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2010 has 35 bowls - is that too many?

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BB73

BB73

Loves Buckeye History
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'16 & '17 Upset Contest Winner
I'll ask the impossible. Let's just talk about the number of bowls, and not make this another 'We need a playoff' thread.

SI.com

With 35 bowl games, teams with losing record could earn invitations

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- A bowl game is supposed to be a reward for a good season. Now, with the glut of postseason contests, a team with a losing record might get an invitation.

"I think it stinks," former Nebraska player Aaron Taylor said Wednesday in a text message. The CBS college football analyst said the sport "is becoming perilously close to losing the purity and amateurism that separates it from it's pro counterpart."

Finding enough winning teams to fill bowl slots is a fairly recent concern.

The number of bowl games has nearly doubled from the 18 held in 1996.

The NCAA recently licensed the Dallas Football Classic and the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium, pushing the number of bowls to 35. The International Bowl didn't apply for a license, so there will only be one more bowl than last season.

That still means 70 of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams will get to go bowling, even if one or two happen to be 5-7.

"I'm not one of those guys that's like, well, that's too many bowls," said Tony Barnhart, who covers college football for CBS Sports and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "But everything can have it's excess, and to me, I think that's kind of where we need to draw the line is having 5-7 teams playing in the bowl games."

Based on recent history, the NCAA's margin of error is two.
In the past three years, 72 FBS teams were at least 6-6. FBS programs switched to 12-game schedules in 2006, when 73 of 119 teams had .500 records or better.


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Yes, 70 bowl participants in a division with 120 members is too many.

EDIT: It looks like there were 73 bowl-eligible teams last year. But just counting the number of bowl-eligible teams is not the point. Of course it's possible, even likely, that at some point in the future there will be fewer than 70 teams at or above 0.500. The real point here is the quality of play in the post season. I try to watch every bowl game I can. For that, I am probably partially to blame, as the TV ratings may well be driving this. But I'm not sure I'll continue to watch as the bowls dip farther and farther below the Mendoza line to dredge up teams for their sponsors.
 
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If the bowls aren't losing money, and the fans are watching the games, no big deal. There really is only one game that has any major implications in the end of the day. I think it's a great experience for the players, so who cares how many bowls there are. We as fans will watch.
 
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starBUCKS;1697770; said:
If the bowls aren't losing money, and the fans are watching the games, no big deal. There really is only one game that has any major implications in the end of the day. I think it's a great experience for the players, so who cares how many bowls there are. We as fans will watch.
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This. Plus I don't have to watch all the crap bowls....
 
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FCollinsBuckeye;1697840; said:
How could anyone here say that more college football is a bad thing?

:shake:
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Realy?? Who even cares about these [censored]ty games?? They don't mean anything usually except that you get to watch a game when you're incredibly bored or it's Christmas.
 
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BB73;1697764; said:
I'll ask the impossible. Let's just talk about the number of bowls, and not make this another 'We need a playoff' thread.
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I've never understood why bowl games and a playoff are seen as mutually exclusive concepts, anyway. The BCS bowls could be the playoff quarterfinals and the other 30+ bowls could go on as they do now. :cheers:
 
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KingLeon;1697846; said:
Realy?? Who even cares about these [censored]ty games?? They don't mean anything usually except that you get to watch a game when you're incredibly bored or it's Christmas.
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Exactly! I have no problems with more bowl games.

This is very different than the NCAA tournament expanding. I know nobody brought that up, but I'm using it as a comparison. These teams that probably shouldn't be deserving of a bowl game won't get the opportunity to win much. Just their one game. The epic games will still be there. These new games don't take away from the prestige of being in the national championship, or Rose Bowl, or whatever. It's just more football.
 
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I think it really depends on the tie-ins. If it's just more BCS conference schools that suck (looking north to AA), then maybe not. In a way, I look at the December bowls like I do the pre-season holiday basketball tournaments; it's a chance for teams from lower-tier conferences to make some noise, get exposure and bring some money into their ADs. Looking at a school like Ohio University, losing $15M on athletics this year, you can see how every little bit helps. Spreadthewealtharoundalittle /obama :biggrin:

It doesn't dilute the big games at all; a BCS game is still a BCS game. Yes, it means that just getting to a bowl doesn't mean what it once did, but that's okay...we've had less-than-prestigious bowls around for 40+ years. As an alum of a non-BCS school, I get a kick out of seeing the Bobcats making some bowl game in Mobile or wherever, and I'm sophisticated enough to not confuse that with the Rose Bowl. :wink: ESPN gets my eyeballs for three extra hours in December, and all of my OU grad friends get to post something on Facebook for a day. Win, win all around.
 
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No, there are not too many.

They are all exhibition games except one. Even the ones that we think Really Matter are only exhibitions. I don't understand how all of these games are making money, but if they are then more power to them. It's free enterprise.
 
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If The East Cupcake Missouri College of Agricultural Science wants to send their team to the Tidy Bowl, I don't see why I should care. It's not like watching is mandatory. Besides, it'll make a nice consolation trip for M*ch*g*n...until they lose the game to ECMCAS. Imagine how entertaining that will be for the rest of us. :)
 
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