Bowl Games Are Not Meaningless Exhibitions

[MoreCowbell]

This idea has been thrown around quite a bit lately, usually in reference to players choosing to forgo them. I DISAGREE!

Bowl games are every bit as much a part of a meaningful season as a September pre-conference game, Homecoming, Senior Day, or the Conference Championship game. They count towards the win-loss record and the stats are considered valid for both the team and individual players.

If bowl games keep being described as meaningless exhibitions, it's only going to lead to more players skipping them. Furthermore, if players start to get used to the idea of leaving the team, why wait for the bowl game? Why would they bother to play the last regular season game if "nothing is on the line"? Maybe skip out in November if the weather is crappy? Or even cash out of the last half of the season once their team has been eliminated from the conference champion or national title races?

I personally really look forward to attending and or watching the Hawk bowl game (hopefully) every year, every bit as much or more than a regular season game. It's super interesting to see how teams match up across conferences and geographic differences. It's one more chance to watch college football before the long off-season.

I blame the CFP. Before it was instituted, all bowl games were cherished. Now all the focus and attention is given to the select few bluebloods who actually have a chance to get in the CFP. Where's the fun in that for the rest of us?

College football is the most intriguing sport there is. Let's keep it that way for ALL the fans. Long Live Bowl Games!!

 

[hawkdrummer1]

It's easy to lose perspective as a fan. We want the best bowl possible every year and we watch year in and year out. Players only get a few shots...so playing in the bowl...making that trip...is a big deal. You can bet it means something to the players.

 

[PCHawk]

I've had some great times and made some great memories watching bowl games. That's the whole point for a fan. In the grand scheme of things, all football games are meaningless. But in reality, none are.

 

[ThunderHawk]

They are if you're staring down the barrel of a guaranteed first round NFL contract

 

[CP87]

They are if you're staring down the barrel of a guaranteed first round NFL contract

Then why did 8 of the top 10 draft picks in the 2018 NFL draft play in bowl games last year (Mayfield and Roquan Smith were in CFP; Denzel Ward and Josh Rosen sat out bowls)?

 

[koralakers]

Each bowl game is it's own "Super Bowl" for each team. Have no idea why any red-blooded American 20 year old would OPT to NOT play in this!

 

[hawk2th]

IMHO the bowl system needs to be revamped, or NCAA practice rules changed to allow non bowl teams 15 Dcember practices, with many bowls eliminated, so that a bowl game actually is a measure of accomplishment of a season and actually means something.

 

[1hawkeye1]

I've grown weary watching Iowa get their arses handed to them most years. They are meaningless exhibition games. Nothing more.

 

[HawkGold]

Bowl games are to make money for the sponsor and maybe some for the university. It's actually silly to lay off for 3 or 4 weeks and then think the games outcome really has any merit. That said, I'll watch and enjoy it..... Well, maybe not depending on how ready and seriously KF takes it.

 

[Stanzi]

The people saying that bowl games are meaningless are the same people who will complain if Iowa doesn't win. If the game is meaningless you wouldn't care.

 

[Fryowa]

This idea has been thrown around quite a bit lately, usually in reference to players choosing to forgo them. I DISAGREE!

Bowl games are every bit as much a part of a meaningful season as a September pre-conference game, Homecoming, Senior Day, or the Conference Championship game. They count towards the win-loss record and the stats are considered valid for both the team and individual players.

If bowl games keep being described as meaningless exhibitions, it's only going to lead to more players skipping them. Furthermore, if players start to get used to the idea of leaving the team, why wait for the bowl game? Why would they bother to play the last regular season game if "nothing is on the line"? Maybe skip out in November if the weather is crappy? Or even cash out of the last half of the season once their team has been eliminated from the conference champion or national title races?

I personally really look forward to attending and or watching the Hawk bowl game (hopefully) every year, every bit as much or more than a regular season game. It's super interesting to see how teams match up across conferences and geographic differences. It's one more chance to watch college football before the long off-season.

I blame the CFP. Before it was instituted, all bowl games were cherished. Now all the focus and attention is given to the select few bluebloods who actually have a chance to get in the CFP. Where's the fun in that for the rest of us?

College football is the most intriguing sport there is. Let's keep it that way for ALL the fans. Long Live Bowl Games!!

Bowl games suck.

They used to mean something because there were only 8 of them so making one meant you were an elite football team. Now there are 40 (and even more next year) and making one only means you have a .500 winning percentage and that’s even counting the 3 shitty non-con games that most every team has. 80 f’ing teams and you don’t even have to have a winning record. Yep...you can go 3-6 in conference and guess what? You get to go to a bowl game.

Bowl games are the British monarchy of sports. Used to mean something, act like they still do, and they’re nothing more than all pomp and no circumstance.

I get that you like to blow money on a warm vacation to watch the Hawks lose a game in the winter. Iowa’s cold in December; I understand it. Whatever blows your skirt up.

But to say they mean anything (other than the CFP games) is baloney.

