Box Score 1/10: The CFP Championship was a slow burn

Want more news first thing in the day? Sign up for the Yardbarker Morning Bark newsletter here.

Good morning and welcome to the Yardbarker Box Score, what we're reading while we wait for college football to come back (the spring games).

Happy birthday to George Foreman, Karen and Sarah Josephson, Deon Figures, Glenn Robinson, Jake Delhomme and Vladimir Zharkov. On this date on 1982, Joe Montana hit Dwight Clark for "The Catch" as the Niners edged past the Cowboys 28-27 on their way to the Super Bowl. San Francisco head coach Bill Walsh's quote in the New York Times at the time:

''Joe is the quarterback of the future,'' Bill Walsh said. ''He's got a fine arm and he's got the quickness of feet that Joe Namath had.''

Daily brain workout

Name the members of the 49ers that were on both of the back-to-back Super Bowl XXIII and XXIV teams.

YB ICYMI

• Fine, we'll come out and say it. Our hearts said Clemson but our heads said Alabama so we're as pleasantly surprised as anyone with last night's College Football Playoff Championship. (Although we should have listened to our own reasoning of why the Tigers could win.)
• Remember as the season ends for more and more players as teams are eliminated in the playoffs players don't owe anyone a discount.
• We do however owe Chip Kelly a mulligan for his time with the Niners.
• Aaron Rodgers is "The Matador" in this week in NFL news as told by Johnny Cash.

Around the league

• Carli Lloyd was named FIFA's Women's Player of the Year yesterday. [Excelle Sports]
• Dirk Nowitzki opened up on his interracial marriage and how blending family customs together is a blessing. [The Undefeated]

When you start the season with a mission, you start the season with a mission.