The Rose Bowl Has Lost Its Luster.

Agree with the OP on a couple of points.

In the 'old' days, the major bowls were a reward for a championship type season. Now, the loser of the B1G championship game gets the Rose Bowl (maybe) as a consolation prize. Same holds true for the Orange, Sugar, etc.

The emphasis is definitely on making the playoffs. So, yes, the major bowls have all lost their luster.

As it should be. The BCS was terrible. And pre-BCS, letting some AP and other polls vote to determine a national championship was worse.

The world has changed. Playoffs is where it's at. Yeah, a Rose Bowl game would be nice, but nowhere near as nice as making the playoffs. Nobody other than fan bases remembers who played in what bowl....but most of America remembers the four finalists.
 
I also advocate:

Teams have to be at least 7-5 overall, and at least .500 in conference play to go to a bowl.

I.e. reduce the number of minor bowls. Who's watching two 6-6 teams play? Not me. Certainly isn't a reward anymore to play in a minor bowl, in fact, it's almost an embarrassment.
 
Seth53 said:
I also advocate:

Teams have to be at least 7-5 overall, and at least .500 in conference play to go to a bowl.

I.e. reduce the number of minor bowls. Who's watching two 6-6 teams play? Not me. Certainly isn't a reward anymore to play in a minor bowl, in fact, it's almost an embarrassment.
Click to expand...

How are the Clowns going to get to a minor bowl then, if you don't allow 6-6? Huh? Huh?
 
I guess I'm romantic but a trip to the Rose bowl would almost be better to me than the playoffs....watching the Hawks run out onto that field as the sun is setting in Pasadena is on my all time sports bucket list. It would be cool to see Iowa in the playoffs don't get me wrong...but I wouldn't make the effort to attend a playoff game...the Rose bowl though...I'll sell the car and hitchhike out west if I have to.
 
A playoff appearance would do more for the Iowa program than 10 watered-down Rose Bowls. A playoff win and trip to the NC game would do more than 100 Rose Bowls.

It's select. It's the mark of a tremendously successful season. It's where the 'big boys' go to play.

The next big stud recruit isn't going to ask about Iowa in the Rose Bowl....they're going to ask when's the last time Iowa made the playoffs.
 
Last edited:
it may have. But I have to say that having been to 5 bowl venues, there is no feeling like standing under that lit sign for a photo and knowing your Iowa Hawkeyes were about to represent the B1G in the Rose Bowl....
that will give you goose bumps, guaranteed
 
Seth53 said:
A playoff appearance would do more for the Iowa program than 10 watered-down Rose Bowls. A playoff win and trip to the NC game would do more than 100 Rose Bowls.

It's select. It's the mark of a tremendously successful season. It's where the 'big boys' go to play.

The next big stud recruit isn't going to ask about Iowa in the Rose Bowl....they're going to ask when's the last time Iowa made the playoffs.
Click to expand...

Yes, just making it to the playoff is so much more important than winning a consolation game. Even if it's a game that used to be important.

Its like saying Id rather win the NIT than be in the final 4.
 
HawksMN said:
Odds of the Hawks winning the whole thing are insane my friend. Lose in a semi final and it becomes a faint clouded memory no one cares about.
Rose Bowl is memorable.
Click to expand...

No, it's exactly the opposite.

The long shot is making it there in the first place, something you may never have a chance at again. Once you're in the final 4 teams left you have an excellent chance.

No body knows who played in any bowls last year unless their team was in it. Everybody knows who played in the playoff.

I'm curious to know which game you want to see the Hawkeyes lose in order to fall to a bowl game?



Wanting to play in a consolation game instead of going for the highest accomplishment possible makes no sense and is basically the most absurd thing I've ever heard a sports fan wish for.

You specifically don't want to try to win a national freaking championship because a bowl game would satisfy some sense of nostalgia. Got it.

I can guarantee you that not a single player or coach feels this way.
 
RocknRollface said:
No, it's exactly the opposite.

The long shot is making it there in the first place, something you may never have a chance at again. Once you're in the final 4 teams left you have an excellent chance.

No body knows who played in any bowls last year unless their team was in it. Everybody knows who played in the playoff.

I'm curious to know which game you want to see the Hawkeyes lose in order to fall to a bowl game?



Wanting to play in a consolation game instead of going for the highest accomplishment possible makes no sense and is basically the most absurd thing I've ever heard a sports fan wish for.

You specifically don't want to try to win a national freaking championship because a bowl game would satisfy some sense of nostalgia. Got it.

I can guarantee you that not a single player or coach feels this way.
Click to expand...

id guess you must be about 18 yrs old and have no clue how much Hawk fans would want a Rose Bowl? Ask some of the older timers.

Oh, and we ain't winning a national title any time soon.
 
I get the fact that the Rose Bowl is one of the traditions of the B1G I'd love to see preserved. It's a big, no a huge deal whenever Iowa gets there. Or the Orange or any other top-level bowl.

