Oh good, we didn't have nearly enough bowl games

well, because I'm the one person in the world that's obsessed with these random bowl games, I hit up google and I guess they aren't getting rid of any bowl games. in the past couple of years, for every new bowl game there has been a bowl game elsewhere that has folded (Seattle Bowl, Silicon Valley Classic ring a bell?), but i suppose that isn't the case this year. I'm going to laugh my ass off if there aren't enough bowl eligible teams. At this point, I guess the NCAA would just allow a team with a losing record to go to a bowl game. Unfortunately, these new bowl games will just mean more teams scheduling I-AA opponents to ensure they rack up 6 wins.

From what I can tell, the Papajohns.com bowl is going to receive the 9th selection from the SEC. Last year, that would have meant South Carolina. In years where the SEC gets 2 teams in the BCS, it means that this bowl is going to be getting the TENTH pick from the SEC, or, if there aren't enough SEC teams eligible...probably something like a 6-6 team from the MAC.

 

Also, I kind of reject the notion that "15, 20 years ago bowls meant something." There have been crappy bowl games for much longer than people realize. California Bowl? Freedom Bowl? Bluebonnet Bowl? Cherry Bowl? All-American Bowl? Garden State Bowl? Aloha Bowl? Blockbuster/Carquest/Micron PC Bowl?

Not to mention that you've got existing lower-tier bowl games that have been around for a long time now. Remember when the Insight bowl was in Tucson as the Weiser Lock Copper Bowl? Hell, the Las Vegas Bowl is pushing 20 years now.

Yeah, there have been crappy bowl games for a long time now.

 

Not even close to the same number.

 

Agreed, but there weren't as many of them. 20 years ago, there were something like 15 or 16 games. A top 25 team would get to go, along with a few others. There were 7-4 teams that didn't receive any bids.

Now, you have 5-7 teams playing in the New Orleans Bowl.

 

Just because I'm trying to be belligerent about this (and i'm really, really bored)...In 1988, Army went to the Sun Bowl with a 9-2 record. Sounds pretty good, right? Their wins were over Holy Cross, Northwestern, Bucknell, Yale, Lafayette, Rutgers, Air Force, Vanderbilt and Navy. The five division I-A teams they beat had a combined 18 wins.

The funny thing about it? They only lost to Alabama by 1 point in the Sun Bowl. ;D

 

Is that supposed to be indicative of there being as many bad bowls back then as now?

 

I never made the claim that there were as many bad bowls back then as there are now. I just said that I think there have been plenty of shitty bowl games for much longer than people realize.

 

Uh, last time I checked colleges are closed between Christmas and New Year's Day. Hell, most schools shut down by mid-December. How much class are they missing again?

 

Beat me to it, Armchair.

You don't like it, don't watch. And I know I'm in the minority here, but a bowl game, no matter how meaningless it may be to YOU PERSONALLY, it is a nice perk for the guys who actualy did the work all year so we could be entertained during the fall, and won't cost you a dime unless you (if you're a fan) decides to go.

Microville Tech has played in several big bowls over the past decade, but also in the aforementioned small bowls over the past decade or so. Some fans I've talked to didn't attend every one, but went to some and had a good time. And the players always had fun.

If the market won't bear a couple more bowls, then some others will go away.

And Simon, rather than belittle Army's 1988 accomplishments, I'd say that could also show how overhyped the SEC can be, if a service academy that beat up on so-called nobodies from the Northeast could come that close to beating mighty Alabama.

 

Maybe Army was pretty good.

And, the POINT, which you and the other one are missing, is that the missed class time is what administrators harp on as the reason there cannot be a playoff. No one seems to challenge them.

 

And the POINT you seem to be missing is that they aren't missing fucking class because these games are played over Christmas break. If you want to piss and moan about athletes missing class, start a college basketball thread.

 

Let me refashion:

Administrators, who make a fuckload more money than you to know about such matters, say differently.