In my last post I called the NCAA a bunch of boneheads b/c they were whining about teams with less than 6 wins going to bowl games (3 of which are, thanks in part to South Alabama failing to qualify on Saturday in a game they could have won). Totally the NCAA's fault, because they let it happen. So here's how you fix it:
I was shocked Missouri declined a bowl game, BTW - who turns down free money? And why in the hell would the SEC let them? They are about as money-grubbing as you can get, and the money would have been shared around the whole conference, right? Weird.
But I digress, as is my wont. Certain NCAA officials talked about letting bowls go dark to slow the growth in the number of bowl games. Okay, well here's an idea - DON'T LET THEM! Do you really expect anyone to believe that cities around the country run around willy-nilly creating bowl, without input/approval from the NCAA? Obviously the NCAA is involved in these decisions, so it amazes me that they can fail to grasp the obvious - you know how many bowl games there are, and how many new ones are proposed. You also know how many FBS teams there are. So here are some ideas:
1) Use data. That's right, I said use data. Look at historical records, say only within the last 5-10 years, and then you can estimate pretty reasonably how many 6-win teams there will be. Then you could plan accordingly. Maybe 37 bowl games is the right number, or 38. Fine, then go with that. I refuse to believe you can't use your clout to force any number you want. After all, you are God in this space (or at least you think you are). You proved it with Penn State and North Carolina. You make the rules. So don't let more than the "right" number of bowls happen. Duh.
2) Make them rotate. That's right, I said rotate. If additional cities want to host bowls, fine, but then you can make them rotate. Go ahead and have 40 bowls, or 45, but for the least prestigious of them, maybe they can only happen every other year. So if Minneapolis wants a bowl game, fine. They can only have one every 2 years, alternating with some other deserving (or perhaps undeserving but with a little bit of clout) city. So every year you only have 37 or 38, whatever, games, but additional cities can still sometimes get some revenue. This would be a great test case (re-read #1) because then you might find certain cities get better draws so maybe those become the ones that happen annually.
NCAA, please read this. And stop whining about a problem YOU created. Seriously.
BTW - what about Army & Navy? Their last game is on December 12th, which is AFTER the bowl selections were made. If one (or both) of them were 5-6, and could get in with a win, would the committee have held off on some picks?
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