Is 2025 when College Bowls Die?

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corcorangopher

corcorangopher

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Bowl games have been slowly dying for a while.

First it was too many so they were watered down.
Then stupid sponsor names so you didn’t even know where or why the game existed.
Letting 6-6 teams play. Heck, having 5-7 teams get Bowl Games.

Rose Bowl losing its purpose.

Playoff becoming all that matters.

Players declining to play.

Now teams declining to play.

I used to like Bowl season….and Pizza Hut.
 


corcorangopher said:
Bowl games have been slowly dying for a while.

First it was too many so they were watered down.
Then stupid sponsor names so you didn’t even know where or why the game existed.
Letting 6-6 teams play. Heck, having 5-7 teams get Bowl Games.

Rose Bowl losing its purpose.

Playoff becoming all that matters.

Players declining to play.

Now teams declining to play.

I used to like Bowl season….and Pizza Hut.
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There was an article that contended that Notre Dame's stomping out (and KSU and Iowa State as well though more politely) that the bowls just don't matter that much anymore and teams opting out could lead to a death spiral. That might be going overboard. As long as ESPN is selling ads and people are making bets, the bowls will stick around. I think all the betting sites will help keep things going.
 
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corcorangopher said:
Bowl games have been slowly dying for a while.

First it was too many so they were watered down.
Then stupid sponsor names so you didn’t even know where or why the game existed.
Letting 6-6 teams play. Heck, having 5-7 teams get Bowl Games.

Rose Bowl losing its purpose.

Playoff becoming all that matters.

Players declining to play.

Now teams declining to play.

I used to like Bowl season….and Pizza Hut.
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So true about Pizza Hut.
 

As long as ESPN and others are paying to put them on TV, they will continue. If the TV money stops flowing then they are no longer viable and the real crappy ones will start to die because they certainly aren't selling tickets.

I won't miss the Mickey Mouse bowls if they ever do start to fall off, but I don't think we're anywhere close to that happening at the moment.
 
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ESPN literally owns and runs the bowls (not figuratively, they literally own and run them).

And ESPN makes gobs of money televising the bowls, because mass amounts of people watch the bowls, no matter how meaningless everyone ever year proclaims the bowls to be.

Bowl games are still around because people watch them. Even the crummy ones are being watched by lots of people.
 
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mnsportsgeek said:
As long as ESPN and others are paying to put them on TV, they will continue. If the TV money stops flowing then they are no longer viable and the real crappy ones will start to die because they certainly aren't selling tickets.

I won't miss the Mickey Mouse bowls if they ever do start to fall of, but I don't think we're anywhere close to that happening at the moment.
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I agree. I love it if there were about 10-12 less of them though…
 


If they go to 24 and the teams that don’t make the playoffs move up to some nicer destinations they may work. However if this many coaches are fired every year, they will be hard to fill.
 





14 bowls don’t include any P4 teams
8 bowls are G5 vs P4
12 bowls are P4 vs P4

6 bowls are part of CFP
 

yeah think this is the trouble when the players are being paid enough plus they're looking at going pro, what difference does bowl game make to them? think its reasonable to put it to the team on if they want to play. teams shouldn't be required to play in bowls. many of them are looking to move on with life and prep for the draft or the next phase in their careers. some are trying to get ready to portal (you don't want to get hurt and trash your chances to portal and sitting on the bench for another game ain't gonna help you). they've just really fucked themselves with how they've made the cycle and with expanding the playoff to so many teams that the immediately left out just don't really have a big reason to care (particularly given how much teams are going to change every year with many teams having 20 players in and out of the portal)

postseason won't ever "die" as viewership was the highest its ever been last year. it will change.
 

What we COULD be seeing, is the P4 teams largely competing for a playoff, and the G6 teams playing in bowls. Essentially dividing division 1 into FCS-A, FBS, and FCS-B.
 

howeda7 said:
I think a reduction in the # is inevitable, especially once the play-offs expand.


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A reduction in the number of games could certainly happen, especially if teams opting out becomes a common occurrence.

But as someone else mentioned, as long as people are watching it is programming for ESPN to fill the time around the holidays.
 


I’m surprised and torn on the Notre Dame decision. If bowl trips are supposed to be rewards to the players and something for fans to look forward to then it’s a bad decision. But with a now less meaningful game and a handful of players (guessing) likely sitting out for draft prep, imminent portal activity and recruiting, risk of ACLs for remaining players; maybe the coach though the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze and will start prepping for 2026. Maybe it’s a bilateral flip of the bird to Disney or whomever wants the viewers. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
If they go to 24 and the teams that don’t make the playoffs move up to some nicer destinations they may work. However if this many coaches are fired every year, they will be hard to fill.
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If it's all about providing programming the 6 Win requirement could certainly be eliminated.

Would it really be any different if say 4-8 Air Force played 4-8 Ball St in Boise?

The 6 win thing is already a joke, getting to coun to an FCS game towards the total matter how garbage that team is.
 

Ope3 said:
If it's all about providing programming the 6 Win requirement could certainly be eliminated.

Would it really be any different if say 4-8 Air Force played 4-8 Ball St in Boise?

The 6 win thing is already a joke, getting to coun to an FCS game towards the total matter how garbage that team is.
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They already have a process for figuring out which teams are next in the pecking order if there aren't enough 6-6 teams.

Bowl games have very little meaning anymore but it is bonus football for fans during the holidays and there is definite benefit to the teams in getting those extra practices to work with younger players.

It will be interesting to see if the team opt out trend from this year becomes more of a thing in future years. I don't recall bowl eligible teams opting out in the past the way Notre Dame, Iowa State and Kansas State are.....and on top of that Auburn and FSU declined the opportunity to fill an open spot.
 



disco said:
I think when the 5-7 teams choose not to accept, in some cases they've sent the kids home already and don't want to call them back.
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Auburn and FSU also breaking in new head coaches so makes sense to not want to mess with a bowl invite during the transition.
 

The only reason why I liked bowl season was to see how the conference stack up across multiple games. With the playoffs, it no longer does this with the amount of people that opt out and the teams not really caring unless you are in the playoffs. Also, with the CFP, we will likely lose the inter-conference games between top teams after what happened to TX. The CFP will be the death of all bowls, and college football overall eventually.
 

MNVCGUY said:
They already have a process for figuring out which teams are next in the pecking order if there aren't enough 6-6 teams.

Bowl games have very little meaning anymore but it is bonus football for fans during the holidays and there is definite benefit to the teams in getting those extra practices to work with younger players.

It will be interesting to see if the team opt out trend from this year becomes more of a thing in future years. I don't recall bowl eligible teams opting out in the past the way Notre Dame, Iowa State and Kansas State are.....and on top of that Auburn and FSU declined the opportunity to fill an open spot.
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For me, the Bonus football is additional 8 CFP games created when the field was expanded.

After watching those, I just don't give a rip about teams 13-70 or whatever, aside from the Gopher Bowl game. I barely care about that.

That's just me. I'm astounded they continue attract an audience. It's not unique. The NFL Draft gets eyeballs too, why is beyond me, but to each their own.
 



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