Hang the snubbed champ banner, BYU. Plus: Michigan lucks into Kyle Whittingham

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You would probably like to see the actor Keegan-Michael Key bequeath a large basin of beans to Louisville players while a giant bird with teeth looms nearby in a beans-bedecked bucket hat. The GIF of that is at the bottom of this email.

Breakfast of Champions: BYU wins silly sideshow with storyline stakes

Yesterday was, volume-wise, the biggest day of the postseason in major college football. There were eight nationally televised bowl games, highlighted by:

This Orlando-based bowl — formerly the Cheez-It, Camping World, Champs Sports, etc. — took on the Pop-Tarts label in 2023. Thanks to its embrace of absurd spectacle, it has quickly come to define all of non-Playoff bowl season, becoming both a truly mainstream crossover event … and as a stand-in for all of bowl season’s alleged frivolity. (When Ole Miss coach Pete Golding was asked about the challenge of keeping the Rebels focused after Lane Kiffin left, he said it was no problem because this was the Playoff and not the Pop-Tarts Bowl.)

It’s long been a common refrain that non-Playoff bowls don’t matter. Player and coach opt-outs (even whole-team opt-outs) have watered them down a bit. Per-game attendance is lower than it was 25 years ago, while the number of bowls has almost doubled in that span. As far back as 2000, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese was telling reporters that the BCS Championship (est. 1998) had created a “hangover” in bowl attendance. Conversations about the viability of bowls are not unprecedented, not at any point in the past hundred years.

But if people vote with their remote controls, then non-Playoff bowls are far from dead. TV ratings have performed well in recent years. When numbers for this weekend come out, they will probably look nice yet again.

That will certainly be the case for yesterday’s biggest Pop-Tarts Bowl yet. Final score: No. 12 BYU 25, No. 22 Georgia Tech 21. The Cougars overcame a 21-10 fourth-quarter deficit, sealing it with an interception of Haynes King in the end zone. (A shame for King’s excellent college career to end that way, but alas.) The postgame sacrifice of multiple Pop-Tarts then included a cliffhanger, as the Protein Pop-Tart (sure, try to keep up) declined to be sacrificed, vowing to return. Also, you will not believe how quickly Kalani Sitake can house a celebratory pastry.

BYU claims another mantle here: The Cougars are now the non-Playoff national champions of 2025. Remember, Notre Dame decided not to Pop-Tart. Perhaps the Irish could’ve beaten BYU in what would’ve been a legitimately huge game, then used it as additional evidence that the committee had screwed them by taking Alabama instead. Instead, Notre Dame left that lane open for someone else.

The Pop-Tart Bowl just feels right as the place to crown the Snubbed National Champ, whose fans can now spend the offseason insisting that things would’ve gone down differently if their team had been allowed in the Playoff. Congrats to the Cougars. Hang the banner.

Elsewhere, with just a few days left in bowl season:

Preseason No. 2 Penn State beat preseason No. 4 Clemson 22-10 in yesterday’s Pinstripe. With both finishing 7-6, Dabo Swinney’s Tigers are thus the season’s biggest flop. “This is the greatest moment in my life,” said 4-3 Nittany Lions interim Terry Smith, who will stay put on Matt Campbell’s staff.
Last night, No. 19 Virginia completed its best season in three decades or so (13-7 over 8-5 Missouri in the Gator), No. 21 Houston completed a quiet 10-win season (38-35 over LSU as Lane Kiffin swayed around in the broadcast booth) and No. 25 North Texas beat 9-4 San Diego State in a 49-47 New Mexico eruption.
Christmas Eve’s 35-31 Hawaii Bowl comeback by the Rainbow Warriors over Cal was the best non-breakfast-themed game of FBS’ postseason so far, even capped by multiple holiday brawls.
Did you know Minnesota has won nine bowls in a row, FBS’ longest active streak? Most recently: Friday’s 20-17 win against 9-4 New Mexico in the event called “the Rate Bowl.” The record: 11 by 1985-1996 Florida State.
Full scores and schedule, with Appalachian State-Georgia Southern Part II up tomorrow.

Bailed Out: Messy Michigan lands Whittingham

Much like Penn State, which put together a 54-day carnival of mystery before hiring a guy who would’ve been considered a great choice as Option 1A, the Wolverines managed to stumble into a top-tier hire despite not exactly behaving as if they’d deserved it. To recount:

Dec. 10: Michigan fired Sherrone Moore, adding another high-profile debacle to what has been a deeply soiled mutli-year run by Warde Manuel’s athletic department.
Dec. 12: Kyle Whittingham stepped down after 21 years at Utah. After turning the Utes over to longtime coach-in-waiting Morgan Scalley, the winningest coach in school history soon described himself as being in the transfer portal, rather than having retired.
Dec. 26: Michigan hired Whittingham to a five-year deal.

Excluding Whittingham’s outrageously injured 5-7 team of 2024, he’s averaged 9.7 wins over the past six full seasons. Counting 2025’s upcoming finish (No. 15 Utah plays Nebraska on Wednesday), his Utes had top-20 seasons in three different conferences, including a No. 2 ranking after beating Nick Saban’s 2008 Alabama as a Mountain West team. He also had fewer scandals per decade than Michigan has recently averaged per week.

His squads, always thumpy and relentless, look like what Big Ten teams want to look like — far more Big Ten than actual Big Ten member USC, which lost its last four games against Whittingham. According to Shutdown Fullcast listener Sarah, who used to work in Utah’s athletic department, the coach once appreciated the podcast joke that his offenses play like they’re made of 11 fullbacks. Now pair all that grit-itude with one of the sport’s best-bankrolled rosters.

So why’d Whittingham part ways with Utah? That’s a whole other mess. I won’t pretend to know the conversations between him and AD Mark Harlan, though I have read lots of locals blaming Harlan for a statue-worthy coach walking away. First-time head coach Scalley might fill the shoes capably … or might not.

At 66, Whittingham is presumably less of a long-term solution and more of a capable manager who’ll pass along an up-to-code program in a few years. It feels like an undersell to say it’ll probably look better than it does right now. If nothing else, the Days Since Michigan Has Been A National Embarrassment counter might be able to take a break.

Quick Snaps

💸 Maybe my favorite headline I’ve ever seen on our site: “The college football spending cap is brand new, and here’s how schools already are ignoring it.” One-click crash course on college football money in 2026.

📰 News from the past few days:

“A lawyer representing Vanderbilt University quarterback and 2025 Heisman Trophy finalist Diego Pavia began a legal filing with a poem.”
“Missouri DE Damon Wilson II sues Georgia, setting up landmark player vs. school NIL legal battle. … It’s believed to be the first time a player and school have taken each other to court over an NIL dispute.”
“Longtime Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock, the architect of the 3-3-5 defensive scheme that spread throughout the Big 12 and the rest of college football in recent years, announced his retirement.”
“Matchups involving major brands helped the College Football Playoff deliver its two highest-rated first-round games on record last weekend. However, games involving Group of 5 teams became the two lowest-rated contests in the 12-team CFP’s two-year history.” Unsurprising numbers.

🌀 Very bold proclamations here: Predicting all 68 of next season’s Power 4 starting QBs. North Texas’ Drew Mestemaker to Oregon, not Oklahoma State? Following your coach feels like a good idea until Phil Knight says otherwise.

Mementos

As promised, here is a beans GIF:

If you weren’t able to have a de facto five-day weekend, I hope you’re able to make up for it today. Finish strong. Say hey at untilsaturday@theathletic.com if you want.

RETRUI