Many years ago there were just a few exciting very late December and of course January 1st Bowl Games. They mattered. So few that every team coveted the mere chance to be courted by the Bowls. The granddaddy of them all The Rose Bowl was the ultimate Bowl Game to compete in even though it was only achievable by your participation in the BIG 10 or PAC-12 Conference with a few exceptions over the decades. Then the media jumped in with their bags of money and tales of expansion.
The media wanted expansion. The Conferences saw pots of gold but what really happened was a dilution of the Bowl's stature. The New Year Bowls continued to be the big prize but even they started to get confusing as they were suddenly having to work in the new BCS and today the CFB Playoffs have restructured the once-annual season of celebration and bowl pageantry.
So where does all this go? We have to look at the playoffs structure and future expansion to really start to see a path where the once proud bowls will have meaning again. We already have the first step which is the expansion of the playoff format to 12 games from 4. I believe that's a good start and wish it was here now. So many schools will benefit from this if done properly. My belief is that the playoff structure needs to get to 16 teams and the total number of eligible schools reduced to 64 with options to move into the group of 64 and also how you no longer are qualified to be in the 64 every 2 years. More on this in a later posting.
Today I feel we have lost a lot of what many who go back a few decades like myself looked forward to. This year I'm looking forward to the playoffs and feel like the four teams in it deserve to be there. Time will tell if they are competitive. But in a general view, my opinion is that the Bowls are no longer meaningful and we have added so many embarrassing bowls where no fans attend and players opt out and coaches depart prior that its hard to watch until you get to the NY6 bowls and of course the Playoff Semi-Round and final National Championship the week after the New Years Day bowls.
Enjoy Saturday's games and Monday's (Jan 2nd) NY6 Bowls and here's to the hope that change is coming for the better.
Happy New Year
Fight On!
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