Bowl season is winding down, which means college football season is coming to a close.

Three Big Ten teams battled on New Year’s Day. Two, Michigan and Wisconsin, lost to Alabama and Oregon, respectively.

Michigan lost largely because their offense couldn’t sustain drives against a good Alabama defense. They had their opportunities, but Shea Patterson couldn’t hit a receiver more than 10 yards down the field. Late in the game, he had a guy open by a full ten yards, but instead hit the Alabama defender in stride for an easy interception. It was an awful performance.

It leads to the question; how much longer will Jim Harbaugh be around?

Wisconsin destroyed themselves with turnovers. They moved up and down the field against Oregon, racking up a lot of yardage, but repeatedly shot themselves in the foot in ways that were mind-boggling. Their punter dropped the ball for no apparent reason, resulting in an Oregon touchdown. They committed four turnovers in all; Oregon takeways lead to 21 points.

Minnesota dominated Auburn. DOMINATED. You can call PJ Fleck a goofball, hate his personality and his “Row the Boat” theme, but it don’t matter, son, because he has that team and their fans believing. He will continue to be a thorn in Nebraska’s side as long as he’s the head of the Gophers.

Key on Minnesota? Their offensive line pushed Auburn around like they were a G5 team. The Gophers were without 400-lb behemoth Daniel Faalele, yet they opened holes in the Tigers’ defense a truck wide. Tanner Morgan played well, Tyler Johnson set records and Minnesota had a historic season.

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Minnesota takes down Auburn, 31-24, in the Outback Bowl - The Daily Gopher
In his final game in maroon and gold, Tyler Johnson delivered a historic performance worthy of the Outback Bowl MVP, leading the Minnesota Golden Gophers past the Auburn Tigers, 31-24. The senior wide receiver finished the game with 12 receptions, 204 receiving yards, and two touchdowns, including the game-winner.

Penn State Parts Ways With Offensive Line Coach Matt Limegrover - Black Shoe Diaries
James Franklin now finds himself in the market for a new assistant coach on offense

FULL RECAP: No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers’ chances at winning Rose Bowl wilt due to turnovers and penalties in 28-27 loss to No. 6 Oregon Ducks - Bucky's 5th Quarter
Wisconsin has now lost four straight Rose Bowls.

Wisconsin football: grading Wisconsin’s fourth straight Rose Bowl loss - Bucky's 5th Quarter
I don’t want to write this because I’m so mad. But I love you, B5Q readership.

Herbert Ends Career as a Eugene Legend, Ducks 28 - Badgers 27

Full recap of the game.

It feels great to be proven wrong - The Champaign Room
It’s okay to brush aside any ego; it’s even better to admit this season was an absolute blast.

Tom Allen was 2019’s best P5 coaching value - The Crimson Quarry
IU paid the lowest dollar amount per regular-season win to its head coach of all the Power 5 schools this season

Ohio State reaches out to five-star transfer RB Lorenzo Lingard - Land-Grant Holy Land
According to Chris Boyle of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Ohio State is one of five schools to reach out to Lorenzo Lingard — a former five-star recruit at Miami that has since entered the transfer portal. Lingard was the No. 2 RB in the 2018 class, and the No. 25 recruit overall. Originally one of the Buckeyes’ top targets at the time of his recruitment, Lingard had made two unofficial visits to Columbus as there was clearly mutual interest on both sides before he ultimately chose the Hurricanes.

What Went Wrong: A look at the plays that cost Ohio State the Fiesta Bowl - Land-Grant Holy Land
Bad breaks were aplenty for the Buckeyes in the 29-23 loss.

Nick Saban addresses statement Alabama wanted to make against Michigan - Maize n Brew
Alabama had a disappointing season by their standards but found a reason to get up for the Citrus Bowl.

Media pummels Jim Harbaugh after Alabama loss

In the end, it was another typical performance from Jim Harbaugh against a quality team.

