The First Bowl Game Kicks off December 13.
Football seasons stop being marathons in December when it comes to college football and the NFL. The most memorable title runs over the years often started once the weather turned and teams stepped up in a big way.
College Football uses December as a Launchpad
The 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes are the modern blueprint for a national title run that kicked off in December.
OSU walked into the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis on December 6th and demolished No. 13 Wisconsin 59–0. That’s what you would call a momentum-starter.
That win was the program’s 35th Big Ten title and forcing its way into the first College Football Playoff as the No. 4 seed. That one December night completely changed the bracket for the very first National Championship Game under the new CFP format. And it also shaped NFL rosters for years after that. The Buckeyes had a stacked lineup that could have stepped into the game for a few NFL teams that same month. Joey Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott, Eli Apple, and Michael Thomas were all starters for OSU.
Urban Meyer’s team hit December down to third‑string quarterback Cardale Jones, don’t forget.
Once they rode Jones, a top run game and ball-hungry defense into the CFP semifinals, Ohio State treated the playoff like an extended December hot streak. The Buckeyes beat No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl semifinal 42-35. That was a shock upset for most college football bettors and the sportsbooks. They had the Crimson Tide at -7.5.
Ohio State then finished the job against Oregon with another upset in the inaugural CFP National Championship in January 2015 with another 42 points while giving up just 20 to a Ducks team that featured Marcus Mariota. The Ducks came into the game favored by 5.5 points.
Ezekiel Elliott ran for an insane 246 yards and four touchdowns in that game, giving Ohio State the first national title of the playoff era.
The whole run doesn’t exist without that December statement in Indy. For betting fans, keep an eye for NCAA football teams in any season where they explode in December in a big game.
December can also produce defensive monsters. Alabama’s 2011 team ate up the SEC all season, then used the long bowl break to rest injuries, plan, and sharpen a defense that would deliver one of the toughest title-game performances ever. In the 2012 BCS National Championship Game on January 9, 2012, Alabama blanked LSU 21–0, holding the Tigers to just five first downs and 92 total yards. This was an LSU team with Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. too.
NFL Wild Cards use December to Get in Shape
If college football uses December to sort out contenders, the NFL uses it to sneak underdogs into the postseason.
A strong December run to the eventual raising of the Lombardi Trophy was all part of the 2007 New York Giants’ playbook. They finished the regular season 10–6 and entered the playoffs as a wild card. The Giants eventually became just the ninth wild card team to reach the Super Bowl and only the fifth to win it.
New York’s path was chaos. A word that sharps like to see.
They won three tough games in December to get them into position, and only lost in the final week of the regular season to a Patriots team that was in their peak Brady era. NYG was just 7-4 heading into December, anything but a sure thing for the playoffs.
After that December grind, the Giants beat the Buccaneers 24–14 in the NFC Wild Card round, then knocked off the top‑seeded Cowboys 21–17 in Dallas before outlasting the Packers 23–20 in overtime at a frozen Lambeau Field to reach Super Bowl XLII.
That made them just the third team in league history to win three road playoff games on the way to the Super Bowl.
Oh, and the Super Bowl itself? You might remember the Helmet Catch, David Tyree’s insane grab after a scramble by QB Eli Manning that should have ended with a sack. Then they put up a quick touchdown by Manning to Plaxico Burress on the way to a 17-14 win over the Patriots, who hadn’t lost a single game all season. It was unheard of to have any NFL team, much less a wild card entry, take down the perfect team during Tom Brady’s prime.
The entire trajectory of the ’07 Giants is a reminder for NFL betting fans: watch teams that get hot late. Catch them early enough in NFL Futures betting and the longer odds could provide serious value.
The 2010 Green Bay Packers followed a similar script. They slipped into the playoffs as a wild card and ultimately knocked off the Steelers 31–25 in Super Bowl XLV behind future HOF’er Aaron Rodgers. But the story really began with the way Green Bay closed with two critical wins in December and early January before ripping off 3 straight road wins in the playoffs. The Packers proved that December stress testing can turn an uneven regular season with 6 losses into a lethal playoff team.
What December Really Means
Across these historic streaks, the common thread isn’t only that teams got hot in December. Plenty of football teams get going for 3-4 week stretches.
It’s how teams handled the stress that December brings, with big games that can lead to early exits or deep playoff runs. Ohio State used the 2014 Big Ten title game as a must‑win audition and turned a third‑string quarterback into a player who can shoulder the load. The 2007 Giants and 2010 Packers rode late surges and road wins where they had no margin for error.
Championships rarely belong to the team that looks the prettiest on paper in September. They belong to the teams that survive the cold, intense weeks full of injuries and fatigue at the end of the calendar.