In the few spare minutes that I had over Christmas break I spent some time flipping through several college bowl games. The more games that I watched, the more I realized that something is terribly wrong. Every game that has been played so far has been pretty much meaningless. Whatever happened to the days where making a bowl game actually meant something special? Teams can now have a .500 season and still make a bowl. Heck, I watched UCLA play in a bowl game with a 6-7 record!
The NCAA is so blinded by money now, that they have fogotten the tradition that used to make the college football so great. Watching the nation's top teams compete in classic bowls on New Year's Day is what people used to love. Instead of just bowls like the Cotton, Rose, and Orange- We are now stuck with several terrible matchups in strangely named bowls that began way back on December 17th. Who cares about the Belk Bowl or the Humanitarian Bowl? Don't get me wrong, I will be cheering loudly for my Nittany Lions in the Ticket City Bowl. But, does the outcome really matter?
I do not forsee this problem going away anytime soon. As long as companies are willing to pay money to sponser these bowls, the games will stick around. At the very least, the NCAA needs to raise its standards for making a bowl game. As it stands now, a team only needs 6 wins to be bowl eligible. I feel that at least 8 wins would guarantee that being bowl eligible is actually special.
Message to the NCAA: We can live with out the Little Caesars Bowl or the Compass Bowl. Bring back the great New Year's Day tradition and restore the integrity of the league.
Good point! Being special is being diluted.
ReplyDeleteHAHA I have all kinds of knowledge
ReplyDeleteLol, sorry man. I know the feeling of a hectic Xmas. New Years weekend this year, however, was like the Shangri-La of sports watching for me this year!!! Wife left town to visit family, kids were with friends, and I had the entire weekend to kick back with the dogs and watch football!! Surprisingly enough, I don't mind the new BCS system, and the apparent "corporatizing" of the Bowl Games. I don't even mind that there are 30+ Bowl games either. I got a new HDTV for Xmas, and with my Free HD for Life from DISH I actually SAVED money watching all those smaller games. Plus, I think it's great that smaller market teams get a chance to play on national TV. Look at the NFL, and you will see rosters chock full of players from smaller universities and lower draft stock. When my boss at DISH told me they were going to be offering HD Free for Life again, I signed right up. Now I save about $120/year on free HD programming, and all the extra bowl games give me a great chance to watch sports on my new HDTV!! It's a win-win situation.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Barry. Amen!
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