Put a laurel crown over Exit Nine.

As I've noted here before, Rutgers played in, and won, the first college football game ever. But it's taken them 137 years to get their first bowl game victory. The boys from New Brunswick defeated those from Manhattan (Kansas, that is) by 37-10.

Meanwhile, on a different tectonic plate, a Florida State team that only managed to break even in its regular season beat UCLA by 44-27. Recalling that the Bruins beat Southern Cal by 13-9, a four point margin, and noting the Noles 17 point advantage over UCLA, can we conclude that FSU is better than USC by 21 points? No, no, no. Football teams are not elements of a well-ordered set.

Pre-title game update: Joey Johnston seems to be rethinking his earlier diss of the Gators.

A big "Thank you!" to Josh Levin, in Slate, for agreeing with me that the college game is more fun. (Now I'm kicking myself for missing the Fiesta Bowl.)

A white post-Christmas

On Christmas day, there was no snow to be seen in far northern New York State, where we were visiting for the holiday. On the morning of the 26th, however, we woke up to find this scene.