Scraping The Bowls

With yesterday’s announcement of the bowl matchups, it’s easy to get excited about some of the amazing games that we’ll get to see.  The Sugar Bowl- first game between Arkansas and Ohio State; the Rose Bowl- TCU’s “outsider” status against the earth movers of the Wisconsin offense; Gator bowl- Keys versus cowbells in Rich Rod’s Last Stand. And, of course, the Fiesta Bowl- celebrating the party that comes when an unranked team that lost to Michigan faces off against a team that hasn’t won a BCS bowl game since George W. Bush was in office. The first time.

Yup, for all the pageantry and gallantry of the most wonderful time of the year, there’s some stuff in here that many of us can do without. Think of it like Christmas Day… sure, you need new underwear, but do you really want that wrapped up in ribbon and paper to be opened in front of your family and new girlfriend? If you answered “yes”, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???

Anyway… it’s important to remember that Bowls are not about college football; that from the onset these games were ancillary to the tourism goals of “sunnier” climes, who were looking to get vacation dollars from folks living in the frozen tundra.  If this wasn’t already obvious, the president of the Gator Bowl’s comments from last week should hammer this home,

Our team selection is based on three criteria. Heads in beds, fannies in seats and big TV ratings. We’re not about college football. We’re about economic impact.

If it weren’t about money rather than “quality” games, why would Disney/ABC/ESPN be sponsoring/creating seven bowls for student athletes to have the “privilege” of participating in? Especially when those games will end up costing the University (in most cases taxpayers and general student population) to be a part of?  There is a reason that Ohio State is asking Sugar Bowl fans to get their tickets from the University, rather than having the school eat the cost of unused ones.

Since we’re talking about the realities of the bowl system, let’s look at the calendar- remember when bowl games were finished on January 1?  With all due respect to Dr. Gee, having games that go until January 10 is not impacting the academics of student athletes how?  Even Craig Krenzel thinks that a playoff is doable; to think otherwise seems to be more interested in the current economics (tourism, bowl committees, television revenue) than in crowing a champion or exploring new options.  Not that it’s a bad thing, just be honest about it.

Even the BCS, which is everyone’s favorite whipping boy, is not the evil monster that it’s often portrayed to be. In fact, it’s just a bunch of people with computers who have seen their influence grow over the past fifteen years or so; it’s important to remember that it required the ratification of the conferences and the current bowl administrations in order to exist in its current form.  That being said, there are still some bugs in the system that need to be fixed.

Now that we’ve settled that, let’s take a look at some of the games that perhaps… just perhaps… could have been “adjusted” given these times of economic uncertainty. After all, there are 70 opportunities for teams to play, and only 120 FBS programs, so that means that about 58% of the colleges in the country get to be a part of this. Remember, if everyone gets to do it, it’s not really all that special.

While this certainly sucks if you’re Temple or Western Michigan who were eligible and overlooked, it could be worse. You could have been part of one of these fine matchups:

• New Mexico– At least they’re honest about the tourism angle
• uDrove Humanitarian– Formerly known as the “Southern Idaho State Home Game Bowl”. This year, our friends from Fresno State get to be involved.
• R+L Carriers New Orleans– “Hey, you only came for Bourbon Street anyway; who cares if it’s not the Sugar Bowl? Drink enough hurricanes and you won’t know the difference…”
• Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg– Brought to you by ESPN, who can’t get enough of Beefy Bradys
• MAACO Las Vegas -Nothing says “Down and out in Las Vegas” like a team that went from a BCS Cinderella to the MAACO Bowl.
• S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia– Home Game for both Navy and San Diego State, with flowers.
• Sheraton Hawaii– Hawaii. In a bowl game. At home. Who could have seen this coming?
• Little Caesars- Good game for the Rockets, since they play really well in Michigan
• AdvoCare V100 Independence– Are you sure you want to have a game for “Independence” with a team from Georgia? If not for the Civil War metaphors, what about their desire to get out from under the Richt Reign?
• Insight–  Here’s some insight, Iowa and Mizzou should play in Kansas City or St. Louis.
• Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman – First of two games presented by military contractors. And not even the cool kind.
• Texas– This is the closest that Texas will get to a bowl this year. Not the state, the University.
• Bell Helicopter Armed Forces– Makes perfect sense that Army is in this game.
• New Era Pinstripe– A game in a baseball stadium. Yeah, that works well. Syracuse may want to re-think their strategy.
• Franklin American Mortgage– Isn’t it great to know that your mortgage dollars are funding college sports endeavors?
• Bridgepoint Education– Well, there is a lot of repetition in the educational process…
• Hyundai Sun– “Convicts versus Criminals” in the Sun Bowl. Oh, how the mighty have fallen…
• TicketCity– Wait, so it’s OK to sell tickets to people that want them? You’ve got to wonder if anyone will try to scalp for this game…
• GoDaddy.com- Danica Patrick not included
  
• BBVA Compass -You’d need a really good compass to find this game on TV.  Versus??
• Kraft Fight Hunger– You know who I want to help fight hunger? The makers of processed cheese, Tang, and Oreos

Yup, it sure is a pity that 42% of the institutions don’t get the opportunity to be involved in this important part of the educational process, or to pay for the privilege to do so. It’s a shame that they won’t have the high character that comes after being associated with these classy and prestigious events.

Audience Participation Time: Starting next week, you can count on the Buckeye Battlecry to bring you deeper insight into each of these matchups, as well as give you a chance to predict the winners.  Stay tuned!