The bowl games have commenced. I did horrible with my first day picks. Haven’t done a whole lot better since then. But never mind that because it’s time for me the fix the postseason….well, the current version at least.
The current postseason setup is plagued with issues but the idea that players can hop into the transfer portal BEFORE the bowl games are over is absurd. Honestly, same with coaches. There are almost needs to be a moratorium on moves that starts the day after conference championship weekend ends and finishes the day after the national championship. Otherwise it becomes the quasi-shitshow we have now.
This is now the ninth time I have done this exercise. Nine. I am not linking the previous eight but they shouldn’t be too difficult to find. Like the fact that I am sure most of these posts were done sometime in December. Should make your search a bit easier.
We begin with the opening ceremonies, so to speak: the axing of bowl games. That’s right, some bowl games just cannot exist in my version of Bowl Season. ESPN Events can fuck off if they have a problem with this. So the following bowl games will cease to exist:
- Myrtle Beach Bowl
- Bahamas Bowl
- Cure Bowl
- 68 Ventures Bowl
- Frisco Bowl
- Boca Raton Bowl
- Gasparilla Bowl
- Camellia Bowl
- Arizona Bowl
I’m sure some will bristle at the Cure Bowl because it’s a charity endeavour. Want a solution? Make more bowls like this. Have a portion of ticket revenue go to a charity of their choice. See how easy that was? Do I have to come up with all the answers? It sure feels like it.
Also, with the restrictions I have on who qualifies for the bowl games in my scenario, these bowls had to go. I get it: less football usually sucks. But the idea is to give as many of these games a full national audience as much as possible. That’s the whole point. Some of these teams just don’t get these kinds of audiences and bowl season is their one shot to do so. So let’s give it to them!
Another thing: pre-Christmas daytime starts. Those are gone. They are stupid. So don’t do them. There’s no reason for them. I think the only game that had to be played during the day was the Bahamas Bowl and, well, go back and look at the list.
Let’s bring back more games on over-the-air networks. So I am planning, as per usual, to take games off of ESPN and disperse them to ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. No I am not putting any on the CW although I was tempted to move the Hawaii Bowl to 11:59 PM and put it on Spectrum Sports and have a bowl season Hawaii Test.
The amount of bowl tie-ins drops for an obvious reason. I am looking forward with this so I figured I might as well not include the Pac-12 and put teams in the conferences they will be in next season. So there are plenty of at-large spots available. The other incentive I always use is back: each Group of Five champion gets to face a Power Five team in a bowl game. There is a bit of a change this year. With the Pac-12 no longer in this exercise, the Mountain West doesn’t have a partner in this, so to speak. So they aren’t slotted in for one of these games. Because of this, if the Mountain West champion is the top Group of Five team, they will just take their spot in the playoffs and that’s that. If they aren’t, then that team will replace the conference that did have the top Group of Five team in their bowl game. So, in essence, each G-5 champ still has their shot against a P-5 team, with a twist.
How do you qualify for the Bossman Bowl System? 7 wins. Those teams that qualify will be placed first and then, AND ONLY THEN, will any 6-win teams be put into bowl slots.
And finally let’s look at Selection Sunday: an abomination that I am sure ESPN is proud of but they shouldn’t be because it’s a fucking garbage show with their garbage takes. Complete crap. Let’s spice it up, shall we?
- Noon-12:05 – Introduction of hosts and panel
- 12:05-12:30 – CFP byes announced with analysis
- 12:25-1:15 – First round playoff matchups announced with analysis
- 1:15-2:00 – Tie-ins filled with short analysis
- 2:00-3:30 – It’s selection time! The bowl games are selected in random order (draw would have been determined in the morning if not late the night before). At-large selections are shown every few minutes. Analysis follows every pick and new bowl game matchup is shown if both bowl slots are filled.
- 3:30-4:00 – Final analysis and thoughts
Much better. Hell, even do the live look-ins like they do at March Madness. They did it this year and there was some interesting reaction shots. Florida State’s was heartbreaking, Liberty’s was nice to see and Michigan’s was hilarious. Drama. ESPN is starting to get it but the stuff they manufacture is mostly crap. If it wasn’t for Booger McFarland squaring off with Joey Galloway that entire show would have been unwatchable.
