Over The Pylon

Back to playing games in cold Muncie. Goodbye warm climates.

Bowl season finally ended last night with Alabama taking a baseball bat to Notre Dame’s head and that is a PG way of putting it.

Alabama winning again is not the problem but how boring this is becoming is.

How many bowl games grabbed your attention of the 35 games this year? For me it was only three.

1.  Ball State vs. Central Florida, for obvious reasons.
2.  Northern Illinois vs. Florida State, all about the MACtion.
3.  Alabama vs. Notre Dame, the only bowl game that truly mattered.

That is it. I saw pieces of the other 32 games but that had more to do with the lack of television options between Christmas and New Years.

Those three games are the only games I will remember in two years. Maybe the fact the MAC went 2-5 in bowls too.

Some are excited for a four-team playoff coming up soon but that will only make two more games watchable. Here are some possibilities that might make bowl season a little better.

Eliminate conference tie-ins.

Mark Story of the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote about how fans of teams are constantly traveling to the same destination. This makes bowl season seem bland over time, especially for schools who go bowling every year. Not to mention more variety in bowl matchups. We just had three bowl games involving a MAC team against a Sun Belt school for crying out loud. We could have had matchup where Kent State played Purdue. Now that would have been comedy.

Start later

Some of these bowl games occurred December 15, 10 days before Christmas. I remember when maybe three bowl games would take place before Christmas. The early start drags bowl season out way too long. The term “Bowl Week” once described all the games that took place between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Bowl Week is great but “Bowl Month” not so much.

Cut 6-6 teams

Allowing a 6-6 team benefits the larger conference more than anyone else. A 6-6 SEC team will get a more attractive bowl bid before 9-3 MAC team. That is just the way it is. Getting rid of the 6-6 teams and making 7-5 the new bowl eligibility will create more meaningful games. Not to mention cut the number of bowl games down to a better size.

Form a selection committee

Are you tired of bowl reps yet? Why not take the decision-making away of middle men who have their own agenda. The NCAA could pick teams to create more competitive games. Then again the NCAA might make it worse but you never know.

I do like the bowls because it rewards teams with winning records. But the system needs to be tweaked to make it watchable again.

Filed under: BallStateFootball, BowlWeek, MAC, SEC |