The powers-that-be in college football released the 2011-2012 bowl schedule on Friday.

Usually, the occasion is a non-event. But not this year. And here’s why: According to this farce of a schedule, the Rose Bowl–the single greatest event of the football calendar year–will not be played on New Year’s Day this season.

That’s right, folks. Because New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, and because some people in this country actually enjoy that drudgery they call the “National Football League” (motto: “Where we pretend to care about our fans.”), the traditional New Year’s Day bowl games, including The Grandaddy Of Them All, will be moved. The Rose Bowl will played on Jan. 2, along with the Chick-fil-A, TicketCity, Outback, Capital One and Gator Bowls.

Meanwhile, the Allstate Sugar Bowl will be played on Jan. 3 (does nobody else find it utterly ridiculous that a game as important as the Sugar Bowl has been relegated to a dreary January Tuesday?), the Orange Bowl will be played on Jan. 4, and the Fiesta Bowl be played on Jan. 5.