Next year, we get the 12-team playoff. It took years but everyone realized four wasn’t the answer. Probably should have gone right to six or stayed at two. Oh well, hindsight is 20-20. The top four will be the conference champions so I have taken some leeway by taking the top ranked team in what the conferences will look like next year. The Group of Five gets their top team in and that team will usually end up being the #12 seed although there have been times where they wouldn’t have been like when Cincinnati made the 4-team playoff a few years back. So here is what the Top 12 would look like, with the upcoming criteria and teams in their new conferences:
- Michigan (Big Ten champ)
- Texas (SEC champ)
- Florida State (ACC champ)
- Arizona (Big XII champ)
- Washington (Big Ten)
- Alabama (SEC)
- Georgia (SEC)
- Ohio State (Big Ten)
- Oregon (Big Ten)
- Missouri (SEC)
- Penn State (Big Ten)
- Liberty (Conference USA)
See how much things change? Florida State AND Arizona get byes. Arizona. A team that didn’t even make the New Year’s Six this time around. It also means Ole Miss gets booted from a possible national championship spot. I’m already not liking the new system. I’m sure with the new conference alignment, we won’t see this kind of disparity from the Big Ten/SEC and the ACC/Big XII. But for this time around, this is what we’ve got.
Scheduling! It’s what I show on here. So this has to work or otherwise what have I learned the past decade? I am using this year’s dates but the setup will work in other years as well. The main thing is to use Saturdays as your playoff days. Or if that fails, New Year’s Day for one. This is how this will work. Here is what I see with this:
First Round Games – Saturday December 23rd (all times EST)
- Missouri at Georgia (Noon, ESPN)
- Penn State at Alabama (3:30, CBS)
- Oregon at Ohio State (7:00, FOX)
- Liberty at Washington (10:30, ESPN)
I’m sure Chris Petersen might be a bit miffed at the start time for the final game but using the entire Saturday is the right play here. No other bowl games will be on this day either so these four games will have full national attention until the NFL puts their games on this day because they couldn’t give two shits about anything else on TV.
Quarter-Finals – Saturday December 30th
Since college football wants to change so much then let’s change it. The New Year’s Day traditional games? That’s no more. Hey, college football started it, I’m just continuing with it. The top four teams would be slotted in to these bowl games at the start of Selection Sunday and The Committee would try their best (after eating copious amounts of Chinese food and drinking 290 coolers between the 13 of them) to put the teams in spots that are advantageous to them, not only in their location, but the home cities of the teams they may face.
- Peach Bowl (Noon, FOX) – Michigan vs. Oregon/Ohio St. winner
- Cotton Bowl (3:30, ABC) – Texas vs. Mizzou/UGA winner
- Orange Bowl (7:00, NBC) – Florida State vs. Penn St./Bama winner
- Fiesta Bowl (10:30, ESPN) – Arizona vs. Liberty/Washington winner
Again, the former Pac-12 teams seem stuck in the late night spot and this is fine by me and better damn well be fine with the powers that be.
Semi-Finals – Saturday January 6th
Again, stick to Saturdays.
- Rose Bowl (5:00, ABC) – Peach Bowl winner vs. Fiesta Bowl winner
- Sugar Bowl (8:45, ABC) – Cotton Bowl winner vs. Orange Bowl winner
I get that it’s almost a guarantee a West Coast team would come out of the Fiesta Bowl but if Michigan or Ohio State gets in, their fans travel well and to go to the Rose Bowl? They will fill their side of the stands no problem.
CFP National Championship – Saturday January 13th
We move the national championship back six days. This may mess with the NFL playoffs but that’s something that can be figured out. Hell, move the game to the 20th for all I care. Just keep it on Saturday night. And it will be, starting at 8:00 on ESPN.
Now on to the next part of our show, the tie-in portion. There are now nine less bowls as you remember. Very little overlap. Things look good. Now the teams need to be filled in. This is what the rest of the bowls will look like after all the tie-ins are dealt with and they will be dealt with. Not having official tie-ins and never even bothering with them. That shit bugs me.
