The 2015 college football postseason consisted of 40 bowl games, not including the national championship game between Alabama and Clemson.
Out of the 128 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, 80 participated in a bowl game. Due to only 77 teams meeting the six-win requirement for bowl eligibility, three five-win teams – Nebraska, San Jose State, and Minnesota – were invited to bowl games as well.
Because of an extremely clustered postseason, many college football fans are calling for the reduction – or even eradication – of bowls.
Growing up, I always loved watching all of the bowl games.
From watching my favorite team end the season with one final game, to memories of instant classics like Boise State’s upset of Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, bowl season was always an opportunity to watch two teams who would not normally play each other battle for pride and bragging rights.
However, with the implementation of the College Football Playoff in 2014, it is perhaps time for bowl games to fade away.
I will always be fond of the bowl system, but I cannot overlook the stammering statistics in support of their abolishment.
According to an article from Time, bowl game attendance dropped for a fifth straight season. Five games failed to reach an attendance of 40,000, while one reported to bring in only 17,000 fans.
Additionally, TV ratings went down – with a reported 13 percent plunge in the New Years Six bowl game ratings from last year.
Although accepting a bid to play in a bowl does bring in money for universities, it also costs money as well. Universities empty their wallets to pay for travel and accommodations for the team, marching band, alumni boosters, and cheerleaders. Many coaches receive incentive bonuses for playing in and/or winning bowl games.
Out of the 40 bowl games, half of them pay universities less than $2 million. 11 pay less than $1 million.
Several universities find themselves actually spending more than their payout and consequently pay to participate in bowl games.
Beyond the numbers, bowl games have merely lost their luster over time.
13 games this postseason were won by a margin of 20 points or more. This might not seem like a lot initially, but when over a quarter of the games played are not even remotely competitive, it is hard to argue that the bowl system still serves the same entertainment value it once did.
Perhaps the nail in the coffin for bowl season was the death of the Bowl Championship Series in 2013. Prior to having a playoff, the bowl system could get by with the fact that there was only one possible game that was not an exhibition anyhow.
Now, however, the College Football Playoff has opened the door to more meaningful college football in late December and January. Why spend your time with 38 meaningless matchups when room could be made for multiple games with national championship implications?
The NCAA could, and should, do away with the overpopulated bowl system and convert a handful of bowls into playoff matchups. Instead of a four-team playoff, how about eight?
In this scenario, the New Years Six bowls – Rose, Sugar, Orange, Cotton, Fiesta, Peach – could all serve as sites for playoff matchups with the championship game being held at a different location.
For example, the first four games would take place in the Orange, Cotton, Fiesta, and Peach, with the winners advancing to the semifinal round in the Rose and Sugar.
This would be an easy solution for the NCAA to do away with the excess of bowl season – i.e. bowls such as the GoDaddy Bowl, Belk Bowl, and Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – but still keep the nostalgic aroma of classic venues.
College football has endured a decent amount of change with the death of the BCS and birth of the CFP, and I believe it is time to take the next step in that process.
The bowl system had a great run, but the era of playoffs in major college football has begun.
