A New Year is upon us and so is the most exciting time for football fans because of the NFL playoffs and the College Football National Championship.

In the NFL, 11 teams will seek to dethrone the New England Patriots, who claimed the title last season after winning Super Bowl 51.

A fun fact about this year’s postseason is that three teams in the playoffs are in the NFC South, the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons. Most people in southern Mississippi and Louisiana will be watching the Saints take on the Panthers Sunday afternoon. New Orleans won the NFC South division and is back in the playoffs for the first time in four years. Sunday, the Saints will face the Panthers for the third time this season. The Saints won both meetings in the regular season.

On the collegiate level, the Georgia Bulldogs will face-off against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the national championship Monday night. After a 54-48 victory against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, the Bulldogs will seek to win the team’s first national championship since 1980. On the other sideline, Nick Saban and Alabama come off a win against Clemson in the Sugar Bowl and now seek their fifth national championship in nine years.

Having lived in Georgia most of my life, it is no secret that I will be cheering for the Dawgs on Monday night when they take on the Crimson Tide in downtown Atlanta. At the same time, my focus will be on the Dirty Birds when they take on the Los Angeles Rams Saturday night during the first round of the NFL playoffs.

This is my favorite time of the year as a sports fan because at this stage of the season anything can happen. When it comes to matchups when everything is on the line, it is hard to predict the result, which makes the experience a lot better.  Sports fans across the country will plan to enjoy high quality football this weekend as I root for my favorite teams to come out victorious.