DATE | TIME | BOWL | TIE-IN #1 | TIE-IN #2 |
January 1st | 7:00 | Gator | SEC | ACC |
January 1st | 3:30 | Citrus | SEC | Big Ten |
January 1st | Noon | ReliaQuest | SEC | Big Ten |
December 29th | 8:30 | Alamo | Big XII | at-large |
December 29th | 5:00 | Music City | SEC | Big Ten |
December 29th | 2:30 | Sun | Big XII | at-large |
December 29th | Noon | Pop Tarts | ACC | at-large |
December 28th | 8:45 | Texas | Big XII | at-large |
December 28th | 5:30 | Duke’s Mayo | ACC | at-large |
December 28th | 2:15 | Pinstripe | Big Ten | ACC |
December 28th | 11:00 AM | Fenway | AAC | at-large |
December 27th | 8:00 | Holiday | at-large | at-large |
December 27th | 4:30 | First Responder | Big XII | C-USA |
December 27th | 1:00 | Military | ACC | AAC |
December 26th | 9:00 | Guaranteed Rate | at-large | at-large |
December 26th | 5:30 | Liberty | SEC | Sun Belt |
December 26th | 2:00 | Independence | Sun Belt | at-large |
December 24th | 10:30 | Hawaii | MWC | at-large |
December 22nd | 8:30 | Idaho Potato | MWC | MAC |
December 20th | 8:30 | Armed Forces | AAC | at-large |
December 19th | 8:00 | Birmingham | C-USA | at-large |
December 16th | 10:30 | Las Vegas | at-large | at-large |
December 16th | 8:00 | LA | at-large | at-large |
December 16th | 5:30 | New Mexico | at-large | at-large |
December 16th | 2:15 | New Orleans | Sun Belt | at-large |
December 16th | 11:00 AM | Quick Lane | Big Ten | MAC |
Yeah that’s a lot of at-large bids. Good. This is what makes this way of doing things that much more interesting. OK, let’s fill in those tie-ins. Remember, all teams in their new conferences (I hope I am not so confused with this next year).
DATE | TIME | NETWORK | BOWL | TEAM #1 | TEAM #2 |
January 1st | 7:00 | CBS | Gator | Ole Miss | Louisville |
January 1st | 3:30 | ABC | Citrus | Oklahoma | Iowa |
January 1st | Noon | ABC | ReliaQuest | LSU | USC |
December 29th | 8:30 | FOX | Alamo | Oklahoma State | at-large |
December 29th | 5:00 | ESPN | Music City | Tennessee | UCLA |
December 29th | 2:30 | CBS | Sun | Kansas State | at-large |
December 29th | Noon | ESPN | Pop Tarts | NC State | at-large |
December 28th | 8:45 | ESPN | Texas | Utah | at-large |
December 28th | 5:30 | ESPN | Duke’s Mayo | Clemson | at-large |
December 28th | 2:15 | ESPN | Pinstripe | Maryland | North Carolina |
December 28th | 11:00 AM | ESPN | Fenway | Tulane | at-large |
December 27th | 8:00 | FOX | Holiday | at-large | at-large |
December 27th | 4:30 | ESPN | First Responder | Kansas | Boise State |
December 27th | 1:00 | ESPN | Military | Miami | SMU |
December 26th | 9:00 | ESPN | Guaranteed Rate | at-large | at-large |
December 26th | 5:30 | ESPN | Liberty | Kentucky | Troy |
December 26th | 2:00 | ESPN | Independence | James Madison | at-large |
December 24th | 10:30 | ESPN | Hawaii | UNLV | at-large |
December 22nd | 8:30 | ESPN | Idaho Potato | Air Force | Toledo |
December 20th | 8:30 | ESPN | Armed Forces | Memphis | at-large |
December 19th | 8:00 | ESPN | Birmingham | New Mexico State | at-large |
December 16th | 10:30 | ESPN | Las Vegas | at-large | at-large |
December 16th | 8:00 | ABC | LA | at-large | at-large |
December 16th | 5:30 | ESPN | New Mexico | at-large | at-large |
December 16th | 2:15 | ESPN | New Orleans | Appalachian State | at-large |
December 16th | 11:00 AM | NBC | Quick Lane | Wisconsin | Miami-OH |
It’s a bit confusing with the new Big Ten and SEC teams but we have to get used to it soon anyway. Might as well do it now.
The G-5 conference champions get the opportunities they deserve:
- SMU (the AAC champ) goes to the Military Bowl to face Miami
- Troy (Sun Belt champ) plays Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl, a step-up from the champ usually going to the New Orleans or Camellia Bowls
- The Quick Lane Bowl gets MAC champ Miami-OH and they end up paired up with the Wisconsin Badgers.
- Finally, with Liberty in the playoff, Boise State, the Mountain West champ, replaces them in the First Responder Bowl.
