January 01 , 2026 becomes unforgettable in collegiate sports:
This day in NCAA sports more zany that prime time soap operas:
Flash Thoughts:
In reflecting on what took place on the 1st day of 2026 in NCAA sports, this pattern fit the script of well known TV dramas like "Dallas, Dynasty, Scandal and Peyton Place."
The college football playoff had the spotlight and for sure it delivered in the essence to receive future nominations for academy awards.
Indiana tearing Alabama to shreds in the Rose Bowl, Oregon throwing a shutout on Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl and the unforgettable ending to the Sugar Bowl with Ole Miss stunning SEC champion Georgia.
And if that was not enough, the drama with former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin now at LSU.
Kiffin bypassed attending the Sugar Bowl which was good from the point of let the game be the main topic, not that he is no longer the leader of Ole Miss on the gridiron.
His new employer, LSU, enabled Kiffin to enter the Pete Maravich Assembly Center New Year's night in the opener for LSU in SEC women's hoops against the University of Kentucky.
Kiffin and Kim Mulkey coming on the floor together holding hands is nothing short of tongue lashing both can eventually receive due to their uncanny personalities.
Yours truly will zing into this with the legendary song from country artist Barbara Mandrell, "If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right."
Back to the sport of football, the Southeastern Conference has a legit school in the semifinal round of the playoff format, now 2 seasons old with 12 teams getting selected to be a part of this sports spectacular.
Ole Miss' thrilling comeback in the Superdome propels the Rebels to face Miami in the semifinal January 8 from the Fiesta Bowl.
Miami set the tone for upset alert on New Year's Eve night in sending home Ohio State 24 to 14 in the Cotton Bowl.
In two years of the current format, teams that got a first round bye are 1 & 7.
Indiana is the only squad that overcame being inactive in a game situation following the Big Ten title December 06 to show the nation they have earned the honor of being the No. 1 seed in the playoff and will embrace the next challenge.
Indiana has a rematch with Oregon on January 09 in the Peach Bowl, the 2nd game of this year's semifinal round.
For the fact that the college football playoff is now a 12 team scenario, being a first round qualifier proves one thing. Nothing is for sure a guarantee.
Miami is the best example in that the Hurricanes did not win the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) crown but was good enough by the selection committee to be seeded 10th, upset Texas A&M in College Station and punch Ohio State in the mouth from the Cotton Bowl game.
Ole Miss was a case of everything to gain and nothing to lose, starting with Kiffin's overinflated ego for him to leave Oxford and head to a place Ole Miss show very little love for.
Now that the CFB is in the segment of its "Final Four," is there really anything needed to change the setup?
To me, the only thing is to eliminate first round games at home sites.
I am sure Alabama and Miami agree with that, but both also displayed of never giving in to overcoming adversity with Bama taking down Oklahoma and Miami much better than Texas A&M.
In a lot of ways, it doesn't make sense that Oregon and Indiana are playing in Atlanta and now Phoenix. That can be said of Ole Miss and Miami having to battle out in the Desert, not at the home of the SEC championship game.
And in conclusion, the hand holding of Kiffin and Mulkey can be considered a "disaster" for LSU got upset by Kentucky 80 to 78 New Year's night and lost for the first time this season.
Like the legendary song from the Carpenters, "We've only just begun," that is the case now we have left 2025 and 2026 begins with a bang from athletic competition by the NCAA than any New Year's party across the country.
Photo of the Ole Miss Rebels holding up the Sugar Bowl championship trophy after their 39 to 34 upset of Georgia in the bowl game January 01 from the Superdome in New Orleans.
Photo courtesy of Ole Miss football.
