Published Jan 1, 2019
This week's most ridiculous moments in college sports
Rob Cassidy and Woody Wommack
Rivals.com

Each week, Rivals.com's Woody Wommack and Rob Cassidy take a look around the world of high school and college sports to spotlight unique, bizarre and utterly ridiculous moments.

MORE: Last week's most ridiculous moments | Full college coverage



Advertisement

*****

The bowl game that never happened

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

Boise State and Boston College traveled roughly 1,800 miles respectively to meet in the Dallas-based Servpro First Responders Bowl. There were days of pre-game press conferences, pep rallies and photo ops.

Then, the game lasted eight minutes and 52 seconds.

The hourlong delay and swift cancellation came because of severe weather that officials apparently knew was a possibility for days. We know this because the president of the event, for some reason, bragged about it.

“We knew there was a chance of inclement weather for this game,” said First Responder Bowl executive director Brant Ringler in a press release after the game was called off. “There were no intentions to move the game.”

It’s almost as though non-playoff bowls are nothing more than a series of holiday-season money grabs. Remember this the next time you want to lecture a player for skipping a bowl game in an effort to preserve his NFL future.

*****

Miami coaching madness

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

This belongs in the head-fake hall of fame. Manny Diaz was Temple’s head coach for 23 days before accepting the same position at Miami, his previous employer.

Diaz, who was Miami’s defensive coordinator just a few weeks ago, last coached the Hurricanes in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec, 27, splitting time between the two schools while his employment overlapped. But when Mark Richt announced his sudden retirement on Sunday afternoon, Miami handed Temple $4 million to buy out Diaz’s three-week old contract and had their man … back.

The Owls, who managed to lose two head coaches this offseason, are now $6.5 million richer after combining Diaz’s buyout money with the $2.5 million it made when Georgia Tech hired away previous head coach Geoff Collins on Dec. 7.

Armature athletics, indeed. All is not awful, though, as the week that was led to the Barstool Temple Twitter account making this touching video commemorating Diaz’s legendary Temple career and the enduring legacy he leaves behind in Philadelphia.

*****

Cheez-It Bowl Train wreck

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

We all know that Cheez-It crackers are delicious and have been deserving of their own bowl game for a long time. This year, the delectable cheesy snack finally got its moment in the sun. In a matchup featuring TCU and California, two major conference foes clashed in what will be remembered as a bowl for the ages -- for all the wrong reasons. The game, which went into overtime, featured just 17 total points and a combined nine interceptions between the game’s quarterbacks.

The comically bad action sent the college football twitter world into a frenzy and despite the game going well after midnight, the game did very well in the ratings. Critics of bowl games used it as an example of why there are too many each year, but the buzz surrounding the game is actually proof of the fun that can happen in college football’s postseason.

*****

You can own your very own Power Five conference

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

The Pac-12 has had its share of issues in recent years. From not being able to get proper distribution of the Pac-12 Network (it’s still not available on DirecTV) to a recent investigative series by The Oregonian detailed the many missteps of conference commissioner Larry Scott. All of that is even without factoring in poor on-field results, where the conference has not won a football national championship since Pete Carroll roamed the sidelines at USC.

This week the conference was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons again as news broke that it was looking into accepting equity investors, with a mere $500 million good enough for a 10-percent stake in the conference.

While there’s still plenty of questions to get answered about how such a thing might work, especially considering the conference is fueled by unpaid amateur athletes, there’s no question that it’s another PR black eye for the conference. With revenues and on-field performance slipping, is the latest move innovative or desperate? Time will tell, but if it doesn’t work it could be the nail in Scott’s proverbial coffin when it comes to his job status with the conference.

*****

Ridiculous play of the week

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

Vanderbilt may have lost the Texas Bowl, but this miraculous interception by Randall Haynie is one of the best plays made during the entire bowl slate.