This Bowl Season has been Unwatchable

#51
#51
camp_steveo said:
I don't know. I watched most of the USC v Louisville game last night. And I watched some of the lower level championship between Montana and another team, I forget who now.

These early bowls are never important to anyone outside their own fans anyway.
Click to expand...
FCS Championship Jan the 7th.
South Dakota St Jackrabbits vs Montana Grizzlies.
Don't miss it, it's very good football. To me it's like college football before all the big money got involved.
 
  • Like
Reactions: camp_steveo, JoeMiltonsAgent and Vol737
#53
#53
Zues1 said:
FCS Championship Jan the 7th.
South Dakota St Jackrabbits vs Montana Grizzlies.
Don't miss it, it's very good football. To me it's like college football before all the big money got involved.
Click to expand...
When the game was played in Chattanooga, my friends and I went every year from 2005 until it moved.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Zues1
#54
#54
camp_steveo said:
I don't know. I watched most of the USC v Louisville game last night. And I watched some of the lower level championship between Montana and another team, I forget who now.

These early bowls are never important to anyone outside their own fans anyway.
Click to expand...
These playoff games between some of the Montana schools and the North/South Dakota schools is some fantastic football to watch. Love me some FCS playoff season and bowl games.
 
  • Like
Reactions: camp_steveo
#55
#55
Spoke too soon, there were some good games yesterday. They used not to even have bowl games until a few days after Christmas and as a general rule I don't start watching until then because that's all the add on bowls before that.
 
#56
#56
The games are the games. The first half of the bowl season are mediocre or unknown teams but sometimes it is better than anything else on. The games coming up look great on paper. Transfers and opt outs are ruining that, though.

What is terrible is the on air announcing. They seem mostly unprepared and the antics during the games (looking straight at you, Duke's Mayo crew) are downright embarrassing.

If you don't have enough competent crews, don't support that many bowls. That's on ESPN.
 
#58
#58
sanefan said:
The first half of the bowl season are mediocre or unknown teams but sometimes it is better than anything else on. The games coming up look great on paper. Transfers and opt outs are ruining that, though.
Click to expand...
Username checks out. The people making the matchups aren't wrong. If the actors won't take the stage you wouldn't expect much of a show.
 
#59
#59
MAD said:
Before the BCS/CFP fewer programs actually cared about the Mythical National Championship. The goal for most teams was to win the conference, go to a good bowl game and, if they were lucky, get voted #1 by one of the major polls. BCS/CFP changed all that. Over the last 25 years it became more about who was #1 than it did anything else. Less attention was paid to the other bowl games as a result. Now they are all but irrelevant.
Click to expand...
It's ironic that the people who have clamored the most over the years for a mechanism to determine a national champion are also the loudest complainers about non-championship bowls becoming meaningless.

Regardless, don't understand how having a playoff (or BCS) renders the non-championship bowls meaningless. Even when there was no formal mechanism to put #1 against #2 on the field, you could look at certain bowl matchups (like if #1 was playing #4, or #2 was playing #3) and say "this is a de facto national championship game." Nobody thought that meant a game between #6 and #7, or #15 and #18, was meaningless.

Just because there is a formal mechanism today to determine a champ, why does that mean a game between #5 and #6 is meaningless? Didn't that same dynamic exist in the pre-CFP and pre-BCS eras? You've always had a bowl game(s) that was going to determine who #1 was, and a ton of others that aren't. How is it any different?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Notorious B.E.N, Smokey X, GordonC and 5 others
#60
#60
The opt outs kill bowl season for me. Only games that matter are the playoff and our game, of course.
 
#61
#61
05_never_again said:
It's ironic that the people who have clamored the most over the years for a mechanism to determine a national champion are also the loudest complainers about non-championship bowls becoming meaningless.

Regardless, don't understand how having a playoff (or BCS) renders the non-championship bowls meaningless. Even when there was no formal mechanism to put #1 against #2 on the field, you could look at certain bowl matchups (like if #1 was playing #4, or #2 was playing #3) and say "this is a de facto national championship game." Nobody thought that meant a game between #6 and #7, or #15 and #18, was meaningless.

