It’s the college football equivalent to a participation trophy as bowl season is just around the corner.
For those of you who didn’t bother to count, allow me to do the math. There are 41 bowl games this season, plus the national championship game. When you figure two teams are needed to play each game, nearly two-thirds of the 127 major college football teams will be playing in a bowl game this year.
Yes, the splendor of earning a bowl berth has evaporated. It’s a three-ring circus of mediocrity. It’s gotten so bad, the NCAA was forced to relax its rules even further to allow 5-7 teams to participate in a bowl. Thank goodness for that.
Could you imagine a journey through bowl season without a matchup between Georgia State and San Jose State in the AutoNation Cure Bowl?
Quick, name one player from Georgia State or San Jose State. Name either head coach. Name one of their mascots. I can’t.
I’d rather see a rerun of “Little House on the Prairie” than this pointless game. If it were to be sucked into a giant black hole, no one would notice.
Other not-so-marquee matchups include Akron vs. Utah State, Georgia Southern vs. Bowling Green, and Northern Illinois vs. Boise State.
In perhaps the least likely of pairings, two schools from opposite corners of the country will meet in the Hyundai Sun Bowl in El Paso when Miami squares off against Washington State. The universities are located 3,085 miles away, just a quick 45-hour drive, according to GoogleMaps.
Fortunately, once we endure all the glut, we’re treated to some first-rate matchups. And the four-team playoff tops the list.
Before I go any further, my pick to win it all is, ugh, Alabama. I’m no Crimson Tide fan, but let’s remember what it took for Alabama to suffer its only loss of the season, 43-37, to Ole Miss.
It took five Alabama turnovers and an unlikely 66-yard TD catch from Ole Miss to pull off the upset. But even with that, the Crimson Tide still had the ball with a chance to win in the final minute.
I don’t see that much calamity striking ’Bama in these playoffs. My pick: Alabama over Oklahoma in the championship.
As for the game that’s near and dear to all of our hearts, the Vols will be making a trip to the Sunshine State to face Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. My advice to Northwestern is simple. The Wildcats better bring plenty of butter and maple syrup because they’re about to get pancaked by the Vols.
The way I see it, the Vols will build a comfortable two-TD lead by the fourth quarter. And once the Vols are on top, there’s absolutely no way they’re going to lose a game down the stretch.