Today's Picks

January 1 used to be my favorite sports day of the year. The cream of the college football crop paired against each other with the national title in the balance. Some of my earliest memories took place on January 1, whether it be Rose Bowl upsets or games that produced champions the old way. You cleared the day and enjoyed how the sport ended its season in a blaze of glory.

Now, with the games moved this year to accommodate the pros, we have such pillars of the 2011 season as Ohio State and Florida squaring off. We do have some interesting match-ups like Michigan State versus Georgia, Oregon pitted against Wisconsin and Oklahoma State squared off against Stanford, but not one game played today has any bearing on the national championship (we have another week to wait!). And that's a shame. But I will be watching, and enjoying most of it. It is college football after all.

Today I like Penn State, South Carolina, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Oklahoma State.