Bowl games

[bigredmed1]

Anyone else have the sense that the post season bowl games are just not what they used to be? Teams that are not in the hunt have key starters skipping the games to get ready for the NFL Combines, and bowls where there is no real outcome of the game that matters.

Back in the day, most of the big bowls mattered in terms of how the season finished.

I also just can’t take it seriously when the bowls are renamed with corporate names. At the Tony the Tiger Fiesta bowl, they even made the teams change from dumping Gatorade on their coach to dumping corn flakes.

I am not the biggest football fan, but these games are borderline at best.

[Busguy2010]

Yeah, they really don't mean anything anymore, outside of the playoff games. Back when there was no national championship game, there was sometimes two or three bowls that had championship implications. Since the bowls had loyalty to certain conferences, they werent always the best matchups, meaning #1 could lose to a #6, and if a #4 beat a #2 at the same time, then they all had an argument for a championship. The rest of the bowls are boring now that the championship is decided on the field, but it's the way it always should have been.

[Greg S]

Yeah they are not what they once were. The playoffs have impacted that more than anything. I liked it best when January 1 had the Fiesta, Cotton, Orange and Sugar all on the same day.

The sponsorship's have been around for decades though. That has not impacted me at all.

I will say though, I still enjoy watching them. Several good games yesterday, plus you had the NHL Winter Classic on NBC (which is now a must watch event for my family on January 1).


Greg

[Brad]

I liked it best when January 1 had the Fiesta, Cotton, Orange and Sugar all on the same day.

Several good games yesterday, plus you had the NHL Winter Classic on NBC (which is now a must watch event for my family on January 1).

Funny that the "Cotton Bowl" is not played in the Cotton Bowl anymore, but the winter classic was played in the Cotton Bowl yesterday.

[bigredmed1]

The winter classic should be rotated amongst the cold cities. What’s next? A winter classic in Phoenix or Tampa Bay?

I did monitor the Rose Bowl and it was a close game. One thing I also miss is the conference bowl matchups. There was always a lot of smack about one conference being tougher than another. The SEC was tougher than the Big 8 and then you would get a blow out where the SEC team needed to be medivac’d out of the field. Lots of crow eating on Jan2 on ESPN in those days.

[jag42]

Number of bowl games in select seasons:

2019: 40
1997: 20
1995: 18
1994: 19
1971: 12
1970: 11

[jag42]

Busguy2010:
Interesting point: I think that's how #5 Miami won the national championship in 1983:. They beat #1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, and the rest of the top 4 lost their bowl games that season?

[Busguy2010]

Busguy2010:
Interesting point: I think that's how #5 Miami won the national championship in 1983:. They beat #1 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, and the rest of the top 4 lost their bowl games that season?

I didn't know it before this conversation, but that is what happened.

#1 Nebraska 30 #5 Miami 31
#3 Auburn 9 #8 Michigan 7

So it Hurt Auburn to play #8 team and barely win, as all the other teams lost, and the exciting fashion in which Miami barely beat Nebraska was convincing enough to leapfrog them to #1.

Makes you wonder about how the match-ups often didn't even out (1 vs 5, 3 vs 8 ).

[GrandpaaSmucker]

Minnesota and Wisconsin looked tough in their bowl games. Wisconsin was the best team in the Rose Bowl and they should of won it had they not fatally shot themselves in the foot a couple of times. Indiana looks tough tonight against Tennessee. Iowa was tough in their bowl game. No way Frost and crew is up for this caliber of competition yet in 2020.

[Big E]

Anyone else have the sense that the post season bowl games are just not what they used to be?

No.

Without going into the minutae, the old bowl system - while it created some great matchups - was absolute garbage |expletive| for determining a National Champion in the very rare year it didn't stumble blind drunk into a 1 vs 2 matchup. Even the polls were obvious |expletive|. The Bowl Alliance and BCS were both incremental improvements over their preceding methods, but were ultimately |expletive| compared to a four team playoff. Even a four team playoff selected by committee.

Man, I'm only in my mid 40s and I can't beleive how few people can still remember how |expletive| bad the old system was.

[Big E]

I didn't know it before this conversation, but that is what happened.

#1 Nebraska 30 #5 Miami 31
#3 Auburn 9 #8 Michigan 7

Here's how great it used to be:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Texa ... ontroversy

[bigredmed1]

The bowl games were not the best way to settle a championship, but to me, they used to be more entertaining when there was more skin in the games and it mattered who won the Gator bowl.

[nebugeater]

The bowl games years ago was PERCEIVED as better because there were way less of them and the cut of teams playing in them was not nearly as deep. I the sampling was the same today vs 30 years ago I think it would be the same. It was unheard of for a 6-6 team making a bowl. IF you had the top 30 or so team lining up in 15 bowl games they supply and demand along with more qualified team playing would make them more interesting.

That being said I do not mind the current system. The beauty is if there is nothing interesting to watching a particular game my TV has a channel selector and on / off switch.