Having said that I just seem to view the bowl system as seeing themselves as innocent bystanders who refuse to change with the times, all in the name of tradition. For all its faults D1 college fb is attempting to crown a true NC and no more of this MNC. Maybe I'm totally off the mark here but why can't these bowls work with the NCAA to preserve the bowl system as well as the playoffs whether it be kept at 4 teams or expanded to 8? Isn't there a way to do both?
 
HawksMN said:
id guess you must be about 18 yrs old and have no clue how much Hawk fans would want a Rose Bowl? Ask some of the older timers.

Oh, and we ain't winning a national title any time soon.
Click to expand...

Nope, not even close.

So you'd rather not even try?

Iowa will never make a meaningful Rose Bowl because that time is past. The Rose Bowl as you knew it no longer exsists.



The whole point was that it went to the team that won the conference not the team that finished second or third.
 
RocknRollface said:
Yes, just making it to the playoff is so much more important than winning a consolation game. Even if it's a game that used to be important.

Its like saying Id rather win the NIT than be in the final 4.
Click to expand...

Look man, there have been Iowa teams in the past 15 years where, barring injury, we at least looked like we would have been viable in a 4 team scenario. 2002 and 2009 come to mind. It is an immutable law of nature that Iowa cannot win three big games in a row and I do not want to watch this team play a team like Baylor who has had a month to prepare (unless that new QB stinks). I've been hurt too much. I want us to win our side, keep OSU within 2 scores and get to the Rose Bowl and win.

I got the lecture from my old man before we watched the '86 Rose Bowl. We backed into another one a few years later, but man, I want to head out there with my old man and watch the Hawks beat someone. Yeah, second tier, consolation prize, whatever, but I can count on one hand my moments of watching Iowa football that exceeded the end of the Cap One Bowl. If through some miracle we won out and beat OSU, I just think we would get absolutely pantsed in a playoff game and I'd much rather end the season on a high note atop a lower mountain than in the valley between the tallest peaks out there.

There are years where I would sing a different tune, but I ain't sold on the viability of this team against a really stacked team that has had a month of prep time.
 
okeefe4prez said:
Look man, there have been Iowa teams in the past 15 years where, barring injury, we at least looked like we would have been viable in a 4 team scenario. 2002 and 2009 come to mind. It is an immutable law of nature that Iowa cannot win three big games in a row and I do not want to watch this team play a team like Baylor who has had a month to prepare (unless that new QB stinks). I've been hurt too much. I want us to win our side, keep OSU within 2 scores and get to the Rose Bowl and win.

I got the lecture from my old man before we watched the '86 Rose Bowl. We backed into another one a few years later, but man, I want to head out there with my old man and watch the Hawks beat someone. Yeah, second tier, consolation prize, whatever, but I can count on one hand my moments of watching Iowa football that exceeded the end of the Cap One Bowl. If through some miracle we won out and beat OSU, I just think we would get absolutely pantsed in a playoff game and I'd much rather end the season on a high note atop a lower mountain than in the valley between the tallest peaks out there.

There are years where I would sing a different tune, but I ain't sold on the viability of this team against a really stacked team that has had a month of prep time.
Click to expand...

Ahh, you're the type who'd rather settle for mediocrity than even try for success, even if the odds were big. I gotcha.

So before the Penn State game in 2008 you'd have rather seen the Hawks play Indiana because it was a sure win?

Look man, if Ferentz coached the Hawkeyes with the same mind set you have they'd never win a game. The Rose Bowl means absolutely nothing to anyone in this country other than the corporation that promotes it and jilted Iowa fans who are still living in the 80s. Nada. And I love the Hawks as much as anyone else on this board. This is about football for god's sake, not your Facebook pictures of the parade, or the atmosphere, or telling your kids a bunch of "back in my day" stories (yes, I was around back then). It's a lot like Nebraska fans who still think it's 1995. You're stuck in the past and it's gotten so bad that you'd forsake Iowa's relevancy for some cooky dream you've had for 3 decades.

Even if you don't want to listen to me about that stuff, then think what making the playoffs would do for recruiting and the future of the program. Do you honestly think an 18 year old stud ball player gives a damn about Iowa playing the Rose Bowl? No way because the rest of the world knows it's a no-status game that's given to the leftover teams. Tell that kid that Iowa is a relevant playoff team that just maybe even won the first round, then you're on to something. The implications of that would be huge.
 
Last edited:
See I think tradition and nostalgia, what people are saying the bowl games are good for, are what makes college football great. The playoff is cool and everything...but at that point why wouldn't I just watch and support the NFL? I like the NFL but it's the pageantry and traditions of college football that have me fanatical about it.
 
SonofaSailor said:
See I think tradition and nostalgia, what people are saying the bowl games are good for, are what makes college football great. The playoff is cool and everything...but at that point why wouldn't I just watch and support the NFL? I like the NFL but it's the pageantry and traditions of college football that have me fanatical about it.
Click to expand...

You've seen Rudy too many times and listened to Jim Nance too long.

They make Ivy League football and the British monarchy for pageantry and tradition, and neither of those things hold any significance.

I want winning football.
 
