AJ: It's Time to Change the Bowl Season

Bowl games are dead. Or at least they should be in the format we’ve known for decades.

College football has changed so drastically in recent years. A wonderful tradition that was as much a part of American holidays as cheer, faith, unwrapping gifts, and gaining weight have been bowl games. But no more.

They once mattered to the teams playing and were an important component in determining conference supremacy.

Now, they are nothing more than exhibitions and advertising props. Few will recall the teams that won and lost, but everyone will remember the many gross ways to use mayonnaise or the human-sized pop tart that captured the nation’s attention this past week.

Actually, one game will stand out for some time because it should also serve as the final nail in the coffin to the bowl season as we know it. Georgia 63, Florida State 3 was an utter disgrace. No fault of the two teams that showed up at Hard Rock Stadium, and to be fair, it also wasn’t the fault of the dozens of players that chose not to play.

And no, it proved literally nothing about FSU’s CFP viability. But let’s avoid that topic for now.

The system is broken. College football is broken. And much needs fixing aside from the bowl season. But perhaps exploring new ideas, sensible ones that can enhance the greater picture of the fast-evolving sport moving forward, should be the sport’s next step. And, it could somewhat fix problems currently hurting this magnificent game.

Having had conversations on and off the record with coaches in the past, it must be conveyed that few people realize how chaotic December is for coaches. They have to secure high school signing classes, as National Signing Day is in the middle of the month. At the same time, they are bringing in kids that have entered the portal and trying to build their roster for the following season, as each club also loses players to the portal. Oh, and they have to get their teams ready for bowl games. Their emphasis is in exactly that order.

So, the idea here is simple, and one I first put forth on a podcast three weeks ago. Some have mentioned this in recent days, as well, so here it is:

*Move the bowl games to the start of the following season. Don’t make them the matchups we would see the previous December because teams change too much each offseason. Make it a fresh start to a new season. All 134 FBS teams are eligible.

Reveal all bowl selections on Thursday before the Super Bowl. Make it a spectacle and must-see TV.

The top 10-12 bowls will select teams similar to how they did before the BCS in the late 1990s. Next, use the same conference tie-ins that are currently in place for fill out the rest of the spots.

With 44 bowls, 88 teams will be selected. That leaves 46 squads without a spot in one of the games, so they then schedule each other. That’s 23 matchups among those programs.

These would serve as the 13th game on everyone’s schedule. So yes, we’re advocating to increase the schedule from 12 to 13.

Also, eliminate conference championship games, as we’ve learned in recent years they don’t mean as much as once thought. Leagues can determine how conference title winners are determined, with power conference champs getting automatic spots in the new College Football Playoff that moves to 12 teams next season. (Maybe it should grow to 24)

*Also eliminate games versus FCS programs. The CFP committee needs as much intel as possible to make its 12 selections, and a 13-game schedule doesn’t offer much to go by, so tossing in games versus FCS clubs minimizes the intel. Not to mention they are a complete waste of time and of little value to the FBS clubs, especially ones from power conferences.

*Start the new bowl season in what we now call “Week 0.” Perhaps ten on Saturday and ten on Sunday, then play the rest the following Wednesday-Monday on Labor Day weekend. That is the usual start of the season, and games are played Thursday-Sunday, so add one day to the mix and load up.

*Players won’t opt out of these games, so that eliminates a massive PR problem currently hurting college football. It’s understandable why most players do, though. They are either in the transfer portal and looking for a new school or they are preparing for the NFL Draft.

The venom spewed toward North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye for skipping the meaningless Duke’s Mayo Bowl to prepare for a draft in which he could be selected first wouldn’t happen again. That’s good for everyone.

College football is a wonderful thing. The pageantry is unmatched, the buzz building up each week gives this scribe goose bumps just thinking about it. It is tied to so many meaningful traditions that span generations. But it has also become a complete and total mess.

The giving-it-the-old-college-try shouldn’t be a thing of the past, but it is because of the opt outs and the silly appearance that games in late December actually mean something when we all know they don’t.

Georgia and Florida State proved it. So did so many other teams the last couple of weeks. So, let’s stop pretending.

Make all college football games matter again. Move the bowls to the start of the season, hype them up, and then overrate the winners and underrate the losers, both also traditions of the game’s past and present.

Do it now because it makes complete and total sense.