The WAY too early bowl projections

[HawkGold]

If you are a football player and don't want to be in the Rose Bowl then you have no business playing college football for Iowa.

You are saying that about one of the most gutsy Iowa football teams

If you are a football player and don't want to be in the Rose Bowl then you have no business playing college football for Iowa.

You're saying that about one of the most gutsy Iowa teams ever? Beathard, King, Kittle..and others.

 

[Seth53]

Which would you rather have, the scenario in my original post and a Fiesta Bowl win or get into the playoffs and getting the “wood” laid to us by ‘Bama?

I think the scenario in my post has Iowa with 2 losses, a regular season loss and a loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. Adding a Fiesta Bowl trophy would be kinda neat.

Iowa getting into the playoffs means they don’t have more than 1 loss and they won the championship game. So while it would suck to lose the last game of the year adding a Big Ten championship trophy would be neat and a fun regular season. This is the option I’d prefer.

My mantra is "go big or go home." CFP or bust.

I personally sat through that excruciating 2015 MSU loss in Indy. And was distraught we lost. Afterwards I said to my buddy I was with that that would be the closest I'd ever see Iowa come to making the playoffs (under the 4 team set up) in my lifetime.

I could have given two-craps about the Rose Bowl consolation prize. And really, all NY6 games are "almost made the CFP" bowls. Entertaining to be sure, but not the CFP. The Rose Bowl apparently had a nice ring to it for some, but it rang hollow to me. (And don't get me started on what an expensive nightmare it was to get to LA and the game for those giddy enough to go. Numbing).

(My 2015 angst was assuaged a bit as I was a JR @ Iowa the year Iowa went to the Final Four under Lute. So I have witnessed the promised-land in at least one Iowa sport (wrestling not withstanding)).

So, yes, my opinion is and option would be for Iowa, once, just once, to make the CFP under the very elite current format. Sure, we probably wouldn't win a CPF game, but I really wouldn't care. We would have made it.

 

[kicker22]

Whatever let down they experienced after that championship game quickly faded away once it was announced they were in the Rose Bowl. Hell the fan base was damn near more excited to be in the Rose Bowl than the playoffs, a Rose Bowl bid is still very much coveted around here. The fact is Stanford kicked the shit out of Iowa, the air went out of the sails quickly after the pick 6 and then the McCaffery punt return. If you are a football player and don't want to be in the Rose Bowl then you have no business playing college football for Iowa.

No denying the outcome and to older fans I totally agree with you. But from a 18-22 year old players perspective who may not have BIG 10 or PAC 10 roots which would be more coveted? Players play to win championships, and while I'm a 42 year old fan who was ecstatic about the Hawkeyes getting a Rose Bowl invite, but I can't think for a minute that to going into that game a Rose Bowl berth would have more meaning to them than making the playoffs with a win. As coveted as it is and as important as it is to the fanbase I think the playoffs have changed the game and the while the Rose Bowl is still the Rose Bowl it's appeal isn't what it once was.

 

[ssckelley]

No denying the outcome and to older fans I totally agree with you. But from a 18-22 year old players perspective who may not have BIG 10 or PAC 10 roots which would be more coveted? Players play to win championships, and while I'm a 42 year old fan who was ecstatic about the Hawkeyes getting a Rose Bowl invite, but I can't think for a minute that to going into that game a Rose Bowl berth would have more meaning to them than making the playoffs with a win. As coveted as it is and as important as it is to the fanbase I think the playoffs have changed the game and the while the Rose Bowl is still the Rose Bowl it's appeal isn't what it once was.

I'm gonna keep disagreeing with this narrative, if it was any other bowl game then I could see where you were coming from but it was the ROSE BOWL! I can tell you whatever disappointment they felt after losing to MSU was gone by the time they got to California. Every recruit that comes to Iowa is sold on playing for the Rose Bowl, getting into the 4 team playoff is probably sold as a possibility since Iowa has never done it but has came close once. If you are a college football player and the only thing that jacks you up is playing in the playoffs then it's Alabama/Ohio State or bust for you.

 

[Hawkboys]

My mantra is "go big or go home." CFP or bust.

I personally sat through that excruciating 2015 MSU loss in Indy. And was distraught we lost. Afterwards I said to my buddy I was with that that would be the closest I'd ever see Iowa come to making the playoffs (under the 4 team set up) in my lifetime.

I was there too and it was 1 of the funnest times I've ever had in my life. Yes the ending was brutal but we took over Indy that weekend. Oh and I worked at Kinnick for for the athletic dept for 2 years in the early 90s and saw some really good football.

 

[HuckFinn]

No denying the outcome and to older fans I totally agree with you. But from a 18-22 year old players perspective who may not have BIG 10 or PAC 10 roots which would be more coveted? Players play to win championships, and while I'm a 42 year old fan who was ecstatic about the Hawkeyes getting a Rose Bowl invite, but I can't think for a minute that to going into that game a Rose Bowl berth would have more meaning to them than making the playoffs with a win. As coveted as it is and as important as it is to the fanbase I think the playoffs have changed the game and the while the Rose Bowl is still the Rose Bowl it's appeal isn't what it once was.

It would improve it’s reputation if the pathetic physical stadium was rescued from the 19th C.

 

[kicker22]

I'm gonna keep disagreeing with this narrative, if it was any other bowl game then I could see where you were coming from but it was the ROSE BOWL! I can tell you whatever disappointment they felt after losing to MSU was gone by the time they got to California. Every recruit that comes to Iowa is sold on playing for the Rose Bowl, getting into the 4 team playoff is probably sold as a possibility since Iowa has never done it but has came close once. If you are a college football player and the only thing that jacks you up is playing in the playoffs then it's Alabama/Ohio State or bust for you.

