In this new world of the 12 team college football playoff and the major bowl games being incorporated into the college football playoff, there is one question I haven't really seen addressed. Maybe there's a process already in place and I just haven't heard it. We all know those 12 teams in the CFP would get major bowl bids, probably NY6 previously. Since the 9 - 12 teams have to play in the first round on campus, what happens to the teams that lose? It seems a little unfair that a team could have a great season and their season could end in a loss in the campus round in Ann Arbor, Columbus, Tuscaloosa or Eugene, while teams who weren't even good enough to make the CFP get to go to bowl games in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, NYC or Boston. Games that are fun for the team and the fans for a good season. I know college football was unique in that it was largely the only sport that "rewarded" fans and players of good teams with a nice bowl destination after Christmas so maybe that's going away. But will teams who lose in the campus round then get to go to a traditional bowl game after that to at least have the bowl game experience? Or is it just season over, sorry your fans got to go to Columbus, Ohio instead of Tampa, Florida. If not that's going to spell doom for the other bowls even quicker. The former NY6 Bowls are at least protected since they are in the CFP. I know it makes it harder for scheduling but I think teams who lose in the campus round in the CFP should then still be able to play in a bowl game. Perhaps have a second tier of bowl games in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando and Tampa with the guarantee that the losers in the campus round will be placed in one of those four games as a reward for a good season. Thoughts?
No, those teams will get a nice CFP payday, the reward is a chance at the title. Also, do you really think that the players that just lost a chance to advance in the CFP really want to turn around and have to prepare for a meaningless bowl game? Also the coaches of those teams that lost would rather focus on the transfer portal.
I think non-playoff bowls are dying a slow but steady death. Attendance is down. Players don't care enough to even play in them. It's only TV that is keeping the small bowls on life-support. If the players don't care about them, then I certainly don't either. I don't think these players even see the bowl games as a reward anymore, when you compare their $500 gift package to the multi-million dollar NIL deals.
It’s sad too, because they’re missing out on life experiences that they’ll never get a chance to know. One of my buddies best experiences in his life was during bowl week the one year his team made it while he was in college. He’s plenty wealthy now, has been on vacations all over the world, but he still talks about that week as one of the most fun things he’s ever done. Things are just different now.
Somewhat related, it will be interesting to see how many fanbases attend consecutive CFP games. Let's use the 2022 season as an example and have Utah advancing to the championship game. For a Ute fan to see all of those post regular season games, they would have traveled to Las Vegas for the Pac12 CCG, then visited Tuscaloosa to play Bama in a 1st Rd CFP game, then off to Miami to play in the Rd of 8, then to Atlanta for the Semis, and then to Pasadena for the Final. Does anyone think most fanbases will keep that travel schedule -- during the holiday season no less?
I had the same conversation with a former Clemson walk-on who was a colleague around 2000. He played at Clemson in the late 80s and they went to tampa for bowl game and he also talked about it like it was one of the best of his life.
The bowls themselves would probably like some people in the stands, but for the schools, the tv money is definitely the driver.
Still a bad look if half the stands are empty for the Semis. The conferences will need to either eliminate the CCGs or fold them into being part of the playoffs.
Personally speaking, I suspect non playoff bowls will suffer from lack of interest and we will see a big market correction on the number of bowls.
I think it would be cool if the 2nd tier bowls did some sort of playoffs instead of just one game. I'm talking about bowls like the citrus, and gator bowls... not the taxslayer, duke's mayo bowls, etc.... They could have four teams per bowl, for example the citrus bowl would be 4 teams with the first games at home stadiums, kind of like the playoffs now, and then the winners go to Atlanta for the actual Citrus bowl. I'm sure there are reasons it would never happen, but it would be neat. Bowl wins would actually mean something, at least way more than they do now. Of course the actual playoffs would be the main attraction, but it would still be cool to see some sort of "mini-playoff" with some decent teams. Theoretically, you could have a 4 team playoff with the teams ranked 13-16. Being the winner of that would "kind of" mean something.... worthy of some sort of trophy at least. IMO it would be way more worthy than FSU's stupid rings they made themselves for last year. Just a thought... (work is slow right now! )
People have been saying this sense the bcs system started, but hasn’t happened yet. Seems like we still add another junk bowl every year.
Crappy teams need a postseason too. It’s just the ones with aspirations of winning titles that don’t care
Watching "non playoff" bowls, is interesting and demonstrates the power of television / TV contracts. As paidinfull posts, junk bowls are added every year. It's odd watching many of these contests played out in empty stadiums. I certainly have nothing against bowls, an extra football game is OK by me. It's just strange to watch a couple of 6-6 teams square off these days. Nowdays a significant part of the roster of those 6 - 6 teams won't even play in the game. This is not a particularily "fan friendly" reality, although I suspect those in charge could "care less" about the fans or their experience. After all, fans should be "Happy" to eat the expense of bowl travel, to watch a "denuded" team, play against another "denuded" team for bragging rights! We don't want a player getting a sprained ankle or a hurt tu tu now do we. Ole Dan Mullen didn't even require the Gators to "practice" much in preparation for Oklahoma as I recall. The UGA / FSU debacle being a highlight of how bad things can get under the current realities. A bit "off" topic - But with the 12 team (soon to be 14 team) playoff format, I forsee the gradual erosion of interest in conference championship games. I recognize those contests are "profitable" for the SEC and the Big Ten, and money is now the only driver for this sport, so conference championships will be around awhile, but I see them going away eventually, they will be an impediment to the playoff system, which I think will continue to expand. I am opinionated about the current state of affairs but the way I see it: Conference realignment is and will continue to be the "killer blow" to the "old" system. Rivalries are being phased out. Aren't there really only two (2) conferences anyway - or at least for the foreseable future? Big Ten and the SEC of course. Like it or not, all the talk I hear is College Football is evolving into an NFL type model. The model is still under construction but many of the traditional regional and conference alignments will be changing. It is what it is.
If we want to keep it real… playoff games should probably be played at the higher seed’s home field. College football’s bowl system needs to be completely dismantled, but there is not a lot of support for this view. Basketball tournament works better with geographical displacement because you can pack a lot of games into one day. Also, it’s a lot easier to fill an arena than a stadium.
