The college football bowl season is about to kick into second gear; we have a week to go until Christmas Day and there have been five bowl games contested so far. Only one game was a blowout; Washington put a major beat-down on Boise St. by 4 TDs; the other four games have been closely contested. That fact makes them “entertaining content” for college football fans even if there is no “rivalry element” contained in the matchups.
- [Aside: A special tip of the hat goes to Delaware today. This is Delaware’s first year stepping up to Division 1-A in football. Not only did they achieve bowl eligibility, but they won the 68Ventures Bowl Game over Louisiana-Lafayette last night. Tonight, Missouri St. will be another “first year in Division 1-A” team in a bowl game when they take on Arkansas St. in the XBOX Bowl.]
So far, all the bowl games have been played in “warmer weather venues” with Atlanta being the local furthest north on the map; such is the case for the majority of the bowl games because these are supposed to be exhibition games where fans and alums follow the team to see one last game in the season. However, there are a few exceptions:
- Dec 22: The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will happen in Boise ID. The combatants will be Washington St. and Utah St. Dress warmly …
- Dec 27: The Go Bowling Military Bowl will happen in Annapolis MD. Pitt will take on East Carolina in the game. It will be cold.
- Dec 27: The Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl will happen in NYC. Penn St. and Clemson is the matchup. It will be cold.
- Dec 27: The Wasabi Fenway Bowl will happen in Boston MA. UConn versus Army is the attraction here. Climatologically, it should be colder than in NYC.
Obviously, the weather gods can choose to smile on those northerly cities in late December just as they might frown on some of the southward venues for other bowl games – – such as Albuquerque or Nashville or Dallas. But the odds are stacked in favor of those southern/sunny climes. Which makes me wonder how or why those four specific bowl games listed above justify the economics of staging those games. Are there really enough traveling fans who go to those games to justify the costs of staging the events?
I can understand fans enduring significant levels of discomfort if their favorite team(s) are going to be engaged in an important – or even a meaningful – game. None – – as in not a single one – – of the games described above approaches the level of “meaningful”; in fact, other than giving coaches and players another couple of weeks of practice time, those games are meaningless. So, why endure the likely discomfort of sitting on a cold seat with play interrupted by two-minute intervals for TV commercials and extended halftimes so the bands can perform? They are going to televise these contests; why not sit home and be comfortable and still watch the game live and in color? I do not get it…
At the other end of the bowl game schedule is the CFP. These games are meaningful to the teams involved and to their fans/supporters. Yes, I know that just as in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, some teams are “more equal than others”; nonetheless, for every team in the CFP, there is fan excitement and interest in the games to the point that even if they were scheduled in a “bad weather venue”, fans would follow the team there.
I think I have this right; there are five teams in this year’s field that have never been a participant in the CFP or the old BCS competitions in the past. They are – – in alphabetical order – –
- Indiana
- James Madison
- Ole Miss
- Texas Tech
- Tulane
For the supporters of those teams, this year’s performance has been emotionally fulfilling and will likely entice a goodly number of supporters to travel with the team no matter where they schedule the games. The presence of those five “newbies” to the CFP in 2025 might lead some folks to think that college football is in the throes of an upheaval; there are some traditional heavy hitters in college football that have been consigned to very minor bowl games in 2025 such as Penn St., Clemson, LSU, Tennessee, Michigan and Texas.
The sample size is far too small to declare “an upheaval”, but it is interesting to me that two of the five “first-timers” this year are seeded in the Top 4 and have a BYE Week in the CFP structure.
Finally, an interesting perspective from Muhammad Ali:
“It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………