Hey, college football, fix your bowl problems! And here are Ken Schreiber's year-end awards
Belated Happy New Year everyone! The bowl season is finally over and it was an unmitigated disaster. No preparation, no fans and in the case of many teams, no players.
Next year may be different since the College Football Playoff will have 12 teams instead of four and a total of 11 games instead of three. But what about the other 32 second-tier bowl games? A few were well attended and have tradition like the Holiday Bowl or Sun Bowl, but the overwhelming majority are televised with less than half full stadia. Even some of the so-called New year's Six Bowl games, were loaded with empty seats. The camera operators did an exceptional job of only showing close-up shots of fans and the players' families, and no views of the entire stadium displaying completely empty upper decks. All to avoid embarrassment. And then there was the biggest humiliation of them all — so many uncompetitive games with lopsided scores primarily due to an overwhelming number of players who transferred and many others who chose to sit out. It was like preseason again. Players who hadn't played all season, became starters — sometimes at different positions than they had practiced for all year.
Then, there was undefeated ACC Champion No. 5 Florida State, angry about being left out of the CFP, having a chance for redemption against No. 6 Georgia in the Orange Bowl. Yes, the Seminoles were missing numerous starters and 29 total players. But Georgia was missing 18 players and five starters as well. The people attending that game should have been refunded their money as Georgia led 42-3 at halftime, before coasting to a 63-3 victory. Florida State routinely chose to have no quarterback and instead used the wildcat offense (in which a running back receives the direct snap with the only intention of running on every play). How bad did that look? But that wasn't all. In the Cotton Bowl, No. 8 Oregon bombed No. 23 Liberty, 45-6, who proved at 13-0 they had no business being on the same field as the Ducks. No. 9 Missouri defeated an inept No. 7 Ohio Stata, 14-3, after the Buckeyes starting quarterback Kyle McCord entered the portal and did not play. No. 11 Ole Miss toyed with No. 10 Penn State 38-25 in a game that was never even interesting.
The ones that mattered, the CFP semifinals — No. 3 Washington over No. 2 Texas, 37-31 and No. 1 Michigan defeating No. 4 Alabama 27-20 — were classics. So what is the solution? Contraction. Yes, the elimination of these "glorified scrimmages." The mechanism — the NCAA needs to increase the number of games that teams need to win to qualify for a bowl, change the date of the transfer portal until after the bowls have been played and finally, mandate a minimum attendance figure for any bowl to solidify its future status. This can be implemented gradually and the perception that playing in a bowl is an award for a great season as opposed to what it is for many today — a nice experience and an opportunity for many players to play meaningful minutes for the very first time. Simply put, less is more. Now the NCAA has the power to do this, but like most of their policies, they react to developments usually very late in the game and show little or no initiation or creativity to attempt to benefit the health of the sport. Instead, they are followers who permit the power brokers of television to control the sport. So, yes, fughettaboutit!
More: Networks hold too much power over college football, and it's ruining what was a great game
Here are my highlights of the 2023 season
After a season's worth of travelling to some of the biggest games in the country, I'm handing out my season-ending awards:
Best venue to watch a college football game
Army-Navy anywhere in America. Michigan is a close second.
Most beautiful college football venue
This one is easy. Utah which plays its games at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City surrounded by the beautiful Mount Olympus. No second place here.
Best college football fans
No. 1 Nebraska. Who else? The suffering continues but the home sellout streak remains in tact (396 and counting).
No. 2 Oklahoma State. There's nothing better than Bedlam and with big brother Oklahoma leaving for the SEC, it was magical in Stillwater.
Worst college football fans
No. 1 Texas. Longhorns are back but they act like they've been there on a regular basis. That's why Texas A&M left for the SEC in the first place — to show Texas they don't take a back seat to anyone.
No 2. Ohio State. The Buckeyes basically start the year off thinking the only game worth playing is The Game against Michigan. Yes, Notre Dame was on the schedule but most Buckeye fans would consider a 11-1 regular season a "disappointment." That's called arrogance.
Best media meal
No. 1 Notre Dame. There is nothing like it — from shrimp to ice cream to prime rib, the Irish know how to do it.
No. 2 TCU. Very impressive with an incredible charcuterie board and all you can eat.
Biggest college football news
No. 1. It's forgotten now, but for three weeks Colorado and Coach Prime were the apex of college football.
No. 2. Undefeated ACC Champion Florida State's controversy in not being selected for the CFP.
We'll preview the final on Monday as I head to Houston for the CFP Championship.
followtheschreib61@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: College football must fix bowl problems! And Ken Schreiber's 2023 awards