I really hope more players send a message by skipping, because the sooner we get rid of the Piggly Wiggly Bowl presented by Tampax between the 6-6 Northeastern Kalamazoo Welding School Beagles and the 6-6 Whisker Buiscuit State Horny Toads, the better.

Give me the New Year’s Six or give me death.

 

[oldhawk12]

I've grown weary watching Iowa get their arses handed to them most years. They are meaningless exhibition games. Nothing more.

What they are for iowa is a reality check that their traditionally cream puff schedule led them to the bowl game and that they were a fraud all year . In turn, it exposes Ferentz for what he truly is

 

[Fryowa]

What they are for iowa is a reality check that their traditionally cream puff schedule led them to the bowl game and that they were a fraud all year . In turn, it exposes Ferentz for what he truly is

Case in point, the 2015 Rose Bowl.

Folks around here were talking like the Hawks were Alabama and then we proceeded to get Harlem Globetrottered by a PAC-12 team. I could hear McCaffery giggle all the way back here in Iowa every time he made a tackler miss.

 

[lightning1]

Then why did 8 of the top 10 draft picks in the 2018 NFL draft play in bowl games last year (Mayfield and Roquan Smith were in CFP; Denzel Ward and Josh Rosen sat out bowls)?

Every player gets to make their own choice. This is America. They don't need your permission or my permission or KF's permission. I can guarantee you that KF never asked a player's permission to change coaching jobs. If players want to stay and play, great. More power to them. If a player doesn't want to take the risks, that's great too. It's their body. It's their brain. It's their financial future.

 

[1hawkeye1]

Case in point, the 2015 Rose Bowl.

Folks around here were talking like the Hawks were Alabama and then we proceeded to get Harlem Globetrottered by a PAC-12 team. I could hear McCaffery giggle all the way back here in Iowa every time he made a tackler miss.

We only lost that game because their band was mean to us.

 

[Fryowa]

We only lost that game because their band was mean to us.

Bastards.

 

[4thngoal]

IMHO the bowl system needs to be revamped, or NCAA practice rules changed to allow non bowl teams 15 Dcember practices, with many bowls eliminated, so that a bowl game actually is a measure of accomplishment of a season and actually means something.

This is the dumbest thing ever.
Why not just say they can practice as much as they want? Why not say no matter what grades they get they can practice and play? Why have an age limit?
Why discriminate against a kid that it takes 10 years to earn a degree, shouldn't he get to play all 10 years?

 

[hawkdrummer1]

This is the dumbest thing ever.
Why not just say they can practice as much as they want? Why not say no matter what grades they get they can practice and play? Why have an age limit?
Why discriminate against a kid that it takes 10 years to earn a degree, shouldn't he get to play all 10 years?

 

[CP87]

Every player gets to make their own choice. This is America. They don't need your permission or my permission or KF's permission. I can guarantee you that KF never asked a player's permission to change coaching jobs. If players want to stay and play, great. More power to them. If a player doesn't want to take the risks, that's great too. It's their body. It's their brain. It's their financial future.

Totally agree. So if most players are making the choice to play (they are not being compelled, although perhaps somewhat by social norms), the game obviously has meaning to them. Nothing in your reply really relates to that primary point of my post, which is that these games obviously have a lot of meaning to a lot of players.

And if a player like Fant chooses not to participate in a bowl game, that is not because he thinks the game is without meaning, it is because the meaning the game has to him is not worth the risk to his own personal well-being that he is incurring. It becomes a personal value judgement. Currently the players making the same value judgement as Fant are in the minority, but there is definitely a strong trend in that direction.

 

[CP87]

Bowl games suck.

They used to mean something because there were only 8 of them so making one meant you were an elite football team. Now there are 40 (and even more next year) and making one only means you have a .500 winning percentage and that’s even counting the 3 shitty non-con games that most every team has. 80 f’ing teams and you don’t even have to have a winning record. Yep...you can go 3-6 in conference and guess what? You get to go to a bowl game.

Bowl games are the British monarchy of sports. Used to mean something, act like they still do, and they’re nothing more than all pomp and no circumstance.

I get that you like to blow money on a warm vacation to watch the Hawks lose a game in the winter. Iowa’s cold in December; I understand it. Whatever blows your skirt up.

But to say they mean anything (other than the CFP games) is baloney.

I really hope more players send a message by skipping, because the sooner we get rid of the Piggly Wiggly Bowl presented by Tampax between the 6-6 Northeastern Kalamazoo Welding School Beagles and the 6-6 Whisker Buiscuit State Horny Toads, the better.

Give me the New Year’s Six or give me death.

You are making the point that Bowls are stupid and meaningless because they are an extra-game that exists solely as a money grab. That very well may be true, but the fact of the matter is that this still represents a game on the schedule, and as a player, the battle is the thing. So even if the game only exists so many can line their pockets, as a player you want to win it, and hence it has meaning.

I could get behind your "do away with a million bowls" argument, but until they do, each of those stupid bowls still has a lot of meaning to the players playing in them. If they didn't, the players sitting out would be a majority, not a very small minority (that might be changing, which maybe could drive the change you are hoping for).