Fryowa said:
Ahh, you're the type who'd rather settle for mediocrity than even try for success, even if the odds were big. I gotcha.

So before the Penn State game in 2008 you'd have rather seen the Hawks play Indiana because it was a sure win?

Look man, if Ferentz coached the Hawkeyes with the same mind set you have they'd never win a game. The Rose Bowl means absolutely nothing to anyone in this country other than the corporation that promotes it and jilted Iowa fans who are still living in the 80s. Nada. And I love the Hawks as much as anyone else on this board. This is about football for god's sake, not your Facebook pictures of the parade, or the atmosphere, or telling your kids a bunch of "back in my day" stories (yes, I was around back then). It's a lot like Nebraska fans who still think it's 1995. You're stuck in the past and it's gotten so bad that you'd forsake Iowa's relevancy for some cooky dream you've had for 3 decades.

Even if you don't want to listen to me about that stuff, then think what making the playoffs would do for recruiting and the future of the program. Do you honestly think an 18 year old stud ball player gives a damn about Iowa playing the Rose Bowl? No way because the rest of the world knows it's a no-status game that's given to the leftover teams. Tell that kid that Iowa is a relevant playoff team that just maybe even won the first round, then you're on to something. The implications of that would be huge.
Click to expand...

The odds aren't big, they are impossible. Iowa cannot win 3 big games in a row. To win a national title, other than in a year like this one where the schedule is remarkably easy, we would likely need to win 5 big games in a single season without losing any of them. It just cannot happen. If you think winning the Rose Bowl and finishing around 8th in the final poll are mediocrity, you must be even more of an insufferable d-bag than me to watch games with. I didn't think the 2002, 2003, 2004 or 2009 teams were mediocre, in fact, those are realistically about the high water marks for a program like Iowa. Sure, I'd love Iowa to win a title, but I'd also love to win the Mega Millions and I don't fret too much about things bordering on the edge of impossible, statistically speaking.
 
okeefe4prez said:
The odds aren't big, they are impossible. Iowa cannot win 3 big games in a row. To win a national title, other than in a year like this one where the schedule is remarkably easy, we would likely need to win 5 big games in a single season without losing any of them. It just cannot happen. If you think winning the Rose Bowl and finishing around 8th in the final poll are mediocrity, you must be even more of an insufferable d-bag than me to watch games with. I didn't think the 2002, 2003, 2004 or 2009 teams were mediocre, in fact, those are realistically about the high water marks for a program like Iowa. Sure, I'd love Iowa to win a title, but I'd also love to win the Mega Millions and I don't fret too much about things bordering on the edge of impossible, statistically speaking.
Click to expand...
You're quite the defeatist
 
MelroseHawkins said:
Don't get me wrong, it's still the Granddaddy of them all, and probably the best bowl to attend with all the festivities including the parade etc., but the Rose Bowl is not the same prestige as it was in the 1980's and 1990's. It started to lose it's luster with the advent of the BCS but still had some meaning for the BIG and PAC 12 teams but not quite the same. I remember in 2002 after Iowa's successful season when everyone thought Iowa was going to go to the Rose Bowl (who can't remember all the roses at the Minnesota game and Brad Banks having a rose in his mouth after the game) but only to be swapped up by the Orange Bowl committee. I personally wasn't really slighted at that point as I was excited for Iowa to play in the Orange Bowl against USC.

Now with the implementation of the playoff system, the Rose Bowl has lost even a little more of its shine, especially when it is not included in the rotation in the playoff system. Now the goal of the teams is to get into the playoff system regardless of what specific bowl it is. The goal at the beginning of the year is to make the 4 team playoff, even if it means you may have to fall back to the Rose Bowl, which is not a bad consolation prize.

So, most years the BIG champion will be invited to the playoff system when in years past the true BIG champion would play in the Rose Bowl. Now, often times, the BIG 2nd best team will get the Rose invite, unless the Rose Bowl will have to host two different conference teams.

I am happy with the new playoff system as I like the teams to play for the championship, but my point to the younger folks is that the Rose Bowl just isn't the same as it was in the 1980's, and unfortunately, is not quite as prestigious as it once was.

Agree or disagree? Discuss.
Click to expand...

The idea of the Rose Bowl "having first choice" isn't even wholly accurate. It appears that The Committee slots the 4-team playoff AND the "Access/New Year's Six" bowls. So the Rose COULD be getting the third choice of B1G teams some years.

Still, it's a January bowl, it's The Grandaddy.

One solution: ALL non-CFP/Access-NY6/Citrus/Outback bowls (i.e., those that traditionally NEVER played in January before a certain year) MUST play their games December 30 or earlier. The New Brunswick Bowl at The Tokyo Dome being played on January 5 is just stupid.
 
The ship has sailed
Can't un-ring a bell
Cat's out of the bag
Horse is out of the barn
Train has left the station

On and on....the playoffs are here, to stay and expand, and the old vanguard, the Bowls, no longer hold an esteemed position in the world of college football. They had their day. That day is gone. They are now consolation prizes.

Goodbye cassette tapes.....welcome Mr. Cloud.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top