals and conceding 25. The 22 points they have collected mea…
Arsene Wenger believes VAR can work in the Premier League, and the former Arsenal manager thinks referees should be encouraged to use pitchside monitors to reach decisions.
VAR has caused plenty of contention since the English top division elected to introduce it for the 2019-20 season.
Several marginal decisions have been heavily scrutinised, with clubs calling for clarity on how the system is to be implemented, while the time it has taken to make decisions has also been called into question.
Wenger – now head of global football development for FIFA – has backed VAR to work but believes the Premier League has changes to make, given referees have been told to look at video footage sparingly.
I honestly believe it is working much better than people…
Bruno Genesio has been rewarded with a three-year contract after guiding Lyon to second place in Ligue 1 last season.
The 49-year-old took charge in December 2015 after the departure of Hubert Fournier, and led Lyon to 12 league wins in 19 matches.
Lyon s form in the second half of the campaign proved decisive as they pipped Monaco and Nice to the second automatic place in next season s Champions League group stage.
And Genesio will be given the chance to build on that impressive record after agreeing a new deal until 2019.
I am very proud to extend my contract in light of my initial work with the club, he told a media conference. I thank the president for his confidence.
The head coach hopes to keep the majority of his squad together heading i…
Ernesto Valverde hailed the importance of superstar Lionel Messi following Barcelona s eighth LaLiga triumph in 11 years.
Messi came off the bench and scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Levante on Saturday – delivering a 26th league crown for Barca.
The five-time Ballon d Or winner s 33rd LaLiga goal of the season saw him clinch his 10th league medal – surpassing Andres Iniesta.
Barca head coach Valverde – whose team are also in contention to win the Champions League and Copa del Rey – heaped praise on Messi post-game, telling reporters: I can t say much more about Leo Messi.
Leo
No. 10 for the collection
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
Messi is at the centre of all of this. The time he s spent at Barca, as wel…
Brisbane Roar s Nick Fitzgerald will return to former club Central Coast at the end of the A-League season after penning a two-year deal.
The 20-year-old forward has been with the Roar since August 2011, having been signed from the Mariners National Youth League squad after one senior appearance with the Gosford club.
Fitzgerald played a key role off the bench in the Roar s 2011/12 grand final win, but the Australia youth international has made just two starts this campaign.
The league-leading Mariners have now swooped to add Sydney-born Fitzgerald to their squad next season.
With Nick we know exactly what we are going to get, Mariners coach Graham Arnold said.
He is a player of enormous potential.
We believe we can help Nick take hi…
Dynamo Kiev have secured the services of Lazio forward Mauro Zarate, .
After the two clubs agreed on a €10 million transfer fee, the deal is set to be completed by the end of the day.
Zarate, 25, had earlier reached an agreement over the personal terms after spending a couple of days in Kiev.
The player, who was considered one of the talented forwards in world football not so long ago, has found it hard to get regular playing time at Stadio Olimpico over the last two seasons.
Despite impressing at the start of his career at Lazio, the Argentine allowed his temperament to get the best of him and was constantly overlooked by both Edy Reja and Vladimir Petkovic.
As a result, Zarate made just one Serie A appearance during the last two campaigns, al…
Carlo Ancelotti credited Real Madrid s powers of recovery after Saturday s 3-1 win over Espanyol, as Los Blancos prepare to enter a decisive week with a spring in their step.
Madrid appeared in danger of losing more ground on LaLiga leaders Barcelona when Joselu put Espanyol ahead at the Santiago Bernabeu, but the champions responded well to cut the gap to six points.
Vinicius Junior arced a fine strike into the bottom-right corner to level, before Eder Militao s header put Madrid on top and Marco Asensio made the points safe at the death.
Madrid have now claimed 10 points from losing positions in LaLiga this campaign – a tally only bettered by Girona (12).
With the second leg of their Champions League tie against Liverpool and a huge meeting with Clasi…
Mikel Arteta expects Gabriel Jesus to offer a lot to Arsenal as the new-look Gunners hope to hit the ground running with an early statement of intent in the new Premier League season.
Arsenal had been in dire need of attacking reinforcements after allowing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave mid-way through last season and then letting Alexandre Lacazette s contract expire.
Brazil international Jesus was quickly identified as a primary target and Arsenal sealed his £45million signing in early July, allowing him to link up with Arteta once again having worked together at Manchester City.
Some expressed doubts over Jesus being the right sort of player to fill the void given he had rarely been seen as dependable enough at City to be their first-choice striker – he sp…
Real keen on Aymeric Laporte
Champions League holders Real Madrid have informed Athletic Bilbao of their interest in French defender Aymeric Laporte, .
The two clubs have been in talks over Asier Illarramendi and los Blancos officials took advantage of the opportunity to enquire about the possibility of recruiting Laporte in the summer.
However, as expected, Athletic referred them to the player s €42 million release clause, as they have no plans to negotiate with interested clubs.
Real Madrid apparently see Laporte as a perfect option to form a defensive pairing with Raphael Varane in the future and they could decide to meet the asking price at the end of the season.
With the youngster also on the radar of Manchester United, Arsenal and Bayern …
Wilfried Zaha has declared his happiness at returning to Crystal Palace permanently after a frustrating spell at Manchester United.
Crystal Palace appear to have finalised the permanent re-signing of winger Wilfied Zaha from Manchester United, much to the player s delight.
The 22-year-old twice-capped England international is thought to have agreed a five-and-a-half year contract with the London club.
Zaha moved from Selhurst Park to Old Trafford in 2013 but his career with the then Premier League champions failed to ignite as he made just four appearances in all competitions before joining Cardiff City on loan last January.
An initial return to Palace on loan in August and, following 19 outings and one goal this term, manager Alan Pardew has moved to ma…