Dec. 19, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Fresno State v. Wyoming

Dec. 19, 8 p.m., ESPN
Central Florida v. Rutgers

Dec. 20, 8:30 a.m., ESPN
Southern Miss v. Middle Tennessee State

Dec. 22, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 18 Oregon State v. No. 14 BYU

Dec. 23, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 23 Utah v. California

Dec. 24, 8 p.m., ESPN
Nevada v. Southern Methodist

Dec. 26, 1 p.m., ESPN
Marshall v. Ohio

Dec. 26, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 17 Pitt v. North Carolina

Dec. 26, 8 p.m., ESPN
Boston College v. No. 24 Southern Cal

Dec. 27, 8:30 p.m., ESPN
Kentucky v. Clemson

Dec. 28, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Texas A&M v. Georgia

Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
UCLA v. Temple

Dec. 29, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 15 Miami v. No. 25 Wisconsin

Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Bowling Green v. Idaho

Dec. 30, 8 p.m., ESPN
No. 20 Arizona v. No. 22 Nebraska

Dec. 31, Noon, ESPN
Houston v. Air Force

Dec. 31, 2 p.m., CBS
Oklahoma v. No. 21 Stanford

Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Navy v. Missouri

Dec. 31, 6 p.m., NFL Network
Minnesota v. Iowa State

Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 11 Virginia Tech v. Tennessee

Jan. 1, 11 a.m., ESPN
Northwestern v. Auburn

Jan. 1, 1 p.m., CBS
No. 16 West Virginia v. Florida State

Jan. 1, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Penn State v. No. 12 LSU

Jan. 1, 4:30 p.m., ABC
No. 8 Ohio State v. No. 7 Oregon

Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m., Fox
No. 5 Florida v. No. 3 Cincinnati

Jan. 2, Noon, ESPN2
South Florida v. Northern Illinois

Jan. 2, 2 p.m., ESPN
South Carolina v. Connecticut

Jan. 2, 2 p.m., Fox
No. 19 Oklahoma State v. Ole Miss

Jan. 2, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Arkansas v. East Carolina

Jan. 2, 9 p.m., ESPN
Michigan State v. Texas Tech

Jan. 4, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 6 Boise State v. No. 4 TCU

Jan. 5, 8 p.m., Fox
No. 10 Iowa v. No. 9 Georgia Tech

Jan. 6, 7 p.m., Fox
No. 25 Central Michigan v. Troy

Jan. 7, 8 p.m., ABC
No. 2 Texas v. No. 1 Alabama

It appears the garish ensemble will come out for the Florida State game (but there hasn’t been a definitive statement). The Seminoles will also be wearing the misfit creation, with a black helmet. Don’t drink too much, as you might not recognize who’s on the field. We haven’t found a picture of the side of the Florida helmet, but unless it’s got the old-school F on that white melon case, it’s going to be even more strange. Throw a blue helmet on there, and you’d swear it’s Kentucky.

The other ones are even weirder. LSU’s look like a direct rip from Washington. The helmets are gold. TCU’s entry has pants that look like scales and red stripes on the helmet. Horned frogs, you see, shoot blood out of their eyes. Miami has two-tone numbers, but the only tradition there is thuggery and fairweather fans, so that’s no big deal.

Former Alabama and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas, who died much too soon from complications resulting from a car wreck, will be in this year’s class to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Thomas, who was one of our all-time favorite football players of our lifetime, was an absolute pimp on the playing field for the Crimson Tide and after he went pro.

The Miami native still holds the Tide record for career sacks and sacks in one season, taking home the ’88 Butkus Award for the best linebacker in college football. He managed to finish 10th the the Heisman vote that season. What many will remember him for is an outrageous effort against the Seattle Seahawks in 1990 by sacking quarterback Dave Krieg a record seven times. The Chiefs offense couldn’t score enough points, unfortunately, to win the game.

His son, Darrion, will be at the podium during the induction ceremony. It’s an sad coincidence that Thomas also lost his dad when he was young, killed in action during the Vietnam War.

Carolina alum and former classmate Kent Babb did up Thomas good in the Kansas City Star, writing:

Rahman McGill isn’t Derrick’s son, but he is one of his kids.

The lunch crowd at a Kansas City restaurant is gone, and the dining room is quiet. The 23-year-old man eases toward the exit. His eyes scan the wall’s framed photographs, decades of history and the famous patrons who have eaten here. Pictures of success and power, of talent and influence.

McGill stops when he reaches the 8-by-10 of Derrick Thomas at a table surrounded by children.

“There he is,” McGill says, smiling.

Rahman the fifth-grader has become McGill the man, the graduate student at Alabama State, the kid who has kept in touch with Clarence Thomas after all these years. Eleven years ago, the justice promised McGill a clerkship when he gets his law degree. McGill hasn’t let him forget it. McGill says he wants to go to Harvard Law School. Nothing is impossible. Derrick taught him that.

“All I needed was a push,” he says, “to get to where I want to be.”

McGill isn’t the only success. There are hundreds of Derrick Thomas kids — proof that, nine years after his death, his influence remains.

“It’s rare that somebody touches so many lives,” McGill says, moving toward the door. “So many lives. In this society, you need people like that. People pass away all the time. But some people you have to keep alive.”

A great video of former teammates discussing Thomas can be found here.

As for his exploits on the field:
“The Hurricane Bowl” v. Texas A&M

D.T., 1990, courtesy of NFL Films