The Football Bowl Association, not a made-up organization although it does sound like one, has released the full slate of college football bowl games that will make up the culmination of the 2011 season. January 1 falls selfishly on a Sunday next year, and as anticipated earlier this spring, the vagaries of the upcoming (if currently theoretical) NFL season will necessitate the shuffling of all college football action off the New Year's Day schedule. (This does mean the TicketCity Bowl won't continue to ridiculously occupy the hallowed January 1 spot on the calendar, but it's now the same day as the Rose Bowl, which is just as upsetting).
Some assorted highlights from the new schedule:
• In six months and a couple hours, the 2011 bowl season will kick off with the New Mexico Bowl at 2 p.m. EST. The Humanitarian and New Orleans Bowls round out the opening day triple-header.
• The Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls are scheduled, respectively, for January 2, 3, 4, and 5, 2012. This year's title game rotates to New Orleans, on January 9.
• You'll be able to watch each game uninterrupted until the New Year's Eve barrage, when The CapitalOne, Outback, and Gator Bowl all kick off at 1 p.m.
• The Cotton and BBVA Compass Bowls are apparently still allowed to play after the BCS games but before the title game, a travesty that should be brought to the attention of the Justice Department with all haste.
• There is only one bowl on FOX. Football gods be praised.
• The GoDaddy.com Bowl is still unscheduled. Here's an idea: If the BBVA Compass Bowl, which we are assured is a real thing, can plant itself in the middle of BCS week, why not put it the GoDaddy mid-January? The more bottom-feeding bowls we can latch onto this system, the closer we'll eventually edge to year-round college football.