Bowl games are wonderful, but there are too many of them. And a potential 2014 eligibility change could be one more step along the way to a superior postseason.
Jan 25, 2012 - College football's postseason is about to change. While the current BCS agreement expires after next year, with a one-round playoff tacked on to the end of bowl season looking like the most likely adjustment, the current overall bowl arrangement is also up for a change. And, for once, it could actually mean fewer bowls, not more:
@McMurphyCBS College football sources told
@CBSSports there's "strong support" to increase bowl eligibility to 7 wins in 2014
That means no more .500 teams being rewarded with bowl trips, and definitely no more teams with losing records in the postseason. if this had been the rule for 2011-2012, the following teams would've no longer been eligible: the Arizona St. Sun Devils, Florida Gators, Illinois Fighting Illini, Iowa St. Cyclones, Marshall Thundering Herd, Mississippi St. Bulldogs, Northwestern Wildcats, Ohio St. Buckeyes, Pittsburgh Panthers, Purdue Boilermakers, Texas A&M Aggies, UCLA Bruins, Vanderbilt Commodores, and Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
That's 14 teams, which means seven bowl games lopped off right away. Or six bowls, with a spot freed up for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, who did win seven games and were still not invited. Either way, we'd be below 30 bowl games for the first time since 2005.
That's six (or seven) battalions of neon-blazered bowl scouts who'll have to obtain free passes to totally unrelated games without aid of bowl game affiliation. It would mean leaving only 58 or 56 spots for bowl-eligible teams, which would actually be fewer than half the teams in the nation again.
Not really anything new. Bowls have arrived and left literally since the bowl system began, but it would be a rage change to drop multiple games without replacing them. Dozens of bowls have just up and stopped, including games that began in the '20s and '30s and two that were first played within the last six years. So how to decide which six (or seven) to scrap?
If we went by 2011 attendance, we'd be out the following:
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Attendance 29,878
BBVA Compass Bowl: Attendance 29,726
Idaho Potato Bowl: Attendance 28,076
New Mexico Bowl: Attendance 25,762
Military Bowl: Attendance 25,042
Poinsettia Bowl: Attendance 24,607
Beef ‘O' Brady's Bowl: Attendance 20,072
Or TV ratings, which can't be fudged by the games themselves:
Independence: 1.53
Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl: 1.52
Military Bowl: 1.5
BBVA Compass Bowl: 1.49
Hawaii Bowl: 1.44
Armed Forces Bowl: 1.43
GoDaddy Bowl: 1.24
If a game appears on both lists, it's pretty safe to say few would mind losing it. Or we could lose the seven newest or the seven with the smallest payouts.
The counters, of course, would come from (A) hardcore football fans ("But the Armed Forces Bowl was great!") and (B) those who profit from the bowl system ("What about the seven bowl games that provided the most smiles to senior student-athletes? I'd like to see your math come up with that list," along with, "But the city of _____'s economy depends on that bowl game."). To these, we'd say, (A) it was, but hang on a second, and (B) why not have 60 bowl games, with two more on the way to account for South Alabama, UMass, UT-San Antonio and Texas State?
Regarding MORE FOOTBALL. The end game here is hopefully a Division I-A playoff supplemented by bowl games run by conferences, not bowl committees. We remember bowl games that end in spectacular fashion, not necessarily bowl games that are fiercely contested for 60 minutes. Every playoff game would mean something to every player on the field. If we think this applies to bowl games, we are among the many billions of people who did not watch the Compass Bowl.
Also, yes, bowl games benefit the communities in which they're played. Schools lose money on bowls, but cities do very well. However, not sure why we'd assume any city deserves the economic gain associated with an Alabama game more than Tuscaloosa does.
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Air Force wouldn't
have been eligible either because they had two victories against FCS teams, making them a six-win team under NCAA bowl eligibility rules.
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by Russ Oates on Jan 25, 2012 11:19 AM EST reply actions
What exactly is a "Beef 'O' Brady?"
A brand of canned soup?
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by CMDR on Jan 25, 2012 11:20 AM EST reply actions
Restaurant chain.
by angellen on Jan 25, 2012 11:49 AM EST up reply actions
Sounds delightful.
@ccommand3r
by CMDR on Jan 25, 2012 12:40 PM EST up reply actions
attendance
Would the bowls listed be any different if they were listed as a percentage of capacity? Ladd-Peebles in Mobile holds a lot less people than the massive amount of empty seats in Whatever-the-baseball-Giants-play-in-now Stadium
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by AU_Jonesy on Jan 25, 2012 12:13 PM EST reply actions
Unless its a sellout why would the stadium size matter?
