How to Build Bowl Interest AND Keep Regular Season Humming
Attentive readers—and thank you for being among them—will recall that on November 30, I said that nothing would top the the final day of the regular season, when Michigan shocked Ohio State, Auburn muffed a golden opportunity to upset Alabama and Oklahoma State edged Oklahoma in a critical back-and-forth Big 12 showdown .
I stand by that statement.
Over the years, there has been a lot of discussion about how a playoff would diminish the bowls—and maybe even the regular season.
That certainly is part of the problem.
That’s why I have advocated for nearly 30 years for an eight-team playoff led by conference champions, with a few wild cards thrown in.
There's nothing better than the competition to win a conference championship. And if the four quarter-finals are played in traditional New Year’s Day bowls, followed by semi-finals and a championship game. . . that would address most of the concerns.
And if some quality also-rans in the conquer-the-world SEC were left out, aw-w-w, gee. Win your league or shut up. And there will be wild-card room, anyway, for two or three special runners-up. Just not the bushel-full that a 12- or 16-team playoff would generate.
Rewarding conference champions, by the way, best addresses concerns about not diminishing the regular season. Is there anything that reduces the spirit of competition more than a Georgia, for example, knowing that it can lose its conference championship game and still receive a playoff berth?
If—or should I say, when—college football goes to a 12- or 16-team playoff, all of those pivotal regular-season/conference-championship showdowns will be reduced to yesterday’s oatmeal.
As for unappetizing minor bowls. . . Face it. How much attention was given to the fifth-best (and beyond) bowl during or before the Alliance, BCS etc.?
Alas, an eight-team New-Year's-centric playoff is not where the world is headed.
No worries. In an era where America routinely elects Presidents who receive fewer votes than the candidate they ``defeat,’’ a flawed system for crowning the college football champion is no big deal.
So what are we to make of this year’s bowl season?
All of these little lead-up bowls don’t bother me. When it’s convenient, I put them on. . . Missouri-Army and UCF-Florida have been convenient for me. Semi-interesting. Happy for Army and UCF. And it’s fun to see all of the different styles, one of my favorite things about college football.
That’s especially true, knowing that the season is winding down.
Allowing teams with losing records doesn't bother me, either, if they are interesting matchups. I'm guessing that a Texas-Nebraska ``playoff'' for most frustrating season would be a very interesting game. And make ESPN and its viewers very happy.
This year's national semi-finals could be interesting—although we don’t know that. The consensus opinion is that Alabama will crush Cincinnati like a bug—which, if true, wouldn't be all exciting. And I will believe Michigan can play with Georgia when I see it.
I will keep an eye on the Big Ten bowls, and some other marquee-team bowls, and will always be interested in a nail-biter. There’s nothing better than seeing the last couple of minutes of frenzied college football, no matter who is playing.
But yeah, players sitting out bowls because they are looking out for their NFL futures certainly diminishes bowl games. Without Kenneth Walker and Kenny Pickett, the Pitt-Michigan State Peach Bowl becomes a very different thing. They should call it the No-Ken-Do Bowl.
And all the fretting about Name, Image and Likeness, and the Transfer Portal, and COVID woes, and coaches jumping around. . . with all of that going on, it’s increasingly difficult to get excited about mere bowl games.
Again, no worries.
You know my thoughts on how to make college football the best it can be. But those are just the musings of an old crank.
And so, I will enjoy the good parts of this bowl season, the ones that appeal to me. I hope you do the same.
Just remember. . . For all the handwringing, and all of the encroachments, the regular season remains the best part of college football.
If your attitude is ``national championship or bust,’’ that’s a pretty narrow path to fulfillment.