Is Plethora of Bowl Games ruining college Football?

[Fordham_57]

There were two bowl games on tonight. One bowl game pitted Georgia Southern against Bowling Green. The other game was between Boise State and Northern Illinois. Could these games really attracti a national audience?
There are so many bowl games that I believe they had to select teams with less than a 500 winning percentage. Blows my mind! Frank

 

[CaptBob]

It's just the almighty buck rearing it's ugly head. AS long as some group comes up with the $$ it will continue like last night's San Diego County Credit Union Pointsettia Bowl . Remember when it was just the Rose, Sugar, Cotton and Orange bowls all played on New Year;s day.

 

[Halldan1]

What? You find something wrong with teams having losing records playing in bowl games?

C'mon, it's 2015. Everyone deserves a trophy.

 

[hallgrad80]

We've seen teams go to the NCAA basketball tourney with losing records because they won their conference playoff series so getting into postseason play with a losing record is not unique. If kids play their butts off and makes a bowl why deprive them of that experience and the choice of watching the minor bowl games is up to each individual. Just think if it was your child that had that experience you would be happy for him.

 

[Halldan1]

Sorry Jerry but I could not disagree more.

Basketball is a different animal as it rewards conference champions so the criteria, flawed as it may be by allowing teams with a losing record the opportunity to Dance, is unavoidable.

But because of the sheer number of bowl games teams that lose 6 of 10 games are being rewarded with an opportunity to play national televised holiday games after their mediocre to terrible seasons ended.

What's the next step? Add ten more bowls and start accepting 3-7 teams? The regular season must mean 'something'. Reward everyone and it losses most of that 'something'.

 

[Section112]

There have been too many bowls for years now. Schools lose money on most of the bowls because they have to guarantee a certain amount of ticket purchases and pay for unsold tickets. It's a joke.

 

[HALL85]

What? You find something wrong with teams having losing records playing in bowl games?

C'mon, it's 2015. Everyone deserves a trophy.

Yes. This is all driven by money and changes in our society. Reward mediocrity. Deprive kids of an experience? This is nothing more than a glorified class trip.

 

[hallgrad80]

Sorry Jerry but I could not disagree more.

Basketball is a different animal as it rewards conference champions so the criteria, flawed as it may be by allowing teams with a losing record the opportunity to Dance, is unavoidable.

But because of the sheer number of bowl games teams that lose 6 of 10 games are being rewarded with an opportunity to play national televised holiday games after their mediocre to terrible seasons ended.

What's the next step? Add ten more bowls and start accepting 3-7 teams? The regular season must mean 'something'. Reward everyone and it losses most of that 'something'.

Dan
It's not only basketball, it's baseball , softball, soccer and other sports where teams with losing records get to the post season. My bigger gripe is with conference championships where even if you have the best regular season record you lose one game in the conference championship and all the work and all the success you had in the regular season was for naught.

 

[shupat08]

According to Wikipedia there are 41 bowls this year and 128 FBS teams. That means 82 out of 128 teams play in a post season game.

Meanwhile in BBall there are now 5 tournaments - it was only 3 as of like 5 years ago. Crazy... NCAA, NIT, CBI, CollegeInsider & Vegas16 for a total of teams out of 164 teams out of 351.

So even though BBall is now very watered down its 47% that will play post season games. And in Football its 64%.

 

[Seton75]

A team earns an ncaa bid, whether in post season by winning a tourney, or by regular season winning. Imagine if a power conference basketball team knew it clinched a bid by winning it's last game to finish 15-15.

Mix money and sports and this is a by product. But so is march madness and conference tourneys

 

[shupat08]

I don't believe you can compare ALL bowl games to the NCAA tournament.

College Bball has 5 post season tournaments. Why are all 41 bowl games compared to only 1 bball tournament?

A Power5 team I'm sure can "clinch" a "bid" to CBI, CollegeInsider or Vegas16 at 15-15...

 

[Seton75]

I don't believe you can compare ALL bowl games to the NCAA tournament.

College Bball has 5 post season tournaments. Why are all 41 bowl games compared to only 1 bball tournament?

A Power5 team I'm sure can "clinch" a "bid" to CBI, CollegeInsider or Vegas16 at 15-15...

Yes, you make a good point.

 

[TheBluePirate]

Following on Frank's original thought - I'll go in a different direction: I do not bother to watch any of the bowl games except for the elite few in the BCS championship. Nothing but participation for a single game is at stake (and a huge financial bill for the school to pay) for these Sasquatch Meat Stick and Grandpa's Catheter Bowl games.

Regarding BB, as Pat says, tournaments are proliferating and they will not get my interest for sure. I was not a fan of the move from 64 to play-in games and so on. The 64 should be it, I get NIT by tradition as consolation (and it's mostly unwatchable). And the Madness is still one of the best tournaments in the world (along with Copa Mundial).

The Sports Money Bubble is in the process of bursting as we speak, and this could help substantially trim back the bloat.

Ahhh, the bad old days.

 

[anon_x0d8d0dquuo4t]

I wonder how much is wagered on these second-rate bowls. Vegas and the sports gambling establishment must love the current set up. As a Giants fan, I've already seen enough crummy football since my first game in Yankee Stadium at the end of the Tarkenton years. I'd say watching any of these bowls is last on my list of priorities, but someone must be making $ on them, the wraparound for commercials.

 

[hallgrad80]

Lets not forget that we've seen proliferation in pro sports as well. Baseball and football have added wild cards to their playoff scheme plus baseball has recently added the ridiculous play- in games and the NFL owners continue to push for adding two more games for an 18 game season. Look at how many NHL and NBA teams make the playoffs. The result is the proliferation in all sports of getting more teams to be in the post season. Look at college baseball now you have the Regionals and the NCAA's has added the Super Regionals and then the World Series . Post season growth is upon us whether it be a bowl game or a one game play in in baseball and it's not going to change .

 

[Shuathelete]

People watch them because they gamble on them. And to most, its just something that happens to be on when the other sports hit a dead period

 

[TheBluePirate]

People watch them because they gamble on them. And to most, its just something that happens to be on when the other sports hit a dead period

That pretty much explains it - had not really grasped it.

A simple "wow" is about all I've got.

 

[ponyfoot19]

Personally, I haven't watched any of the games and won't until Jan 1, or even until the championship game. from a players perspective, it gives a chance to go somewhere where they'll be treated well, and for the seniors, one last chance to put on the uniform. Coaches like it because it gives them more practice time, and I've never heard a coach complain having too much practice. I'm sure school administrators don't like it because it seems most bowls are a money losing proposition. It seems the schools/NCAA are following the lead of professional sports. I don't think history shows where the NHL,NFL,MLB or NBA has contracted the number of teams eligible for the playoffs.

 

[Shuathelete]

And its somewhat of a recruiting tool.

"We won X Bowl come to northern southeast middle michigan university!"

 

[SPK145]

The plethora of bowl games is really stupid but it doesn't "ruin" college football, just the further dumbing down of athletics.

 

[Pirate64]

Every kid gets a trophy.

 

[Pirata]

In response to the OP, "Is a trout's ass watertight?" Lol