Just because there is a formal mechanism today to determine a champ, why does that mean a game between #5 and #6 is meaningless? Didn't that same dynamic exist in the pre-CFP and pre-BCS eras? You've always had a bowl game(s) that was going to determine who #1 was, and a ton of others that aren't. How is it any different?
Click to expand...
Logically I get what you are saying. Not sure if you are old enough to have lived through the pre BCS bowl era but it felt different. There was more individual focus on the bowls instead of it all being about the National championship. One example was tradition and pride of making it to the Sugar Bowl if you won the SEC. The feeling and excitement of playing Miami had nothing to do with ending up as the number 1 team. In today’s world, that would be a disappointment or a consolation prize if you weren’t in the BCS or CFP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tbwhhs, tntar heel and hog88
#62
#62
MAD said:
Logically I get what you are saying. Not sure if you are old enough to have lived through the pre BCS bowl era but it felt different. There was more individual focus on the bowls instead of it all being about the National championship. One example was tradition and pride of making it to the Sugar Bowl if you won the SEC. The feeling and excitement of playing Miami had nothing to do with ending up as the number 1 team. In today’s world, that would be a disappointment or a consolation prize if you weren’t in the BCS or CFP.
Click to expand...
Depends on the situation the team is in. If a team expecting to win 7 or 8 games ends up in a high-ranking bowl game, or if a team expecting to win 1 or 2 games makes a bowl (like Northwestern), they certainly don't see it as a consolation. If a team has national title expectations and ends up outside the playoff, then yes, they see it as a consolation prize.

I was young, but I remember the pre-BCS era. I agree that it felt different. People did assign more meaning to bowls that weren't going to determine a national champion. My question is why. The dynamic that exists today also existed in the pre-CFP and even pre-BCS eras. There was a bowl(s) that determined a national champ, there were bowls that didn't, and I agree that people assigned more meaning to the bowls that didn't. Rightly or wrongly, there has been a cultural change that has affected how players, fans, etc. view these bowl games.

Personally, I just think in our sports culture today there is simply more of a desire/need to crown a single team as a national champion, and to see most other teams that didn't win a national championship as having failed or underachieved in some way. There's just more of a need to do that in sports today than 20 years ago, and definitely more than 40-50 years ago. I'm not an NBA fan, but the comments Giannis Antetokounmpo made after getting knocked out of the playoffs last year sums up how a lot of fans, media, perceive performances that don't result in a championship, and his answer was great.

 
  • Like
Reactions: CAVPUT and MAD
#63
#63
05_never_again said:
Depends on the situation the team is in. If a team expecting to win 7 or 8 games ends up in a high-ranking bowl game, or if a team expecting to win 1 or 2 games makes a bowl (like Northwestern), they certainly don't see it as a consolation. If a team has national title expectations and ends up outside the playoff, then yes, they see it as a consolation prize.

I was young, but I remember the pre-BCS era. I agree that it felt different. People did assign more meaning to bowls that weren't going to determine a national champion. My question is why. The dynamic that exists today also existed in the pre-CFP and even pre-BCS eras. There was a bowl(s) that determined a national champ, there were bowls that didn't, and I agree that people assigned more meaning to the bowls that didn't. Rightly or wrongly, there has been a cultural change that has affected how players, fans, etc. view these bowl games.

Personally, I just think in our sports culture today there is simply more of a desire/need to crown a single team as a national champion, and to see most other teams that didn't win a national championship as having failed or underachieved in some way. There's just more of a need to do that in sports today than 20 years ago, and definitely more than 40-50 years ago. I'm not an NBA fan, but the comments Giannis Antetokounmpo made after getting knocked out of the playoffs last year sums up how a lot of fans, media, perceive performances that don't result in a championship, and his answer was great.

Click to expand...

I agree with you as far as the sports culture today is different. The bowl system is an outdated dinosaur. College football is the only sport that has bowls which are glorified exhibition games. Not even all of college football, just the FBS D-1. Get rid of them, and have a proper tournament like every other sport on every level in HS, college and professional. The only reason we keep them is money.
 
#64
#64
MAD said:
I agree with you as far as the sports culture today is different. The bowl system is an outdated dinosaur. College football is the only sport that has bowls which are glorified exhibition games. Not even all of college football, just the FBS D-1. Get rid of them, and have a proper tournament like every other sport on every level in HS, college and professional. The only reason we keep them is money.
Click to expand...
Why not both like we have?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MAD
#65
#65
vols 30 said:
Sure. Texas St playing Rice sure was more fun than the 49er/Ravens game.



Again. If someone has to point out they don't watch the NFL, it just means they watch and watch a lot. You like football. You watch. No one believes you.
Click to expand...
Watching Mr Irrelevant throw 3 or 4 picks and get benched was must see tv. If that is a preview of the superbowl, I will probably find something else to watch that night.
 
