1) Football. The12-team college playoffs begin, with Oklahoma (shown here) and Alabama colliding at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Three more games are Saturday, with the four winners going on to play the top-ranked teams. Meanwhile, other bowl games continue on ESPN; today’s are 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. ET.
2) “Boston Blue,” 10 p.m., CBS. While Danny and Lena work a tough murder case, her mom (the district attorney) is facing a public backlash. All three CBS shows tonight have new episodes, then will rest until Feb. 27. “Fire Country” (9 p.m.) has a feud between neighboring stations; “Sheriff Country” has a face-off at a ranch, leading to a cliffhanger.
3) “Happy’s Place,” 8 p.m., NBC. It’s time to ponder (lightly) the matter of imbalanced romance — a student with her professor, a bar-owner with her cook. In a separate story, workers begin peeking into a stranger’s phone. That leads to a surprise: This moderately pleasant comedy gets a brief visit from two people who have been in great comedies.
4) “Stumble,” 8:30, NBC. For this show and “Happy’s Place,” it’s the last new episode until Jan. 23. Here, Courteney scrambles to find an assistant. There are some painful moments involving hapless Stephie, but some funny ones involving Courteney’s husband (well-played by Taran Killen) and her scheming ex-assistant (Kristin Chenoweth).
5) ALSO: At 8 and 9 p.m., Hallmark concludes its six-part series, with Mae Whitman in “Twelve Dates ‘Til Christmas.” Also from 8-10, CW has the cartoon movie “Yogi’s First Christmas” (1980).