Wednesday, January 1, 2014

January 1 Is Finally Here

Have you had enough of clunker bowl games? Yeah sure A&M rallied but most of the rest of the games have been lousy. January 1 is here and while that does not promise great football--who plans on watching the Heart of Dallas Bowl this afternoon?--we at least do get the Rose Bowl plus some mediocre matchups of the Big Ten and the SEC. Hopefully some of these games will deliver competitive, thrilling football. The problem with the bowl lineup is the relationship with conferences that lock certain teams into certain bowls depending on the final standings of each conference. So today we have mediocre Big Ten teams littering the schedule thanks to the sheer number of television sets the conference delivers and of course a phalanx of SEC teams thanks to the PR effort their conference does to ensure that everyone thinks SEC teams are the best. Would you rather see LSU-Iowa or LSU-Louisville? Nebraska-Georgia or Notre Dame-Georgia? Or, what the heck, Louisville-Notre Dame? You know the group being gathered to choose the four teams who will fight for the NCAA title next winter? Select another group of ADs, writers, public relations and television execs and choose games that will get fans excited. The bowls will get pissed but if the matchup makes sense the fans will come. The premise that Nebraska fans, let's say, will travel no matter what (and they are awesome fans) is being disproved today as there are empty seats at the Gator Bowl. The team had a mediocre season, why should they play in January? Eliminate some lesser bowls, eliminate the conference tie-ins and give us fans better games. The fans will come and tune in.

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