Football is slowly coming to an end, and it might be the saddest part of my year. I guess I need to start counting down the days until the NFL Draft in April.

Thursday, Dec. 27

College football (5:30-9 p.m., ESPN): The Duke Blue Devils make their first bowl appearance since 1995 against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Belk Bowl. … NBA (7 p.m.-12 a.m., TNT): Check out a good NBA double header with four potential playoff teams as the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics travel across the country to face the Los Angeles Clippers.

Friday, Dec. 28

College football (1-4 p.m., ESPN): A triple header starts as Louisiana-Monroe, who started the Arkansas free fall this year, gets a dose of MACtion against the Ohio Bobcats, suffering their own free fall, in the Independence Bowl.

Saturday, Dec. 29

College football (10:45 a.m.-12:30 a.m., ESPN & ESPN 2): Spend your Saturday with a bowl quadruple header starting with Rice against Air Force and ending with TCU against Michigan State with Navy facing Arizona State as the lone ESPN 2 game.

Sunday, Dec. 30

NFL (12-3 p.m., Fox): The New Orleans Saints close out the 2012 season at home against Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

Monday, Dec. 31

College football (6:30-10 p.m., ESPN): Before you ring in the new year, check out this excellent matchup in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl featuring LSU’s dominating defense against Clemson’s explosive offense.

Tuesday, Jan. 1

College football (11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., ESPN): Begin 2013 by watching college football all day long, leading off with Mississippi State versus Northwestern in the Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl.

Wednesday, Jan. 2

College football (7:30-11 p.m., ESPN): Big East champion Louisville Cardinals and revitalized SEC power Florida Gators rumble in New Orleans in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

A lot of sports stories focus on knuckleheads doing the wrong thing and making news for the wrong reasons. That’s why it is great to read about New York Giants Victor Cruz and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. These are two of the good guys in sports.