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The days of putting the college football season away as you clean up the mess from a New Year's Eve party are long gone.
For better or worse, the Bowl Championship Series put an end to that.
Now, bowls linger in the new year for days. Some are marquee matchups: No. 6 Ohio State plays No. 8 Arkansas on Jan. 4 in the Sugar Bowl. Some mere filler for a television schedule: Pittsburgh vs. Kentucky on Jan. 8 in BBVA Compass Bowl.
The way the calendar broke this season means nine days between Jan. 1 and the BCS national championship game between No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Oregon in Glendale, Ariz., and six days between the last BCS game - the Sugar Bowl - and Tigers-Ducks on Jan. 10.
With all that time to kill, ESPN and Fox decided to fill some of those potentially football-less nights.
''We just don't want to go dark,'' ESPN vice president of programming Dave Brown said. ''We want to televise the games and keep college football at the top of fans' minds.''
ESPN, in its first year as the TV home for the BCS, owns broadcast rights to 33 of 35 bowl games. So it wasn't all that tough to find three minor bowls to agree to be the only college football game on television during three nights from Jan. 6-9.
The GoDaddy.com Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 6 at Mobile, Ala., will feature Miami (Ohio) against Middle Tennessee. A couple days later in Birmingham, Ala., Pitt plays Kentucky at noon ET, before the NFL playoff games start.
The day before the national championship game, The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco matches Boston College and Nevada and kicks off at 9 p.m. ET
Wedging in a college game on a Sunday night after a day of NFL playoffs might seem like stranding it on an island, until you start thinking of that game as a part of the BCS championship game preview.
''There are a lot of fans looking for college football the night before the championship game,'' Brown said. ''It's just a natural place for us to do a game.''
Last season, ESPN placed the game in Mobile on the night before the national title game between Alabama and Texas. Central Michigan's 44-41 double-overtime win against Troy in what was then called the GMAC Bowl drew a respectable 2.8 rating, Brown said.
The Cotton Bowl also decided to wait it out this season. Now in its second season at the Dallas Cowboys' lavish stadium in Arlington, Texas, the 75th edition of the Cotton Bowl will match No. 11 LSU and No. 18 Texas A&M on Friday, Jan. 7.
Why leave Jan. 1?
''Simple answer in our case,'' Cotton Bowl spokesman Michael Konradi said. ''Fox wanted to put us on in primetime. We had a few choices of dates and the others were in the middle of the week. Friday we thought would be best to allow our fans to come to the game.''
The time slot also allows Cotton Bowl organizers, who would love to have their game as part of the BCS some day, to put their tradition-rich event on equal footing with the other marquee games.
''If it's good enough for the BCS it should be good enough for us,'' Konradi said.
The picks:
SATURDAY, JAN. 1
TicketCity Bowl
At Dallas
Northwestern (plus 9 1/2) vs. Texas Tech
Total defense rankings: Wildcats, 93rd. Red Raiders, 116th ... TEXAS TECH 42-24.
Capital One Bowl
At Orlando, Fla.
Michigan State (plus 10) vs. Alabama
Big Ten has won five of last six Cap One Bowls vs. SEC ... ALABAMA 28-20.
UPSET SPECIAL
Outback Bowl
At Tampa, Fla.
Florida (minus 7) vs. Penn State
Total offense rankings: Gators, 80th, Nittany Lions, 63rd ... PENN STATE 20-17.
Gator Bowl
At Jacksonville, Fla.
Michigan (plus 5) vs. Mississippi State
Is this really a must-win game for Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez? ... MICHIGAN 35-31.
Rose Bowl
At Pasadena, Calif.
TCU (minus 2 1/2) vs. Wisconsin
Badgers' power vs. Horned Frogs' speed ... WISCONSIN 31-23.
BEST BET
Fiesta Bowl
At Glendale, Ariz.
Connecticut (plus 17) vs. Oklahoma
If Sooners let BCS losing streak hit six, this will be worse loss yet ... OKLAHOMA 45-14.
Monday, Jan. 3
Orange Bowl
At Miami
Stanford (minus 3 1/2) vs. Virginia Tech
If this is Andrew Luck's last college game, he'll go out a winner ... STANFORD 35-24.
Tuesday, Jan. 4
Sugar Bowl
At New Orleans
Ohio State (minus 3 1/2) vs. Arkansas
Buckeyes are 0-9 vs. SEC teams in bowl games ... ARKANSAS 28-21.
Thursday, Jan. 6
GoDaddy.com Bowl
At Mobile, Ala.
Miami, Ohio (minus 1) vs. Middle Tennessee
Sun Belt already has beaten MAC twice this bowl season ... MIAMI 31-21.
Friday, Jan. 7
Cotton Bowl
At Arlington, Texas
Texas A&M (plus 1) vs. LSU
Meeting No. 50 between Tigers and Aggies, but only second time in bowl game ... LSU 21-16.
Saturday, Jan. 8
BBVA Compass Bowl
At Birmingham, Ala.
Pittsburgh (minus 3) vs. Kentucky
Win one for Wanny? Sure, now that it's too late ... PITTSBURGH 27-17.
Sunday, Jan. 9
Fight Hunger Bowl
At San Francisco
Boston College (plus 7 1/2) vs. Nevada
Over/under on tackles for BC All-American LB Luke Kuechly vs. the Pistol: 15 ... NEVADA 35-23.
Monday, Jan. 10
BCS National Championship
At Glendale, Ariz.
Auburn (minus 3) vs. Oregon
SEC! SEC! SEC! ... AUBURN 38-24.
