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College football bowls/playoff thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Cosmo, Dec 21, 2020.

  1. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    I've posted this a thousand times, but Boston is the world's biggest college town and it has zero interest in college football. This is because it's only got 1 FBS school, BC, and the vast majority of people who went to other schools actively dislike BC. My kids went to BU and they'd rather eat glass than root for the Eagles in anything. Also, living in the shadow of the NFL's longest-lived dynasty doesn't help. Kind of hard to promote your players when the competition is Tom Brady.
     
    Batman likes this.
  2. Jake from State Farm

    Jake from State Farm Well-Known Member

    The CFP most years is playing for one spot —who gets to join Bama, Ohio State and Clemson
     
  3. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    I wouldn't say "never". You just need to go back to the days when Army was a powerhouse and Notre Dame used to play games in Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds for its "subway alumni."
     
  4. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Bucks by 14 or more.
     
  5. LanceyHoward

    LanceyHoward Well-Known Member

    I think that it would help if USC or even UCLA became a perennial contender. But since the NCAA lost the monopoly on television rights and conferences received the television rights rights the rich have gotten richer. And as the rich have gotten richer they continue to work to get even richer by pushing out weaker schools. When the SEC starts their new television contract they will further dominate the sport. I think the Big Ten is strong enough economically to compete but the PAC 10 and most of the ACC will fall further behind. And who knows what the life expectancy of the Big 12 is? That will further diminish interest in the non Big 10 and SEC portions of the country.
     
  6. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    I grew up in New Jersey and it was the same way. We were sandwiched between three NFL teams, two of which have been generally relevant and competitive most of the time. Then the only FBS within driving distance are Rutgers and Temple, which no one gives a shit about because they suck eternally.
    High school football is a nothingburger. At least when I was in high school in the early 90s a lot of teams played on Saturday afternoon. There's just a void and apathy at the lower levels of the sport in that part of the country. It's not just football, either. Most college sports, with the possible exception of college basketball the big cities, takes a backseat to the pros.
    Meanwhile, down south, the big college programs -- especially in the SEC -- largely exist in states without a big pro presence. It's just a different culture. Nothing right or wrong with it either way. It's just different.
     
  7. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    True enough. I think in terms of my lifetime, though, and I'm 44. The only teams up thataway that I ever remember being relevant on anything resembling a regular basis were Penn State and Syracuse. It was always Eagles-Giants-Jets during football season.
    Actually, it was always Eagles-Giants. I spent 18+ years in New Jersey and I can count on one hand the number of Jets fans I ever met in that time.
     
  8. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    When my kids were at Lexington High, I once drove past the school and town's main recreational complex, which overlap. There were way, way more adults watching the youth soccer games at one end on a Friday night than were attending the high school football game at the other end.
     
    Batman likes this.
  9. goalmouth

    goalmouth Well-Known Member

    I saw Greg Schiano make Rutgers a thing in NJ, so it's possible. Then you began to see red Rs on peoples cars.

    Just win, baby, and win big is all it takes...
     
  10. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    I was in Trenton at the time and the red R's were fucking everywhere. Rutgers was a THING in college football.
     
  11. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Agreed about college football in the Northeast. The NFL is king, but one thing that has killed a lot of interest is the breakup of regional rivalries with schools scattered around different conferences.

    Syracuse and Boston College are mediocre at best, but nobody cares when they play ACC teams. UConn and Rutgers have one or two good years, and flounder the rest of the time. Temple is in the AAC with a bunch of schools in the South. Penn State is settled in in the Big Ten but, well, you know. Maryland is in the Big Ten as an outpost like Rutgers. Army is finally pretty good, but they play a lot of mid-level schools.

    I know it wouldn’t happen because of money, but a revived Big East conference for football could garner a lot more interest than the current scattering of teams.
     
    Batman likes this.
  12. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    The effect is a million times worse for college basketball. BC went to the ACC, which is an elite conference, and interest dropped like a brick, because nobody cares about UVa. or Duke up here, while they loved hating Georgetown, Providence, St. John's and the rest of the Big East schools.
     
    Baron Scicluna likes this.
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