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| 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. 31, Citrus Bowl (Orlando), Texas vs. Michigan. Darned good matchup.
-- 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).
-- 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.
Remember when ND decided to play in the Cotton Bowl and LSU with 1 loss voted to stay home rather than play in a lesser bowl ? This money thing has been building for decades and my prediction is that it will keep going with no guard rails. T V needs content so broadcasting the INdependence Bowl makes sense. Who would push for change? The players are finally getting paid (a lot) for a possible 17 game season. Coaches are now about equal the pros with a shorter schedule. Administrators e.g. Stankey at $4mm a year. On and on. I think one of the big losses was blowing up the Pac 10. I still miss the USC v ND every year. Sorry fans but the genie is out , way out of the bottle.
ReplyDeleteFrom Stan Tiner: ’ll be surprised if there are any bowl games in five years. They have essentially been replaced by the playoffs. There is little interest by the public and the players don’t want to participate and risk injury before the draft. The CFP has eliminated the need for the bowls.
ReplyDeleteFrom Frank Bright: Lots of good stuff. Thanks. You didn’t mention that the teams that opt out of a bowl forego the valuable opportunity to gain additional practice time.
ReplyDeleteFrom Tim Looney: Yep! WAY TOO MANY bowl games. No interest in most of them.
ReplyDeleteFrom Bud Dean: Interesting article. You never lack for an opinion on how you really think about things. Keep going, my friend.
ReplyDeleteFrom Rick Price: Agree with all you say; however, a reader who might be new to watching college football might be inclined to read this and think Texas Tech invited something new -- paying players. The biggest players in the pay-to-play game (Texas, Ohio State, Bama, Oklahoma, Georgia) are mad because it was easier, and less expensive to pay under the table. Then Tech and Cody Campbell (among others) comes along and the price of poker increased substantially.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be federal legislation to create a college football commissioner just like the NFL, NBA, and MLB and set the rules on how NIL is to be played. Although I am not sure how that will happen. It is hard to put the toothpaste back into the tube.
From Jack Brown: Read a “piece” online about Troy Aikman being disgusted with NIL since his “significant” contribution to an “unnamed” athlete at UCLA who decide dto change schools never even generated a “thanks” for his money/contribution/support.
ReplyDeleteFrom Teddy Allen: You wrote, "Think we can all agree --- unless you really are a fan-atic --- there are far too many bowl games.” Fanatic or not (and I just LOVE BowlFest and watch as many as I can), why would anyone say there are TOO MANY? WHY? That is the question I wish you or someone would answer. How’s it bothering you? Why doesn’t someone write there are too many soap operas or game shows or CSIs? Why can’t the old retired guy who helps park cars at the Famous Potato Bowl have that joy ever year. WHY are there too many?
ReplyDeleteAnd here is an argument YOU make against YOUR argument later in the same effort:
“But if you are a player, wouldn't you want to play and compete and win another game?” YES! So WHY are there too many bowl games? Why not let these guys play? It is not bothering you AT ALL and it is fun and LOTS of people are involved in bowl stuff ALL YEAR so why not PROMOTE that?