It's 1998 all over again, but worse. Just like Kansas State missing out on a BCS game in spite of a #3 ranking after losing the Big XII Championship game, Boise State has been taken it in the rear by the college football bigwigs. For want of a field goal, instead of a potential national championship game, ESPN is projecting the... Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl.
Now really. What kind of bovine manure is this? Until the kicker missed at the end of regulation, Boise was tapped for a BCS game against one of the automatic qualifiers, if not the title game itself. But to fall to a game that would typically go to teams lucky to be eligible? That just reeks.
This year has proven that the bowl system has gone as far as it can go. There is still concern that there won't be enough eligible teams overall to fill the available slots. It's already a given that some conferences won't be able to fill their specific slots.
The only reason there are so many bowls in the first place is to fill holes in ESPN's early-winter schedule, when no one cares yet about the NBA season. A bowl bid is now nothing more than a self-esteem award. Take away the cachet of "Yankee Stadium", and you have a football game in New York City in late December between two teams locals wouldn't pee on if they were on fire.
I'm not going to advocate a playoff in this post, but I'd suggest the way to make bowls mean something again is to get rid of at least half of them, and quit naming them after the sponsor. Smurf the Weed Eater Bowl.
Now really. What kind of bovine manure is this? Until the kicker missed at the end of regulation, Boise was tapped for a BCS game against one of the automatic qualifiers, if not the title game itself. But to fall to a game that would typically go to teams lucky to be eligible? That just reeks.
This year has proven that the bowl system has gone as far as it can go. There is still concern that there won't be enough eligible teams overall to fill the available slots. It's already a given that some conferences won't be able to fill their specific slots.
The only reason there are so many bowls in the first place is to fill holes in ESPN's early-winter schedule, when no one cares yet about the NBA season. A bowl bid is now nothing more than a self-esteem award. Take away the cachet of "Yankee Stadium", and you have a football game in New York City in late December between two teams locals wouldn't pee on if they were on fire.
I'm not going to advocate a playoff in this post, but I'd suggest the way to make bowls mean something again is to get rid of at least half of them, and quit naming them after the sponsor. Smurf the Weed Eater Bowl.