I get it. College football, like the world around us, has changed. There will never be magical or meaningful moments at the Fiesta Bowl like back when Nebraska played FSU after the 89 season. New Year's Bowl games mean nothing anymore--what used to be a loaded holiday full of anticipation has been reduced to a lame lineup of four bowls. The season has been ruined for fans by kids opting out, coordinators checking out--using the bowl season, as the silly season to move on to other programs. So I get it. The world is changing and football is changing. We can't stop it.
But what I do think that can be done, is reset the whole bowl tradition, by reducing the amount of bowls from 40 down to 30 bowl games and make the bowl experience both marketable and equitable for the players, through the use of NIL. Incorporate some of those thirty bowl games into whatever playoff format is agreed on. Incentivize the bowl appearance for both the coaches and the players. I know these are not new ideas, but here is something that may be new: take the ten bowl games that have been cut from the bowl schedule, and incorporate them into venues for the regular season as "kickoff classics." Imagine a Sun Bowl or a New Mexico Bowl Kickoff Classic, where mandatory cross-sectional ballgames are feature from selected P5 conferences? If changing the playoff format is being bounced around, now is better than later to look at changing how programs, coaches, players and fans see the bowl games as well. There are too many bowls as it is. Decrease the amount of bowls, utilize the bowls that are cut to promote a better regular season, and incorporate the remaining bowls into relevant and attractive matchups. Thoughts?
But what I do think that can be done, is reset the whole bowl tradition, by reducing the amount of bowls from 40 down to 30 bowl games and make the bowl experience both marketable and equitable for the players, through the use of NIL. Incorporate some of those thirty bowl games into whatever playoff format is agreed on. Incentivize the bowl appearance for both the coaches and the players. I know these are not new ideas, but here is something that may be new: take the ten bowl games that have been cut from the bowl schedule, and incorporate them into venues for the regular season as "kickoff classics." Imagine a Sun Bowl or a New Mexico Bowl Kickoff Classic, where mandatory cross-sectional ballgames are feature from selected P5 conferences? If changing the playoff format is being bounced around, now is better than later to look at changing how programs, coaches, players and fans see the bowl games as well. There are too many bowls as it is. Decrease the amount of bowls, utilize the bowls that are cut to promote a better regular season, and incorporate the remaining bowls into relevant and attractive matchups. Thoughts?