But is the Rose Bowl even the same now that it's been incorporated as a playoff game every other year? I get where your coming from kids play for Championships. As I said I don't necessarily believe in teams checking out argument, but I view it as a consolation game, you may play your hardest, but at the end of the day it wasn't the most desired prize.

 

[Seth53]

But is the Rose Bowl even the same now that it's been incorporated as a playoff game every other year? I get where your coming from kids play for Championships. As I said I don't necessarily believe in teams checking out argument, but I view it as a consolation game, you may play your hardest, but at the end of the day it wasn't the most desired prize.

The NY6 bowls are hanging on...on life support.

When the CFPs expand, they'll become little more than sideshows.

Walkmans, CDs, rotary phones, film, alarm clocks, car ashtrays, NY6 bowls....you get the point.

 

[kicker22]

It would improve it’s reputation if the pathetic physical stadium was rescued from the 19th C.

The NY6 bowls are hanging on...on life support.

When the CFPs expand, they'll become little more than sideshows.

Walkmans, CDs, rotary phones, film, alarm clocks, car ashtrays, NY6 bowls....you get the point.

I hate thinking this way but at what point does the bowl system become the equivalent of the NIT. The NIT was once prestigious too, but now the only people that really care about it are the fans of the teams playing there and avid basketball junkies who just want to watch more games.

 

[ssckelley]

The NY6 bowls are hanging on...on life support.

When the CFPs expand, they'll become little more than sideshows.

Walkmans, CDs, rotary phones, film, alarm clocks, car ashtrays, NY6 bowls....you get the point.

Yep, this is true and it ticks me off. College football used to be special with it's unique bowl system, now it's going to be just like any other sport. Those bowl games will turn into NIT type invites once the playoffs get expanded.

 

[Seth53]

Yep, this is true and it ticks me off. College football used to be special with it's unique bowl system, now it's going to be just like any other sport. Those bowl games will turn into NIT type invites once the playoffs get expanded.

The uniqueness you mention was the underlying catalyst for the un-doing of the bowl system as a whole...i.e. it was the only major sport without a true champion....a champion crowned on the field by defeating somebody else directly.

Bowls were earned. The NC team...not always. Newspaper writers, sports writers, coaches, other voters, computers...all contributed to the morass of the "old" system.

The bowl system further disenfranchised itself by adding silly money-grab bowls, further diluting the title of "bowl participant."

 

[ssckelley]

The uniqueness you mention was the underlying catalyst for the un-doing of the bowl system as a whole...i.e. it was the only major sport without a true champion....a champion crowned on the field by defeating somebody else directly.

Bowls were earned. The NC team...not always. Newspaper writers, sports writers, coaches, other voters, computers...all contributed to the morass of the "old" system.

The bowl system further disenfranchised itself by adding silly money-grab bowls, further diluting the title of "bowl participant."

But I don't think its broken in it's present state. Expanding the playoffs to me is stupid, I like the bowl games even if it is a 6-6 Iowa team playing a 6-6 SEC/ACC team. It's a reason to throw a party, or go someplace warm, and watch my favorite team 1 more time. The 4 team playoff system is crowning the NC, all the squabble over who that 4th team is fun even though it doesn't change anything. Once they expand it to 6 or 8, they might as well go all the way like the FCS because then the bowls will be destroyed.

 

[Seth53]

But I don't think its broken in it's present state. Expanding the playoffs to me is stupid, I like the bowl games even if it is a 6-6 Iowa team playing a 6-6 SEC/ACC team. It's a reason to throw a party, or go someplace warm, and watch my favorite team 1 more time. The 4 team playoff system is crowning the NC, all the squabble over who that 4th team is fun even though it doesn't change anything. Once they expand it to 6 or 8, they might as well go all the way like the FCS because then the bowls will be destroyed.

Destroyed or just more irrelevant?

I vote the latter vs the former.

Bowls will survive due to the reasons you stated: limited local fan interest, some press, extra practices for the teams, a nice trophy for the locker-room case.

Bowls will become more and more irrelevant regarding national program status, recruiting tools, etc. Heck, they already are somewhat.

So, yeah, the flub-a-dub bowl pitting 6-6 vs 5-7 will survive. But just call them what they are...a chamber of commerce money grab for local interested fans. And not much else.

 

[ssckelley]

Destroyed or just more irrelevant?

I vote the latter vs the former.

Bowls will survive due to the reasons you stated: limited local fan interest, some press, extra practices for the teams, a nice trophy for the locker-room case.

Bowls will become more and more irrelevant regarding national program status, recruiting tools, etc. Heck, they already are somewhat.

So, yeah, the flub-a-dub bowl pitting 6-6 vs 5-7 will survive. But just call them what they are...a chamber of commerce money grab for local interested fans. And not much else.

Destroyed, which is why I say they should just go all the way. The entire purpose of a playoff is to crown the best team in college football, the present system does that and still maintains the bowl system. So what if they are a money grab, everything in sports at that level is about money.

 

[HuckFinn]

I beg to differ, unless I missunderstand some previous posts. Bowl games, regardless of the level, are for the players and their parents. The kids get to travel to places like San Diego, LA, San Antonio, Tampa, Miami, Nashville, Vegas. Ask the kids and parents if they want to go to a bowl game, regardless of level of Reputation. This ain’t about you, fickle fans. Stay home, don’t watch the lower rated bowl games, and whine that we aren’t in the final four. Bitch about the useless bowl games. The players and their parents, grandparents, siblings, will kick your ass. BTW, I watched “the catch” as well as a big number of other so called “meaningless” bowl games. Sorry you missed them, faux Hawk fans.