On Why Bowl Results Don't Matter (Again)

This is your annual reminder that, with the possible exception of the games in the "playoff", bowl games absolutely do not matter. You cannot tell a damn thing about how good a team is, how good a conference is , what a team's prospects are for next year, or really anything at all. This is because:

• Many successful teams have had their coaches hired away before the bowl game, and are thus being coached by either interim staff or new hires who don't know the team or the personnel and as such are flying by the seat of their pants.
• Many less-successful-than-they-hoped teams have fired their coaches before the bowl game, and are thus being coached by either interim staff or new hires who don't know thetheam or the personnel and as such are flying by the seat of their pants.
• Many of the best players who are supposed to be appearing in these bowl games are injured and out for the season.
• Many of the best players who are supposed to be appearing in these bowl games are focusing on the NFL draft and as such are largely concerned with not blowing out their MCLs in an epic clash with a directional school from Michigan.
• Many of the best players who are supposed to be appearing in these bowl games have gotten popped for various infractions (like getting stones on synthetic herb and falling out a window) and as such will not be playing.
• Many coaches view a bowl game and the NCAA-sanctioned practice time that comes with it as a head start for next season, and the bowl game is largely incidental. 

In short, relatively few teams are playing at full strength with a fully focused coaching staff and a fully focused team, and as such the fact that they failed to beat a team they've never played before and will never play again in a destination that has no business hosting a football game in December (looking at you, Boise) means precisely jack squat.