January 01, 2011
And Now, the Bowls That Matter
Remember college bowl season as a kid? There were just a handful of bowls, and only the very best teams got a post-season bid. It's a far cry from the scene of today, where any empty stadium that can find a sponsor and a pair of teams without a losing record suddenly has a "bowl game" from a matchup that would only draw regional television otherwise. I'm sure the folks at gambling sites see a benefit to this, and the universities pick up a little more money for their athletic programs and some advertising for their recruiting efforts, but lets face it: unless we're watching top-ten teams or a real playoff system, it's just fluff.
That said, most of the fluff games are over. The New Year is here, heads are pounding, eyes are bleary, and the bowls that matter are just around the corner.
I'm ready for some football; just as a soon as I put away this Christmas tree...
The bowls on today are okay, but the really good ones are on next week. I guess UFC 125 tonight looks like it could be a good one. Happy New year to all!
Posted by: Stephan at January 1, 2011 02:24 PMMy alma mater, the University of Maryland, already made quick work of East Carolina University in the Military Bowl. Not that interested in any others!
Tarheel Repub Out!
Posted by: Tarheel Repub at January 1, 2011 06:27 PMI wish they would just name them the "(Insert sponsor here) Revenue Generation Bowl".
Posted by: Veeshir at January 2, 2011 10:24 AMActually, you mention in the post that the universities pick up a little more money for their athletic programs by getting to play in these new, watered-down bowl games. That's actually not the case. Only the upper tier bowl games pay-out enough for universities to not lose money in the venture.
The following article talks a bit about this. Surprisingly, it was posted 10 years ago, before the additional bowl problem completely exploded.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/sfc/sfcfs69.htm#readmore
The only benefit provided by the additional bowl games for the schools is that more teams get the benefit of the additional practice time. If you fail to make a bowl game, your practice season ends in late November/early December.
Posted by: ErictBBC at January 2, 2011 11:58 AM
