Inundated with way too many bowl games, and affiliations that make no sense, it’s time for college football to rework their bowl system (since we’re not getting a playoff) so that college football fans and teams can get the matchups they deserve

SCOTT JACOBS

I’m not a fan of college bowl games.  Anyone whose read my posts on the past about it, probably knows that.  That said, I accept the current system that we have in place because:

1) I can’t do anything about it
2) I can’t do anything about it
3) Bowl games are great to kill lazy days during the middle of December
4) I still love college football

So, we’re stuck with college bowl games.  Because traditionalists like it that way.  Because schools make a lot of money that way.  Because conferences generate lots of money too.

But that doesn’t make these bowls logical.  When Boise State fell to Nevada in a game between two top 25 ranked teams (boast that Big East), Boise fell from it’s likely Rose Bowl slot all the way to probably the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.  Until today I didn’t even know where the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl was (Answer: San Francisco, formerly the Emerald Bowl I’m assuming).

Boise State will most likely be the bowl’s first choice in a year where they get first dibs at a pretty decent upper half of the WAC, which also includes Hawaii and Nevada. Great. Get your popcorn ready. Not.  Boise State’s fall into the Kraft Bowl would net them the Pac10’s 6th team (in other words, they’d have a pick of the litter after the the other bowls raid the Pac10 of it’s first 5 most appealing teams). As of now, the Pac10 doesn’t even have 6 bowl eligible teams! So most bowl projections are slotting in a mediocre, middling Miami team or Boston College.

Boise State was a decent kicker away from being in position for at worst, the Rose Bowl, and a date with the Big 10 champ (which will be Wisconsin). A pair of bad kicks later, and they’re looking at a mediocre ACC opponent.

The Gator Bowl (a game that is played on New Year’s Day) used to boast some quality matchups.  This year? Bowl projections have a floundering Florida squad at 7-5 taking on a forgettable Penn State team that’s been buried in the Big10 standings for over a month.  Is that worthy of a New Year’s Day game? Remember when New Year’s Day bowl games actually meant something?

I don’t know, maybe it’s the conferences that are to blame, but how is it that the SEC has 3 New Year’s day bowl affiliated games (not even counting their BCS bids which are almost always 2) but the ACC, Pac10, and Big East have none (unless you consider the Rose Bowl, which is a BCS game).

I get that the SEC and Big12 are hot ticket conferences, but I still can’t grasp the fact that the ACC’s second highest bowl game (outside of the Orange Bowl) is the ChicFilA Bowl.  Consider, the ACC’s second most sought after team gets to go to Atlanta to face… 5th or 6th team (which it’s always 6 cause the BCS takes 2 almost ever year from the SEC).  That leaves us with a matchup of either FSU or Virginia Tech versus Mississippi State? C’mon. How is that fair? You’re telling me the Pac10 can’t lock up a better second bowl than the Alamo Bowl?

Fortunately for the Pac10 this year, they’re in such good standing at the top (with Oregon undefeated and Stanford in the Top4) that they can even afford to relinquish their Rose Bowl slot (they have to by rule with TCU at number 3 but still). Oregon is one win from the national title game and Stanford will probably land in the Orange Bowl.

Other Bowls like the Liberty Bowl also strike me as blatantly lame.  The winner of Conference USA (expected to be UCF) gets a big heaping pile of mediocrity (served cold) as their reward is a date with the SEC’s 8th or 9th most desirable team (expected to be Georgia).

I feel like I run this rant every year, but these matchups seem to get worse and more disproportionate each year. The TicketCity Bowl features the 8th most desirable Big10 team versus the Big 12’s 8th best (assuming they even have 8 bowl eligible teams, which if they don’t CUSA’s 2nd best team gets to go). The expected matchup as of now: Northwestern versus Texas Tech. Yeah, the same Northwestern team that was gave up 70 points to Wisconsin. Just saying.

While Bowl games are a nice reward for the fans and players, it’s gotten to the point that money and affiliations play such an absurd role, that we’re getting a bunch of matchups that no one really cares about.  The SEC having like 4 teams play on New Year’s Day is just absurd.  Why don’t we rename New Year’s Day, SEC bowl marathon.  We can work something out so that the SEC can also send a representative to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl every year.

It’s not fair.  The system stinks. The affiliations are so very lame.

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