The Rest of College Football

[entropy]

entropy...you really need a life. I care about 3 bowl games...the one our crew gets to do...the NC game...and the one NU plays in. Fuck the rest.

one of the bowl games I didn't watch was the NC. this year, I could have cared less

[Hannibal]

50% of the bowls could disappear and few would give a rats arse. Hell 75% could disappear and most wouldn't even notice.

I mostly agree, although I think that those 50% are worth keeping. IMHO the unique strength of the bowl system is its ability to provide an interesting post season for Top 25-ish teams that aren't quite NC-worthy.

[Tony G]

one of the bowl games I didn't watch was the NC. this year, I could have cared less

This

[Rob F]

A lot of really good points have been made over the last several posts, gentlemen.

I probably watched parts of at least 75% of the bowls this past post-season, but only because I gave myself some incentive to do so. And no, I didn't gamble a cent on any of them, just entered a few different bowl contests (including the one on this forum) to try to make it fun.

Hannibal and Wiz got it right - getting rid of about half, maybe even more, of the bowls would be a step in the right direction:

Originally Posted by THE_WIZARD_
50% of the bowls could disappear and few would give a rats arse. Hell 75% could disappear and most wouldn't even notice.
Hannibal: I mostly agree, although I think that those 50% are worth keeping. IMHO the unique strength of the bowl system is its ability to provide an interesting post season for Top 25-ish teams

---as in that scenerio, less games = more interest, because you would have to actually have a good team to participate. F*** the networks, f*** the flea-bag bowl committees with their fat-ass gladhanders wearing gawdy blazers. Bowl games need to go back to being don't-miss events , instead of programming filler for ESPN .

Other than the Sugar Bowl, there wasn't a single game I watched start-to-finish. Spent a good amount of time watching part or even most of each and every B1G game; otherwise, not a single one of them--- not even the MNC game(my "protest" over a rematch)---held enough interest for me to watch much.

The College post-season/Bowl season is a screwed up mess. Way too many bowls played in nearly empty stadiums, how the hell can you get excited about any of that? Is what you now see being passed off as Bowl Games what college football is all about? Hell NO!

Why should a 6-6 team get rewarded with a bowl game that practically nobody---even the citizens of the host cities---cares about. I got shouted down a couple seasons ago when I suggested that Michigan NOT go to a bowl game with a 6-6 record, and yes, I understand how the extra 2 weeks of practice help most teams get a leg up on the following season. but did any of you (Wiz, Talent, DSL---shut up) enjoy the pasting Missashitty State laid on us?

[Hannibal]

The NC game was a perfect storm of crapitude.

[*JD*]

There wasn't a NC game. That's the problem.

[Wild Hoss]

In the era of the 12-game schedule, 8 wins should be the minimum requirement for bowl participation IMO.

[THE_WIZARD_]

8 wins minimum would eliminate half the bowls. Used to be an 8-3 season was disappointing to the big dogs. 7-4 was unacceptable and less than 7 wins was atrocious. The crappy bowls from the 70's and previous were better than half the bowls now. If a playoff does indeed come...and I think it will...does anyone really think the "average" sports fan will even watch bowl games of 7-5 or even 8-4 teams...unless they are a fan of those teams...or a football fanatic? There just isn't enough interest gentlemen. I officiated a lower tier bowl a few years ago where there were less than 25,000 in attendance. Let me tell you I didn't view that as a reward. It was a shitfest. Even in the MWC we didn't have any regular season games as shitastic as that...and none had as few fans as that. I get more pumped to do a regular season game than a low end bowl...the bowls of this type mean far less.

Time to pare the numbers back. Even if it means fewer bowls for our crew to get...I would rather stay home (unless it is a bowl in Hawaii...heh)

[*JD*]

While it may mean something to the players, it's really just like getting a Participation Trophy if you finished 5th (or worse) in your league.

[Mike]

Count me among the group that would like to see far fewer bowls. Currently 70 teams go to a bowl game. That's 59% of all the teams in the bowl subdivision. The quality of the teams has been greatly dilluted and the conference tie-ins make the matchups even worse. Once you get passed the first few teams of each power conference it doesn't really matter. Does anyone get excited to see who is the better of the Big 12 #7 and the Big East #5 (or whatever)?

IMO, the NYD and BCS games (most of them) are still worth watching but that's about it.

[whodean]

Does anyone get excited to see who is the better of the Big 12 #7 and the Big East #5 (or whatever)?

Fans of those teams do, and that is what matters for the $$$, both from attendance and TV.

[hack]

Judging from all the empty seats, it's even questionable that all that many fans from non-power schools get worked up about going to C-list bowls. The money is there now. It may or may not be in the future; that's anyone's guess.

[Hannibal]

The only people who make money on the D-grade bowls are the bowls themselves. The schools lose money sending their teams, but they still do it because it's taboo to turn down a bowl invitation.

[whodean]

You are missing the impact on airlines, gas stations, Hotels, restaurants, other local businesses and governments (taxes)

As an example the lowly Poinsettia Bowl has an estimated $5mil impact on the local economy.

[Hannibal]

If that's the case, then let the local chamber of commerce cough up some more money.