#66
#66
MAD said:
I agree with you as far as the sports culture today is different. The bowl system is an outdated dinosaur. College football is the only sport that has bowls which are glorified exhibition games. Not even all of college football, just the FBS D-1. Get rid of them, and have a proper tournament like every other sport on every level in HS, college and professional. The only reason we keep them is money.
Click to expand...
The current bowl system is certainly out of step with the current sports culture. Somewhere along the way, fans decided that a single and largely non-controversial "national champion" needed to be crowned each year. It's hard to do that with a bunch of bowl games that aren't even coordinated to match up the "best teams." It worked back in the day because there wasn't this huge demand to necessarily pit #1 vs. #2 together; there wasn't even a formal process to determine who #1 and #2 were. Each poll could be different.

Another thing that grinds my gears is that the crowd that wanted a playoff/playoff expansion is largely the same crowd that says "...but the regular season, rivalries, and conference title games are less important!" There's seemingly no awareness that the reason those games are less important is because of the playoff. If you create this new thing after the regular season that determines who the champ is, and you allow more teams into it over time, then (rightly or wrongly) the regular season is rendered less important simply by definition.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MAD, USMC-TNVOL and SpaceCoastVol
#67
#67
MHS Rebel said:
Mediocre teams, terrible games.

Maybe the action will tick up this weekend. That being said, I'd watch the worst college game before I tune into the NFL.
Click to expand...
Easy. Don't watch. I have watched a few games and I thought they were quite entertaining. What your post says is that you have bought hook line and sinker into the national championship farce. You should be thrilled next season after Gump is anointed to yet another, and college football goes deeper into the death throes.
 
#68
#68
MAD said:
I agree with you as far as the sports culture today is different. The bowl system is an outdated dinosaur. College football is the only sport that has bowls which are glorified exhibition games. Not even all of college football, just the FBS D-1. Get rid of them, and have a proper tournament like every other sport on every level in HS, college and professional. The only reason we keep them is money.
Click to expand...
That is just a sad commentary. It looks like to me that the Kentucky fans are having a great time in Florida as are many other fans that made the trek to watch their team against an unusual opponent. What is killing it is the fact that the players quit before the game. I'm sure you will be thrilled to watch the tournament. And since they have imposed all the new rules to 'shorten the game' you will get all the truck commercials you could possibly hope for.
 
#70
#70
I wish they’d find a way to incorporate the Sun Bowl into the expanded College Football Playoff. Second-oldest bowl and easily the coolest location/landscape of any postseason game.
 
#71
#71
05_never_again said:
The current bowl system is certainly out of step with the current sports culture. Somewhere along the way, fans decided that a single and largely non-controversial "national champion" needed to be crowned each year. It's hard to do that with a bunch of bowl games that aren't even coordinated to match up the "best teams." It worked back in the day because there wasn't this huge demand to necessarily pit #1 vs. #2 together; there wasn't even a formal process to determine who #1 and #2 were. Each poll could be different.

Another thing that grinds my gears is that the crowd that wanted a playoff/playoff expansion is largely the same crowd that says "...but the regular season, rivalries, and conference title games are less important!" There's seemingly no awareness that the reason those games are less important is because of the playoff. If you create this new thing after the regular season that determines who the champ is, and you allow more teams into it over time, then (rightly or wrongly) the regular season is rendered less important simply by definition.
Click to expand...
Do you think it would help with parity if you just had a playoff system? Seems like we always have the same 2 or 3 teams every year?
 
#72
#72
SpaceCoastVol said:
That is just a sad commentary. It looks like to me that the Kentucky fans are having a great time in Florida as are many other fans that made the trek to watch their team against an unusual opponent. What is killing it is the fact that the players quit before the game. I'm sure you will be thrilled to watch the tournament. And since they have imposed all the new rules to 'shorten the game' you will get all the truck commercials you could possibly hope for.
Click to expand...
If I’d have my way I’d go back to the pre BCS days, but that’s never happening.
 
#73
#73
SpaceCoastVol said:
Easy. Don't watch. I have watched a few games and I thought they were quite entertaining. What your post says is that you have bought hook line and sinker into the national championship farce. You should be thrilled next season after Gump is anointed to yet another, and college football goes deeper into the death throes.
Click to expand...
GBO🍊
 
#75
#75
MAD said:
Do you think it would help with parity if you just had a playoff system? Seems like we always have the same 2 or 3 teams every year?
Click to expand...
Maybe? But there’s also going to be a lot of those same big brand / same teams that would normally have been out of the running in December getting right back into the championships as well.

I honestly think moving signing day from December back to February / after the bowl games would have a much more significant effect for parity.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tbwhhs, Pennheel and MAD
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top