Jeers came from all angles during the second half of Michigan’s 35-16 loss to Alabama in Wednesday’s Citrus Bowl, the latest setback for the Wolverines in the postseason.

Michigan led by two points at intermission after dominating the line of scrimmage and time of possession in the first half before the wheels came off and execution failed after that.

Why Rose Bowl is called ‘Rose Bowl,’ & 5 other weird facts - Banner Society
Why are bowl games called “bowl games?” The answer to that and several other questions go back to the Rose Bowl.

Ohio State fans vs. ESPN conspiracy theories: a history - Banner Society

Your periodic journey through the most infuriated sectors of the college football internet visits an old friend.

This is absolutely beautiful.

Why we love the Rose Bowl so much - Banner Society
Most of the time, the Rose Bowl is a cog in the machine it created. And then one afternoon each year, it’s a dream made real.

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I know a lot of you didn’t care at all for Tim Beck when he was here at Nebraska, but let me ask you - how many teams, college or pro, actually like their offensive coordinators?

Rutgers alumnus David Stern passes away at age 77 - On the Banks
The former NBA Commissioner was a giant in the game.

Don Larsen, Yankee Who Pitched Only Perfect Game in World Series, Dies at 90 - The New York Times
When Larsen took the mound against the Brooklyn Dodgers on the afternoon of Oct. 8, 1956, he was in the fourth season of an unremarkable career.

Then There’s This

The IRS is done letting TurboTax easily steer you away from filing taxes for free - The Verge
In April, ProPublica reported that TurboTax and H&R Block were misleading people into paying to file their taxes, when they should have been able to file for free. They did this through stopping the free versions of their software from showing up in search engine results. Now, the IRS has enacted policy that ends the practice of hiding the free versions from search engines.

The Witcher’s success is held back by Netflix’s release strategy in a post-Game of Thrones world - The Verge

The Witcher could be Netflix’s next hit, but by relying on a single binge-watch friendly drop instead of a viewer-friendly weekly release schedule, it’s limiting its potential.

I haven’t gotten through “The Witcher” yet, but it is one of my favorite video games of all time. I don’t disagree with the concept here - that Netflix is actually hurting itself by dumping entire series or seasons at once, because I don’t have time to binge watch this stuff like other people apparently do.

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WHAT IS GOING ON IN WESTERN NEBRASKA?

‘It’s Creepy’: Unexplained Drones Are Swarming by Night Over Colorado - The New York Times
They come in the night: Drones — lots of them — flying in precise formations over the Colorado and Nebraska prairie.

Whose are they? Unknown.

Why are they there? Unclear.

“It’s creepy,” said Missy Blackman, who saw three drones hovering over her farm outside Palisade, Neb., on a recent evening, including one that lingered right above her house. “I have a lot of questions of why and what are they, and nobody seems to have any answers.”

Since before Christmas, sheriff’s departments in the region have been bombarded with reports of large drones with blinking lights and wingspans of up to 6 feet flying over rural towns and open fields. The drones have unnerved residents, prompted a federal investigation and made international news, even though they may be perfectly legal. And still, they remain unexplained.

Mysterious drone swarms over Colorado and Nebraska unleash origin theories
He and his girlfriend, Chelsea Arnold, said they pursued the lights for about 15 miles, driving as fast as 70 mph.

”It’s more unnerving than anything,” Arnold said.

The couple came no closer to figuring out who or what could be behind the squadron of drones. Still, the theories abound, with some people speculating that private companies could be using the aerial robots to survey for oil or natural gas or that someone’s doing practice runs for drone shows at sporting events or theme parks.

Witnesses capture video of apparent drones in Yuma County
Jennifer Rollins was visiting her parents in rural Yuma County the day after Christmas when her husband looked up and said, “Hey, look, some drones.”

“We thought he was kidding because we’ve been reading the news stories,” she said.

But he wasn’t — up in the air was some sort of contraption, with red and flashing white lights, that rotated as it moved up and down through the sky.

What the hell is going on here? I’d really like to know.....