Bowl Games

[VandyDelphia Mike]

Walk into any university facility built in the last fifteen years on a campus with a marginal-to-dominant football program and you're likely to see "Built with the proceeds from an appearance in the _______ Bowl"

I was under the impression that the schools had to share bowl proceeds with their conference.

If I'm mistaken, then say so.

But gently, and with love.

This proud Vanderbilt alumnus loves that rule.

S-E-C! S-E-C!

[PeytonManningRocks]

My sentiments exactly......

Now, since the traditional bowls have been Rose, Cotton, Orange and Sugar Bowls, you could have a setup like this for an 8-team playoff:

Round 1:

#1 vs #8

#2 vs #7

#3 vs #6

$4 vs $5

Round 2

Highest remaining vs. lowest remaining

#2 remaining vs. #3 remaining

Consolation Game*

Consolation Game*

Round 3

NCAA Football Championship Game*

3rd place game*

the NCAA Championship would rotate every 3 or 4 or 5 years between Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Sugar Bowl, etc. and each game with a * would be a major bowl. I realize it would be a little bit radical to schedule the four major bowls through 3 weeks, but it could still work.

[HedleyLamarr]

Way too many bowl games.

Cut the number of bowl games in half. Outside of the participating schools, no one gives a flip about bowl games such as the GMAC Bowl, Emerald Bowl, Humanitarian Bowl, and these other bowl games involving conference's 6th, 7th, and 8th place teams. Hell, the empty seats at all these lower-tier bowl games is getting worse and worse. And the payouts that these lower-tier bowl games give to the participating schools are barely enough to fund the team's trip out to the bowl game.

Get rid of these following bowls:

New Orleans

GMAC

Poinsetta

Fort Worth

Motor City

Champs Sports

Insight

MPC Computers

Emerald

Music City

Meineke Car Care

Houston

Outback

This leaves 15 bowl games, and 30 teams. To appease the non-BCS conferences, each conference champion gets an invite to a bowl game, and 19 at large teams.

Level 1 Bowls (BCS Bowls): Fiesta, Rose, Sugar, Orange

Level 2 Bowls: Peach, Capital One, Cotton, Gator

Level 3 Bowls: Holiday, Sun, Liberty, Independence

Level 4 Bowls: Las Vegas, Hawaii, Alamo

Every conference winner must play in a bowl game at Level 3 or higher. Just like the current rotation the BCS Bowls use, each level's games rotate each year. The only cemented conference-bowl affiliation will be the BCS conferences (SEC-Sugar, Big Ten-Rose, Pac 10-Rose, Big XII-Fiesta, and ACC-Orange. Big East is no longer a member of the BCS) if the BCS Bowl is not the designated National Championship Game. Only conference champions (or Independents) can play for the national championship. Using the BCS standings, the top two teams will play in the NC game, and the next two/three teams (In the case of a non-BCS conference champion is #1 or #2 in the final BCS standings) that aren't BCS conference champions will fill the remaining slots of the Level 1 bowls. In the Level 2 Bowls, the next two teams in succession in the BCS standings will play each other (9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16), and the same will go for Level 3 and Level 4. Bowls in Levels 2-4 are subject to reclassification every 8 years, due to attendance figures and other related factors.

Make the regular season mean something again. Reward teams for playing stronger opponents and playing winning football in their respective conferences, rather than winning cupcake games and having losing seasons in their conferences and still getting into bowl games. You want a playoff? You'll have a 14-week playoff all season long.

[winghaz]

It would be easy for me to say there are way too many bowl games. I have said it in the past and I even refer to some of those bowls as the Who Cares Bowl.

But here's the darndest thing: I end up watching as many of those bowl games as possible.

I think it's because I just can't get enough of college football. We've had some great college football seasons in recent years, and I enjoy it all. Contrast that to the NFL which has been awful, especially this year.

Oh, and by the way, I am a strong proponent for a Division I-A playoff.

[infrared41]

Contrast that to the NFL which has been awful, especially this year.

Exactly. I'll take watching a "who cares" bowl over watching two 3-9 NFL teams playing out the string every time. At least the college teams want to be in their bowl game.