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by Tim Riordan on Jan 25, 2012 2:01 PM EST up reply actions
Ladd Peebles: 40, 646
AT&T Park: 41, 915 (for baseball, anyway)
Not exactly a staggering disparity.
by halfwaytoheaven on Jan 26, 2012 1:40 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah
But they added seats for the football game.
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by Jessy S on Jan 30, 2012 11:38 PM EST up reply actions
Two thoughts
1) There are going to be more teams in the next few years. I don’t think you’ll see as many as the 14 you would need join but there may be enough to feed some more wins to borderline mid majors.
2) I fully expect that 7 games to bowl will mean a 13 game schedule.
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by Tim Riordan on Jan 25, 2012 2:02 PM EST reply actions
Great,
another game for Kansas to lose
by illmitch on Jan 25, 2012 6:44 PM EST up reply actions
I was thinking this too
It isn’t that hard anyway. Just extend the season to the second weekend in December and add another game.
I'm a proud fan of the Minnesota Twins and Dallas Cowboys!
"Life is precious and time is a key element. Let’s make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own." – Harmon Killebrew
I would like to see Dallas vs the Giants on Thanksgiving, Make it happen NFL!
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by Jessy S on Jan 30, 2012 11:41 PM EST up reply actions
Isn't this still a capitalist society?
I don’t see any reason to cut back the bowl system. If no one is making any money on the experience then they wouldn’t be hosting the event. If the players didn’t want to play then there would probably be at least a little bit of an outcry. If the schools didn’t want to give their players another advantage for the next year by adding a month of practice then they could refuse the invite. If the broadcasters weren’t making it worth their while would they air it?
The only people who are clamoring for contraction of the bowl games are the ones that say they aren’t entertaining enough, but would you rather be watching the world series of poker or some other lame event which would fill the space on ESPN.
I, for one, think that contraction would just lead to fewer teams regularly having extra practice which helps to keep them a step ahead of the other teams which are trying to catch up. Do we really need to help these guys out any more?
by FLJhawk on Jan 26, 2012 8:57 AM EST reply actions
I didn't watch any
bowl games with the exception of the Fiesta and Cotton bowls. The whole thing is just a dumb exhibition w/o a playoff.
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by labbadabba on Jan 26, 2012 9:35 AM EST up reply actions
For the majority of bowl games only the bowl game is making money by selling its TV rights (since ticket sales aren’t that strong). The schools end up being shaked down by having to put up their team/entourage for a full week at predetermined hotels and pay for X amount of tickets to sell (usually not the greatest seats either).
Schools are lucky to break even after the bowl payout. So basically the location and the bowl are profiting and the school’s AD and president are ok with it because it satisfies the fan base and also it satisfies those on the team/coaching staff. IMO they could put the money to better use, maybe decreasing student fees for the athletic department.
I somehow doubt the extra practice time is going to change who is in the MNC game, I figure if you aren’t a 7 win team the year before you aren’t going undefeated, or close to it, the next season. But I guess it will effect the conference races.
by sevendeadlies on Jan 26, 2012 10:57 AM EST up reply actions
I don't know how much students...
pay towards the AD funds at most D-1 schools. I don’t really remember it being very much when I was in college but maybe my school was atypical.
It might not make that much of a difference for the national champion but I guarantee another month of practice and another game is helpful for the freshman-junior classes of that 6-6 team which may be in a dogfight against a 7-5 rival for conference superiority.
What’s it hurt to have them? You can always just not watch.
by FLJhawk on Jan 26, 2012 11:51 AM EST up reply actions
I couldn't find how much students pay alone...
but here is a breakdown of the AD’s around the country that aren’t self sustaining, they need outside revenue to subsidize them. (student fees, state support, along with donor support). Seems like a good deal of the BCS teams have some level of support, I dunno it still seems like a wasteful transfer of money from students,state gov’t, donors to bowl committees and sunny locales to me.
by sevendeadlies on Jan 26, 2012 12:23 PM EST up reply actions
doh the link....
by sevendeadlies on Jan 26, 2012 12:27 PM EST up reply actions
if it will insert...
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2011-06-23-2011-athletic-department-subsidy-table_n.htm?loc=interstitialskip
by sevendeadlies on Jan 26, 2012 12:28 PM EST reply actions
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