As the weather gets colder and the school work piles up, students think and dream of Christmas break. Over the break, many students will be lying motionless on their couches for days on end. To break up the endless loop of Netflix and Christmas specials, turn on any sports channel for some great action. The NFL has games on Christmas for the first time in a decade. Both college football and college basketball really ramp up over break as well. There are also the NBA Christmas games. Here are some of the best games and competitions going on over the break to help your television surfing skills.
College Football:
Some of the best college teams in the nation will battle out all over the break. They will play all over the country in different bowl games, each fighting for that bowl’s title.
The Armed Forces Bowl is being played on Dec. 23 in Dallas between Louisiana Tech and Navy. It should be a very high scoring, offensive-powered shootout that could go down to the wire.
The Russell Athletic Bowl and the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl are both are being played in the Camping World Stadium here in Orlando.
The Citrus Bowl will include the Louisville Cardinals and their Heisman frontrunner quarterback Lamar Jackson up against the Louisana State(LSU) Tigers and their powerful running game headlined by Leonard Fournette. There will be some great college football here in Orlando over break.
The Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl and the Outback Bowl all take place on Jan. 2 and will feature some of the top teams in the country. The teams that will play will be the teams that just missed the cut for the prime college football event: the College Football Playoff.
The Playoff consists of the four top teams in the country. The semi-final games are going to be played in Atlanta, GA in the Peach Bowl and in Glendale, AZ in the Fiesta Bowl. The Alabama Crimson Tide go up against the Washington Huskies in Atlanta, while the Ohio State Buckeyes go up against the Clemson Tigers in Glendale. The winners of the two semifinal games will go to Tampa to play in Raymond James Stadium in the national championship game on Jan. 9. If you are a college football fan, you will be very pleased with your viewing options over break.
NFL:
When we get out of school, the NFL season will be winding down for many teams and heating up for others. The playoffs will begin in early January and the weeks leading up to it will be very intense. Also, for the first time in more than ten years professional football will be played on Christmas. Typically, Christmas is dominated by the NBA, but this year they have competition.
The NFL scheduled two games for Dec 25, and then all the other games that week will be on Christmas Eve. The two games on Christmas will be in Pittsburgh between the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens and then a primetime game between the Denver Broncos and the Chiefs in Kansas City. Both games have playoff implications and the stakes couldn’t be any higher.
NBA:
The NBA season started just over a month ago, and there have already been buzzer beaters, bone shattering blocks and ferocious dunks. The NBA hits its full stride on Christmas Day as some of the best teams in the league face off. Highlighting these games is a 2:30 matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The finals rematch will not disappoint as the best player in the world, Lebron James, goes up against the NBA’s super team, Golden State. The 2015 record-breaking Warriors already have a top five player in the league in Steph Curry. However before the offseason, they went out and signed league MVP Kevin Durant. Also a game with large implications is the San Antonio Spurs versus the Chicago Bulls matchup. First ballot hall of famer Dwyane Wade plays his first Christmas game in a Bulls uniform against the Spurs, who are in their first season without hall of famer Tim Duncan. Here are some other games going on that day:
Celtics v Knicks– 12:00 PM
Lakers v Clippers– 10:30 PM
Thunder v Timberwolves– 8 PM
Whether their team is playing or not, all sports fans definitely have a lot on their plate over this upcoming break. Including the aforementioned games, there are also regularly scheduled NBA games, college basketball games and hockey games going on almost everyday of the break. Enjoy.
