What better way to ring in the New Year than celebrating with fellow collegiate students, alumni and fans with a neutral site city full of nightlife as your proverbial playground? The Bowl Championship Series allows for followers of 10 high-performing programs to enjoy themselves at the most elite levels, with every .500 or better squad eligible for bowl competition in some capacity. The BCS bowls, however, are exalted above the rest, rewarding conference champions and high ranking qualifiers by pitting them against one another in blood-pumping showdowns. The 2011 lineup looks to be promising as always, with tickets already on sale for the following matchups:January 1st5:00 p.m. Pasadena, California Rose Bowl Big 12 co-Champion and tie breaker winner Wisconsin matches up against an undefeated Texas Christian team, testing the Horned Frogs’ mettle against the upper level of auto-qualifier competition. TCU will be out to prove it belongs among the top tier of programs in the country, slighted by the BCS Championship Game due to strength of schedule, overriding its perfect regular season mark.8:30 p.m. Glendale, Arizona Fiesta Bowl Someone had to come out of the Big East, sending UConn, the least qualified of all BCS participants with a record 4 losses, into a David vs. Goliath matchup against the Big 12 Champion Oklahoma Sooners. The Huskies have reason to hope for the upset against the Sooners, however, as Oklahoma has struggled in bowl games of late, losing 5 of their last 7, without a BCS bowl win since the 2002 Rose Bowl. January 3rd8:30 p.m. Miami, Florida Orange Bowl Virginia Tech has rallied after two early season losses to win the ACC crown, going unbeaten over the remaining course of the schedule, earning a matchup with Pac-10 runner-up and 4 BCS ranked Stanford. The Cardinal have been the surprise of the season, suffering just an on the road loss to 1 ranked Oregon as their lone blemish in 2010.January 4th (more…)

The most popular sport in the world will crown its champion on July 11, approximately 90 hard fought minutes after a 2:30 p.m. kick-off. The final match will played at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, the most prominent of the several host cities South Africa has held games at over the course of World Cup play.The international tournament has been underway for weeks now, opening with a pairing between the host country of South Africa and Mexico who began competition with a 1 to 1 tie. The celebration began early for the home town crowd as Siphiwe Tshabalala found the back of the net for Bufana Bufana only ten minutes into the second half. While Mexico clawed back to secure the draw, the South Africans left with a feeling of optimism that they could compete with more premiere countries on a world stage. Unfortunately, their initial hope faded as South Africa became the first country in World Cup history to be eliminated in the Group stage of the tournament. The country of Ghana became the only African nation to advance to the round of 16, carrying that momentum to a surprise victory over the United States, eliminating the much hyped Americans home earlier than anticipated.While the home team had its struggles, traditional European football powers have had major issues as well. France, in particular, had a suffered a meltdown on the world stage when striker Nicolas Anelka was dismissed from the team following a confrontation coach Raymond Domenech. The French team showed their disdain by boycotting a training session just days before their early exit at the hands of South Africa. Defending World Cup champion Italy joined France with a shocking elimination in Group play, while England limped past the Group stage only to be dismantled by the Germans in their first Stage 2 game. With an anything but normal World Cup already afoot, look forward to an intriguing and exciting matchup in the final game.