I think setting the qualification at 7 wins works well. There are 17 at-large teams remaining. This number includes Notre Dame. I don’t care about their current setup with the ACC bowl tie-ins. It’s dumb. They are an Independent. They can act like one. Same with Oregon State now. Interestingly, we have 21 at-large spots. So four more teams will get in. Four teams who had six wins during the season. Under my regime, the bowls can pick ANY six win team once the seven-win teams are all slotted. Makes things way more interesting and keeps many teams with their eyes glued to the television to see if they get in or not. So let’s start the random draw. I did this and it was random and this is how it turned out:
- Duke’s Mayo – Notre Dame
- Holiday – Oregon State
- Pop Tarts – Coastal Carolina
- Independence – West Virginia
- Texas – Texas A&M
- New Mexico – UTSA
- Hawaii – Iowa State
- Sun – Texas State
- Las Vegas – Fresno State
- Fenway – Duke
- Alamo – Jacksonville State
- LA – San Jose State
- Armed Forces – Wyoming
- Las Vegas – Northwestern
- LA – Ohio
- New Orleans – WKU
- Holiday – Bowling Green
Man, the Guaranteed Rate Bowl got fucked here. Or did they? They get two selections from the six-win pool while the Birmingham and New Mexico Bowls get one each. Who will they choose?????
- Birmingham – Auburn
- Guaranteed Rate – Texas Tech
- New Mexico – California
- Guaranteed Rate – Virginia Tech
OK well at least the Guaranteed Rate Bowl gets two fanbases who will travel. So after the fun-time selection process, this is what the new bowl schedule will look like (other than the playoffs):
DATE | TIME | NETWORK | BOWL | TEAM #1 | TEAM #2 |
January 1st | 7:00 | CBS | Gator | Ole Miss | Louisville |
January 1st | 3:30 | ABC | Citrus | Oklahoma | Iowa |
January 1st | Noon | ABC | ReliaQuest | LSU | USC |
December 29th | 8:30 | FOX | Alamo | Oklahoma State | Jacksonville State |
December 29th | 5:00 | ESPN | Music City | Tennessee | UCLA |
December 29th | 2:30 | CBS | Sun | Kansas State | Texas State |
December 29th | Noon | ESPN | Pop Tarts | NC State | Coastal Carolina |
December 28th | 8:45 | ESPN | Texas | Utah | Texas A&M |
December 28th | 5:30 | ESPN | Duke’s Mayo | Clemson | Notre Dame |
December 28th | 2:15 | ESPN | Pinstripe | Maryland | North Carolina |
December 28th | 11:00 AM | ESPN | Fenway | Tulane | Duke |
December 27th | 8:00 | FOX | Holiday | Oregon State | Bowling Green |
December 27th | 4:30 | ESPN | First Responder | Kansas | Boise State |
December 27th | 1:00 | ESPN | Military | Miami | SMU |
December 26th | 9:00 | ESPN | Guaranteed Rate | Texas Tech | Virginia Tech |
December 26th | 5:30 | ESPN | Liberty | Kentucky | Troy |
December 26th | 2:00 | ESPN | Independence | James Madison | West Virginia |
December 24th | 10:30 | ESPN | Hawaii | UNLV | Iowa State |
December 22nd | 8:30 | ESPN | Idaho Potato | Air Force | Toledo |
December 20th | 8:30 | ESPN | Armed Forces | Memphis | Wyoming |
December 19th | 8:00 | ESPN | Birmingham | New Mexico State | Auburn |
December 16th | 10:30 | ESPN | Las Vegas | Fresno State | Northwestern |
December 16th | 8:00 | ABC | LA | San Jose State | Ohio |
December 16th | 5:30 | ESPN | New Mexico | UTSA | California |
December 16th | 2:15 | ESPN | New Orleans | Appalachian State | WKU |
December 16th | 11:00 AM | NBC | Quick Lane | Wisconsin | Miami-OH |
A few notes here:
- Auburn has to wonder why the college football Gods hate them. Another game with New Mexico State?
- Taking Notre Dame out of the ACC group when it comes to tie-ins means they can now face an ACC team in a bowl game. ND-Clemson? Yes, please.
- A few more P5 vs. G5 matches materialize because of the way the bowls are selected. James Madison gets to play West Virginia while RichRod’s Jacksonville State Gamecocks face off against Captain Mullet himself, Mike Gundy and his Oklahoma State squad.
OK look are all the matchups better here? No. That’s not really the point though. The point is to create interesting matchups that people might want to watch and to reward teams for their seasons. The hope here is that maybe a few more players will choose to play these games rather than opt out and get ready for the draft. I don’t blame them but it would be nice to see full rosters face off against each other. I think the bigger picutre has to be that the transfer portal shouldn’t open until after the bowl games are over but that’s a different conversation.
Alright, that was….well, fun may be a stretch but it was interesting to do as usual. I hope you enjoyed reading it and have a great weekend and a Merry Christmas!