THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, December 20, 2014
Today is kind of like Christmas morning for college football fans.
All the awards have been handed out and now, all that's left is to sit back, relax, and enjoy some 40 games over the next three weeks.
THE MOST stressful thing about the way the current system is set up might be actually finding the time to watch the games you really have an interest in.
Some of the bigger games - the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl - will be played on New Year's Day, where a handful of other games will be played out as well.
But for the Fiesta Bowl, or even the Orange Bowl, you might need to find an really good excuse to watch Boise State face Arizona (Fiesta) and Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Eve.
With a 1 p.m. kickoff for the BSU game, you might want to get that doctor's note now if you're interested in seeing that game.
Somewhere in between today and New Year's Day, 33 games will be played, with only the national title game to be played after Jan. 4.
Back when some of those games actually meant something, you'd often have to flip in between different channels to see what was happening in the Orange or Sugar Bowl, how it might affect who wins the national title since the NCAA could never quite figure out how to get the top two teams into the same game.
Now, with the introduction of the playoffs this year, you can sit back and watch them one at a time, until the final team is left standing.
Finally.
IF THE North Idaho College women's basketball team wants to come out of Price, Utah, with a Scenic West Athletic Conference win against the Utah State-Eastern Golden Eagles today, the Cardinals had better be prepared to shoot the ball first, and ask questions later.
Utah-State Eastern (11-3, 1-2 SWAC) runs the Grinnell System on offense, which is a fast-tempo style of play relying on shooting 3-point field goals, applying a full-court press and substituting frequently.
It has worked well thus far, with the Golden Eagles leading the conference in scoring at 82.6 points per game. They're also allowing the conference-worst 74.6 points a game. NIC is 8-3, 1-1.
"Last year, they put up over 900 3's," NIC women's basketball coach Chris Carlson said. "And he said he's going for 1,200 this year. They're not pressing as much as he used to, but it's going to be a wild one for sure."
The game will be followed by the NIC men (13-2, 1-1) against Utah State-Eastern (9-6, 0-3) - which lost 85-84 to third-ranked Southern Idaho on Thursday.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.