January 2nd update

NFL Playoff Picture Set

• When the New Year began, a number of playoff spots were still up for grabs in the NFL but after a wild and crazy day of games, the playoff picture is finally set. There were not many surprises as the overall structure of the playoffs stayed relatively the same. There were no changes in the top three seeds in either conference but the bottom of the playoff set did see some slight changes as a number of teams who needed to win today lost.
• In the NFC, the Green Bay Packers did not have to win to gain homefield advantage throughout the playoffs but nonetheless set an all-time record for passing yards in a game... all with Aaron Rodgers watching from the bench). The San Fransisco 49ers beat the hapless St. Louis Rams to keep the #2 seed and the New Orleans Saints broke NFL records left and right blowing out the Carolina Panthers in the second half to keep the #3 seed. The #4 seed went to the New York Giants as they won their quasi-playoff game against their division rival, the Dallas Cowboys. The Atlanta Falcons leapfrogged the Detroit Lions to take the #5 spot while demolishing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This NFC portion of this weekend's wild-card playoff round will feature the Lions at the Saints, and the Falcons against the New York Giants.
• The AFC also stayed true to script as the New England Patriots somehow managed to win by 28 despite being down 21-0 early to the Buffalo Bills. Additionally, the Baltimore Ravens won against the Cincinnati Bengals to ensure the other first round bye. The Houston Texans were already locked in as the #3 seed and lost a meaningless game to the Tennessee Titans. The Denver Broncos won the #4 seed even though they lost their game this weekend to the Kansas City Chiefs, only scoring 3 points on offense. They will host the Pittsburgh Steelers who were locked into the playoffs as the #5 seed after Baltimore won, and last but not least, the Cincinnati Bengals got the #6 seed even though they also lost and ended up with the same record as a rival. They won the tiebreaker due to the fact that they defeated the Tennessee Titans, the other 9-7 team. This weekend the Steelers will play the Broncos and the Bengals will play in Houston against the Texans, who are playing their first ever playoff game.


Winter Classic ready to take off

• Beginning in 2008, the NHL has played an annual outdoor game dubbed the Winter Classic. This season's Winter Classic will feature the New York Rangers versus the Philadelphia Flyers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia usually reserved for the MLB's Phillies.
• The Winter Classic is hockey's ambassador to the non-hockey world and has been a resounding success so far despite the fact that weather conditions play a part in this game unlike typical indoor hockey games. Game time is being pushed back from 1 PM until 3 PM (EST) to try to fit into the best pocket of weather according to local forecasts.
• The home fans will not get to see offseason acquisition Ilya Bryzgalov play but the goalie took his benching very good-naturedly, saying "I have great news and even better news. Great news, I'm not playing tomorrow night. Good news, we have a chance to win the game tomorrow night."


Biggest Day of College Bowls today

• If you're lucky enough to have the day off today there's plenty of college football for you to watch and if not, hopefully you can sneak in a few updates from the office as there are 6 games going on today, 5 of which match ranked teams against one another. The schedule is as follows:
12 PM: Houston vs Penn State. Penn State's tumultuous season ends against a record setting Houston offense and QB Case Keenum who missed out on a perfect regular season and BCS bid by losing their last game of the season.
1 PM: Ohio State vs Florida. The two annual powers struggled this season, going 6-6 but get a good bowl bid primarily because they have large fan bases and college football is more about money than results.
1 PM: Michigan State vs Georgia. The losers of the Big 10 and SEC championship games, respectively, face off in what should be a great game but should also have more Georgia fans as it is being played in Tampa, Florida.

1 PM: Nebraska vs South Carolina. In another Big Ten/SEC matchup, South Carolina hopes that it can finish off a terrific season despite no longer having starting QB Stephen Garcia (dismissed from team) or superstar RB Marcus Lattimore (Leg Injury).

The two biggest matchups of the day were previewed in Friday's update but just as a reminder, the Rose Bowl features to top 10 teams in Oregon and Wisconsin at 5 PM and the Fiesta Bowl features the top 2 ranked teams who are not in the National Championship game, Stanford and Oklahoma State (at 8 PM).