How do we fix the bowls?

[GumbyFromPokeyLand]

As many have pointed out, the bowls, including the NY6 bowls have not only lost their luster, the opt-outs have further neutered the importance of the bowls.

The fix should not only make the bowls more important, but also add incentive for players to stick it out and play for the team because it means something.

My Proposal.

Make the bowls part of the CFP ranking criteria.
- Play the Conference Championships as currently designed the first weekend in December.
- Give the 5 P5 Conference Champions a bye into an 8-team CFP
- Play all the Bowls the 3rd weekend of December (Thur, Fri, Sat and Mon). Gives the teams an opportunity to spend most of a week at the bowl location as a reward.
- Determine the CFP rankings after the bowl results. Expand rankings to top 30.
- Create a Conference Champion Cup that goes to the Strongest Conference based on final CFP Rankings.
- Play first round of CFP (8 teams) at home stadium of top-4 seeds the first weekend Jan.
- Play semi-finals at neutral location the second weekend in January
- Play final the 3rd weekend in Jan

Thoughts?

 

[Birry]

As many have pointed out, the bowls, including the NY6 bowls have not only lost their luster, the opt-outs have further neutered the importance of the bowls.

The fix should not only make the bowls more important, but also add incentive for players to stick it out and play for the team because it means something.

My Proposal.

Make the bowls part of the CFP ranking criteria.
- Play the Conference Championships as currently designed the first weekend in December.
- Give the 5 P5 Conference Champions a bye into an 8-team CFP
- Play all the Bowls the 3rd weekend of December (Thur, Fri and Sat). Gives the teams an opportunity to spend most of a week at the bowl location as a reward.
- Determine the CFP rankings after the bowl results. Expand rankings to top 30.
- Create a Conference Champion Cup that goes to the Strongest Conference based on final CFP Rankings.
- Play first round of CFP (8 teams) at home stadium of top-4 seeds the first weekend Jan.
- Play semi-finals at neutral location the second weekend in January
- Play final the 3rd weekend in Jan

Thoughts?

I despise everything about you, your thoughts, your approach to fandom, and your avatar is kinda weird.

But that's a dang cool proposal. I support it.

 

[Jalexjsmithj]

My ideal scenario isn’t realistic but...

Eliminate the CFP.

Get back to having 4 NYD bowls all played on NYD.

Have a committee pick the Bowl NYD matchups (have them take traditional bowl ties into account but not married to it).

From the winners of those bowl games have the committee choose the 2 that deserve to go to the + 1 championship game.

The idea, because winning the NYD bowl game doesn’t necessarily result in the championship game, it puts some added prestige back onto the NYD games. Also hosting them always on NYD in the exact same times re-injects some of the tradition back into the games.

So for example... this year could of looked like

(11 am Central)Orange Bowl: Clemson vs Ohio State
(2 pm Central)Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs Cincinnati
(5 pm Central)Rose: Oregon vs Oklahoma
(8 pm Central)Fiesta Bowl: Notre Dame vs A&M

Championship Game on Jan 4th, or next best days for ratings. Likely Bama vs Ohio State.

Essentially you’d have a 2-3 play in to face Bama between Clemson and Ohio State. But you give the G5 a shot and it’s not a bye for Bama. A&M and Notre Dame are playing in case something crazy happens they have an outside shot to get in. Oklahoma vs Oregon doesn’t matter.

More importantly ...2011.

(11 am Central)Orange Bowl: Clemson vs Boise State
(2 pm Central)Sugar Bowl: LSU vs Stanford
(5 pm Central)Rose: Oregon vs Wisconsin
(8 pm Central)Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State vs Alabama

So you have the flexibility to basically treat it just like a 4 team playoff if that’s what a specific year calls for, with 2 side games.

Oh, also. You make a massive push to use traditional venues. You try to work with Miami to rebuild an Orange Bowl. You consider swapping the Cotton Bowl for the Fiesta Bowl if you could get it in the old Cotton Bowl.

Which ever major Bowl you’re leaving out (Cotton or Fiesta), give it the only slot on NYE. Then smash every other bowl into the December 26-30th window giving it a March madness/NFL redzone feel to it for those 4 days. The Championship would be in ATL where (currently) Chick Fila would be the naming sponsor after getting rid of the old Peach Bowl.


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[RxCowboy]

You aren't going to fix the opt-outs for minor bowls.

 

[Jalexjsmithj]

You aren't going to fix the opt-outs for minor bowls.

I don’t even really think you should try to fix that.

But you could make them more fun for the viewing audience.


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[GumbyFromPokeyLand]

You aren't going to fix the opt-outs for minor bowls.

The farther down the rankings, the less of an issue is the opt-out. Certainly the teams in the top 4 to 6 bowls will take their bowl very, very seriously given what's on the line. Perhaps they re-do the bowl criteria to a winning record and only 20ish bowls.

Clearly the weekend of the bowl games would be huge with lots of eyes. I think players will want to participate.

 

[GumbyFromPokeyLand]

I despise everything about you, your thoughts, your approach to fandom, and your avatar is kinda weird.

But that's a dang cool proposal. I support it.

I'm honored.

At least my avatar has some sense of relevancy. Yours, not so much - I think. I have no idea what it represents.

 

[Birry]

I'm honored.

At least my avatar has some sense of relevancy. Yours, not so much - I think. I have no idea what it represents.

My avatar is the symbol of the Rebel Alliance from Star Wars and isn't intended to really "mean" anything.

 

[GumbyFromPokeyLand]

I'm honored.

At least my avatar has some sense of relevancy. Yours, not so much - I think. I have no idea what it represents.

My avatar is the symbol of the Rebel Alliance from Star Wars and isn't intended to really "mean" anything.

