A Jersey Guy: Last hurrah for current bowl system?
It was 1983.
I was in my second year covering college football for the Dallas Morning News and it was bowl season, with making match ups being an intriguing part of a sport filled with behind close door and handshake arrangements.
There were 16 post season bowl games and it was truly a reward for a season well done.
I was so involved, I actually made a match up in the Sun Bowl between SMU and Alabama.
How did that happen?
With so few bowl games, as the national college football writer for the DMN, I knew most of the bowl directors and athletic directors and coaches involved.
The Sun Bowl, played in El Paso, Texas was led by executive director Tom Starr.
Starr had achieved a minor triumph when he secured No. 6 SMU for one of the spots, but he was having problems finding a marquee opponent when I did my daily check of how his match up was progressing.
I told Starr I had an idea and would get back to him. I then called Ray Perkins finishing his first season coaching at his alma mater.
I knew Perkins well from his days as head coach of the N.Y. football Giants, working as a reporter in New Jersey covering the Giants.
The Tide had not quite rolled that season, compiling an 8-4 record which knocked Alabama out of New Year's Day bowl line up, but still made it an attractive opponent
But Bama had not committed to any bowl game yet, so I made a call and asked Perkins where he was taking his team.
""Not sure yet, '' said Perkins, ""We're trying to find the right team to play (Alabama always has had clout).
""How about SMU, I suggested. ""SMU?,'' said Perkins. ""What bowl?
"Sun Bowl,'' I said.
""That works,'; said Perkins.
I told him I would call him back.
I then called up Tom Starr in El Paso and said, ""Alabama'?
There was silence and then a "Really'' and I told Starr to make the call to Perkins,
An hour later the deal was done and Alabama went on posted a 28-7 win over the No. 6 ranked Mustangs.
Those days are long gone, as the bowl system has evolved and grown and grown, morphing into a system in which more than half of the 131 teams play in bowl games, with a 12 team playoff format two years away.
Such changes have consequences and the bowl system, more like a playground for giving participation rather than achievement awards has been diluted beyond belief.
There are now 42 bowl games which far exceeds the quality of play
The transfer portal and the early defections to the NFL now are draining post season roster of talent at an alarming rate.
Check all of the bowl match ups, including the once sacrosanct New Year's Day bowl games and see how many potential NFL players actually play in the bowl games, opting to "prepare for the NFL.''.
With the expanded playoff teams (from 4 teams to 12, the bowl system will take another jolt.
Take for example, the four bowl match ups you will see next weekend in the Bahamas Bowl (Miami (Ohio) vs. UAB; Cure Bowl (UTSA vs. Troy), Fenway Bowl (Cincinnati vs. Louisville) and Lending Tree Bowl (Rice vs. Southern Miss)
As opposed to an opening round playoff line up of:
Tulane at Kansas State
Washington at Ohio State
Penn State at Alabama
USC at Tennessee.
Which games would you prefer?
The bowl system has begun a change which will be seismic.
The key player here is ESPN,,which owns several of the bowls games it televises
.I foresee a future in which the bowl system is basically a two-week span of games, all played at the Disney World complex in Orlando, Fla in a mini stadium (20,000) as part of a Disney World Sports/Vacation package, which includes hotels, Disney World admission and tickets to bowl games played between Dec 16-31 in one spot.
In some ways it would be a fitting epitaph--a reward for a season, well done, good weather, lots to do including Disney World visits, one and perhaps two bowl games a day over a two-week period.
Let the games begin.