A football frenzy: It's playoff/bowl season

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti: He has the 
No. 1-ranked, unbeaten team: the story of the season

       If you are college football fan, welcome to bowl/playoff season. Have fun.

      Some of us, much as we like football, will pick our spots. Don't have time, or desire, to watch 47 "major" college games remaining on the schedule.

      Frankly, we're concerned about the state of the college football world. Where are we headed?

      Think we can all agree -- unless you really are a fan-atic -- there are far too many bowl games. Count 'em; wait, we'll save you some time ... 41, including four College Football Playoff quarterfinals and two semifinals.

       So, pardon the cynicism, how many bowls fall in the who cares category? Depends on your interests, and the teams involved.

       Personally, of course, we'll check the four first-round CFP games, and the seven (six bowls) playoff games thereafter through the Jan. 19 national-championship game. 

        Sorry, Notre Dame, Texas, Vanderbilt and Duke fans, the playoffs -- without your teams -- still look interesting. 

        Sure it's not fair. All of the now-"outsiders" can make their arguments, can whine and complain, and tell the world how unfair the system is. And in a way, it is. 

        Do, say, Tulane and James Madison belong in the final 12? Are those teams better than Notre Dame and Texas and maybe Vandy? Probably not. But to put the 12-team CFP system in place -- expanded from a Final Four -- it was set up to reward two "Group of Five" teams. So that's that.

        Still, it seems petty to me that Notre Dame -- players, coaches and administrators -- chose to say "no thanks" to playing in any bowl game. Why not take it out on some lucky opponent in a bowl to show the world that the committee made a big mistake.

     Can understand -- a little -- Iowa State and Kansas State skipping their bowl opportunities, what with their head coaches leaving their posts in the last week. But if you are a player, wouldn't you want to play and compete and win another game?

      Also a little hard to figure: Instead of taking the financial reward for playing in a bowl game, Iowa State and K-State will have to pay the Big 12 Conference a half-million dollars apiece for the privilege of skipping out. 

       What's money in today's college athletics? A generous booster or two will take care of it.

       Just as they take care of so many of the powerhouse programs in the CFP (we're looking at you, Texas Tech).

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       Other college football/bowl observations:

       -- The College Football Playoff expansion creates more interest ... and arguably less interest in so many of the other ("lesser") bowls.

        We wonder how many of those games, being propped up by ESPN TV money and scrambling to find corporate sponsors will be able to exist much longer.

        -- A big detriment in recent years: Players opting out, either preparing for possible NFL careers and not wanting to risk a bowl game/practice injury, or players knowing they are going into the transfer portal. 

       Thus, bowl teams with depleted rosters and not looking like they did in the regular season. Good opportunities for young, upcoming talent. 

       -- Coaching staffs in flux. Prime example, of course: Ole Miss without head coach Lane Kiffin. Rumor has it, he's now recruiting for LSU. And head coaches at Tulane, James Madison and others have accepted other jobs.

       -- Oh, those bowl names (corporate sponsors). Won't bore you with all of them, just the first week's games (Dec. 13-19): Cricket Celebration, LA Bowl (hosted by Gronk), Salute to Veterans, Cure, 68 Ventures, Xbox, Myrtle Beach, Gasparilla. 

      -- Learned today that the Xbox game is a new one, Dec. 18, at The Star (Dallas Cowboys' facility) in Frisco (our area). It's a first-ever bowl for Missouri State; the opponent is Arkansas State. How exciting.

       -- There are 16 games the week of Dec. 22-27, half of them on Saturday (plus three CFP games that day).

       -- One neat aspect: The four traditional "major" bowls are the CFP quarterfinals -- Cotton on New Year's Eve, Orange, Rose and Sugar  (in that order) on New Year's Day. Cue the Rose Bowl parade that morning. 

     -- Know that the CFP committee made its first-round pairings based on its seedings. But two matchups, we think, are unfortunate. Ole Miss again plays a Tulane team it beat by 35 points (45-10) on Sept. 20. Oklahoma plays host to Alabama; the Sooners already proved they can beat the Tide, 23-21 in Tuscaloosa no less on Nov. 15. (Not fair they have to do it again.)

      -- Love this title I saw: Miami at Texas A&M is the "We Beat ND Bowl." (The Irish lost to both to open the season, then won the rest of its games. Not enough to erase the damage.)

      -- Can we all agree that Indiana -- unbeaten Big Ten champion, a first-ever No. 1 in the rankings -- is the story of this season ... so far.

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      Personal choices: Other than the playoff games, the only bowls that interest me:

     -- Dec. 27, Texas Bowl (Houston), LSU vs. Houston. Which Tigers team will show up? No offense to that thought.            

     -- Dec. 30, Alamo Bowl (San Antonio), Southern Cal vs. TCU. We live in Fort Worth, lots of Frogs where we are.

    -- Dec. 30, Music City Bowl (Nashville), Tennessee vs. Illinois. Family connection with the Vols.

     -- Dec. 30, Independence Bowl (Shreveport), Louisiana Tech vs. Coastal Carolina. Alma mater playing in my hometown. Ever Loyal Be (to Tech).

  -- Dec. 31, Citrus Bowl (Orlando), Texas vs. Michigan. Darned good matchup.

      -- Jan. 2, Armed Forces Bowl (only because it's in Fort Worth), Texas State vs. Rice. Won't watch it.

      Happy playoff/bowl season ... I think.