Oooookay


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[RxCowboy]

Clearly the weekend of the bowl games would be huge with lots of eyes. I think players will want to participate.

It's a matter of risk:benefit. With the exception of the CFP, the benefit is almost nil, and the risks are enormous.

 

[SLVRBK]

It's a matter of risk:benefit. With the exception of the CFP, the benefit is almost nil, and the risks are enormous.

This was my immediate thought as well...for those players currently opting out to protect themselves for the NFL you're adding additional games and expecting them to stay with the team and play in a CCG and a Bowl Game followed by the potential of 3 playoff games.

 

[Alum in AZ]

As many have pointed out, the bowls, including the NY6 bowls have not only lost their luster, the opt-outs have further neutered the importance of the bowls.

The fix should not only make the bowls more important, but also add incentive for players to stick it out and play for the team because it means something.

My Proposal.

Make the bowls part of the CFP ranking criteria.
- Play the Conference Championships as currently designed the first weekend in December.
- Give the 5 P5 Conference Champions a bye into an 8-team CFP
- Play all the Bowls the 3rd weekend of December (Thur, Fri, Sat and Mon). Gives the teams an opportunity to spend most of a week at the bowl location as a reward.
- Determine the CFP rankings after the bowl results. Expand rankings to top 30.
- Create a Conference Champion Cup that goes to the Strongest Conference based on final CFP Rankings.
- Play first round of CFP (8 teams) at home stadium of top-4 seeds the first weekend Jan.
- Play semi-finals at neutral location the second weekend in January
- Play final the 3rd weekend in Jan

Thoughts?

points for creativity for this proposal!

 

[gundysburner]

Clearly the weekend of the bowl games would be huge with lots of eyes. I think players will want to participate.

It's a matter of risk:benefit. With the exception of the CFP, the benefit is almost nil, and the risks are enormous.

It also completely misses the fact that all but 4 bowls are run owned by ESPN, & are programming for random nights in December.

A crap bowl game usually out draws any NBA game, so bowls are great programming for them.

Further, a Saturday night AAF game last year outdrew the Rockets vs. Lakers on a Saturday night.

Bowls=tv programming.


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[LS1 Z28]

There are currently 41 bowls spread out over about 3 weeks. Some cities host multiple bowls. I don't think it's feasible to play them all in the same weekend. I also don't think that TV networks would want them aggregated like that. They want them spread out over 3 weeks for broadcasting purposes.

I would love to see the CFP expanded to 8 teams. Take the conference champions from every P5 conference and 3 at-large bids. This would really put a lot more attention on the latter half of conference schedules and CCG's. It would also provide opportunity for someone like UCF or Cincinnati to make the CFP.

I don't see any way to stop players from opting out of minor bowls. The best schools can do is provide them with insurance policies and hope that they choose to play their final game with their teammates. The CFP would be better with 8 teams though.

 

[RxCowboy]

Some cities host multiple bowls.

What city hosts multiple bowls?

 

[gundysburner]

There are currently 41 bowls spread out over about 3 weeks. Some cities host multiple bowls. I don't think it's feasible to play them all in the same weekend. I also don't think that TV networks would want them aggregated like that. They want them spread out over 3 weeks for broadcasting purposes.

I would love to see the CFP expanded to 8 teams. Take the conference champions from every P5 conference and 3 at-large bids. This would really put a lot more attention on the latter half of conference schedules and CCG's. It would also provide opportunity for someone like UCF or Cincinnati to make the CFP.

I don't see any way to stop players from opting out of minor bowls. The best schools can do is provide them with insurance policies and hope that they choose to play their final game with their teammates. The CFP would be better with 8 teams though.

They’re opting out of the regular season already. Keeping them from opting out of bowls is a ship that’s already sailed.

Aside from paying them to play in bowls, it’ll never go back to the way it used to be.


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[SLVRBK]

What city hosts multiple bowls?

Orlando...Camping World Stadium host Cheez It, Citus and Cure
New Orleans...New Orleans and Sugar both at Mercedes Benz
DFW hosts multiple but different stadiums
Atlanta...Celebration and Peach at Mercedes Benz

 

[GumbyFromPokeyLand]

Clearly the weekend of the bowl games would be huge with lots of eyes. I think players will want to participate.

It's a matter of risk:benefit. With the exception of the CFP, the benefit is almost nil, and the risks are enormous.

Enormous? C’mon. The risk isn’t enormous. The risk is very, very low. Like the risk you take every time you get in a car- very, very low it will result in a life altering outcome. But that outcome could be catastrophic.

Presently, the number of players foregoing the last game or two of their regular season very is small. Making the bowls more like part of the regular season should help, especially for the teams that have a chance at the CFP.


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[GumbyFromPokeyLand]

The proposal ain’t perfect. But, nothing is. And yes, it’s going to take cooperation from both the CFP, ESPN, Fox, CBS and 20 or so bowls organizers.

But what will be better under this proposal seems worthwhile.
- the bowls will be more meaningful.
- at least 8 bowls will probably have ranked v ranked games if the selection process is properly designed
- will reduce the opt outs. Certainly not all, but it will for the games that matter.
- gives the G5 teams a much better chance.
- every weekend will be must-see for the college football fan (think $$$$$$)

There’s no question it would be better than what we currently have for the top-40ish teams.


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[RxCowboy]

Enormous? C’mon. The risk isn’t enormous. The risk is very, very low. Like the risk you take every time you get in a car- very, very low it will result in a life altering outcome. But that outcome could be catastrophic.

Presently, the number of players foregoing the last game or two of their regular season very is small. Making the bowls more like part of the regular season should help, especially for the teams that have a chance at the CFP.


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Yeah, that's why players are opting out, because the risks are low.