Bowls are cool and all, but…

[NickTheGreat]

In 50 years, when College FB isn't a thing anymore, this is going to be one chapter in the books written of what went wrong. If the players aren't interested in playing, the fans aren't going to be interested in watching. That's not a very sustainable business plan.

 

[CloniesForLife]

Make bowl games pay the players winning team gets an extra bonus. Lots of motivation then.

 

[alarson]

NIL ruined bowl season. We now watch exhibition games where NFL prospects are sitting out and backup QB's are playing due to transfer portal exodus.

NIL has ruined a lot of things, but I'm not sure I'd put bowl season on it entirely. It increases the portal transfers who arent playing but there were opt outs of star players protecting their nfl futures before

NIL may actually be the path to getting some of those players to play, if the bowls can fork out the money

 

[clonehome]

What's a little interesting is the QB at USC is pulling a bigger check than Purdy. An NFL MVP candidate on a top NFL team is sharing an apartment while a top college QB is in the $2 mil range.

Then there’s Arch Manning. I thought I read that his contract is $3 mil and he was 3rd string for Texas. I’m calling it a contract heretofore because it has nothing to do with name, image or likeness. It is simply a pro contract.

 

[ricochet]

Then there’s Arch Manning. I thought I read that his contract is $3 mil and he was 3rd string for Texas. I’m calling it a contract heretofore because it has nothing to do with name, image or likeness. It is simply a pro contract.

I get your point but technically a bad example since much of that money is absolutely because of his name. If the exact same person was named Ry Leaf instead of Arch Manning he wouldn’t have got nearly as much money.

 

[pourcyne]

Not sure that NIL ruined bowl season, but $$$$$ definitely has.

I remember when it was just the Rose Bowl, and the Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl without any name brands attached. Those were the days.

Now we have the Summer Eve's Douche Bowl and the Chronic Jock Itch Bowl, with 47 other equally and ignominiously sponsored games.

Meh. Just meh.

 

[CNECloneFan]

Given that we are now dealing with professional athletes, and the facade of "student athlete" is finally, officially shattered, lets have the bowl games in early December, and then the winners of those advance to a playoff in January.

Season still matters

Bowl games matter

Everyone earns money, and the fans are happy

 

[Die4Cy]

Glad to see many others in support of this while recognizing the decline in Bowl interest.

I think there could be two tournaments with 24 postseason qualifiers
The first is essentially the P5 teams, the second is the G5 teams.

Run it exactly like the FCS playoff model, byes, home games and all of that. Could do neutral sites for Final Four or something.

I'd start the playoff Thanksgiving weekend. No mythical conference championship games. I understand the conferences make money on these games, so getting rid of them would be met with resistance. I'd argue it is easy to identify a conference champion without an extra game being played. It may result in some co-champions, but that was acceptable for 80 years, it can be acceptable again.

The real key in all of this? Meaningful postseason games. If you're 6-6, nice job, but you don't make the postseason. Just like, well, literally every other level of football in the USA

What is that, 5 more games at the end of a 12 game season to win a championship? Why?

There isn't really an argument for more than about 8 teams to contend for a title every year, probably less than that.

If you want more good games, make a strong strength of schedule outside of your conference a factor in any playoff selection computation.

A lot of these ideas are going in the wrong direction if you want the games to matter during the season.

 

[jctisu]

I honestly do not care either way for bowl games. Fun to see your team one more time before we get into the doldrums of winter and no more football. So give me that over nothing.

But my favorite thing is how attaching this term “bowl” makes the game something different and adds this mystique. Like when people talk about bowl games it gets kind of weird. A bowl champion/championship! Ok, so you won a game only two teams get invited to play and not a single team is setting out at the start of the season saying “we need to win the Liberty Bowl championship.”

Idk the fascination of just attaching a word to an exhibition has always made me chuckle.

 

[clonehome]

I get your point but technically a bad example since much of that money is absolutely because of his name. If the exact same person was named Ry Leaf instead of Arch Manning he wouldn’t have got nearly as much money.

Are they doing anything to leverage his name? Does he rep car dealerships in Austin or something like that? Little to none I’m guessing. Mostly, maybe entirely, just a contract to play football there.

 

[JUKEBOX]

bowl season is still better than the cfb playoff which has been awful for the last decade imo

at least it gives the fans an excuse to party somewhere warm (as long as the destination/venue isn't lame)

 

[SolterraCyclone]

Bowls are still valuable (at least for me) because it gives ISU a goal to aspire to. If the CFP is the only postseason, then our football seasons moving forward will be pretty bleak. The only way to make a playoff will be to win the B12 (assuming they agree to auto-qualifiers beyond 2025), which we haven’t done in 100 years, or earn one of the 6 at-larges, which will be very difficult.

Bowls give us a chance at a postseason if we can win 6 games, which is a good reward for the team and its fans to strive towards. If they expand the CFP to 24 or 32 teams (or the blue bloods breakaway and do their own thing), then I think bowls will be less valuable, because we’ll have a realistic shot at the playoff each year (like we do with the basketball tourney).