2023 Bowl Games Discussion

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sportsforever

What in the 1973 is this bowl game?! They have to figure out a way to keep opt outs from happening…not sure how you do, but this is rough. Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Get rid of the playoffs and make bowl games mean something again, along with the regular season.

Not going to happen, I know.

[legendkiller5]

A lot of crow I’ve eaten since the Kentucky game. I was wrong about Drink and Missouri.

11-win season and a NY6 win over Ohio State weren’t on my bingo card in August, but I’m happy.

[l3ulvl]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sportsforever

OSU’s QB is #33? I’ve never seen a QB with a number in the 30s… Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

not as bad as Devin Gardner wearing #98 a few years ago, woof


also, once that guy was shown trying to jog it off on the sideline, and clearly struggled, I was like welp

[Tovarich]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sportsforever

What in the 1973 is this bowl game?! They have to figure out a way to keep opt outs from happening…not sure how you do, but this is rough.

I am of the opinion that this is irreversible under the current structure. The transfers can be cut down by eliminating this absurdly early portal window. The early signing period needs to be done away with to stop the absurdly early coaching changes, which will cut down on some of these teams being coached by a WR coach with no experience and a gutted down staff that is looking elsewhere for a job the entire time.

But there's no longer any way to give meaning to most of these bowl games. The Orange Bowl which should be about as good as any non-playoff matchup could ever be in terms of meaning and ranking of the teams may even top Oregon State and Notre Dame for missing players. The Mike Leach 64 team playoff puts everyone in meaningful games -call them bowl games after the 1st round if people are worried about them existing and then everyone's playing for a potential championship, which keeps them all motivated to keep playing.

[Jr.]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tovarich

I am of the opinion that this is irreversible under the current structure. The transfers can be cut down by eliminating this absurdly early portal window. The early signing period needs to be done away with to stop the absurdly early coaching changes, which will cut down on some of these teams being coached by a WR coach with no experience and a gutted down staff that is looking elsewhere for a job the entire time. But there's no longer any way to give meaning to most of these bowl games. The Orange Bowl which should be about as good as any non-playoff matchup could ever be in terms of meaning and ranking of the teams may even top Oregon State and Notre Dame for missing players. The Mike Leach 64 team playoff puts everyone in meaningful games -call them bowl games after the 1st round if people are worried about them existing and then everyone's playing for a potential championship, which keeps them all motivated to keep playing.

They can't move the portal window back much because the players will want to be enrolled by January at their new school so they can participate in spring practice.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Operation Sports mobile app

[Tovarich]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jr.

They can't move the portal window back much because the players will want to be enrolled by January at their new school so they can participate in spring practice.

I'd be more than willing to sacrifice transfers practicing 5 months before the season starts if it solves some other problems.

[KSUowls]

Sadly I don't think that there is anything that can be done to bring us back to a state where we were even just 10 years ago with bowl games. Too much has changed with not just the rules but more importantly the culture.

For the rules: The transfer portal and lack of restrictions on transferring allows players to freely move about without consequence and coaches to tell kids that there isn't a place for them because they can turn over their roster in a single offseason. Even if you move the portal open date to a point after the bowl games, then if you're a kid who is looking to transfer then why would you risk injury in that meaningless game?

For the culture: Going back to the last sentence above, why risk injury in a meaningless game if you're moving onto something else? Each year we see more and more kids decide to opt out of playing in a bowl game because they want to get ready for the NFL combine and draft. We've even started to see instances of this happen mid season when a guy gets a little banged up. The monetary risk has always been there, but the mentality of the players has shifted. Which is obviously good to protect their futures, but the game inevitably suffers as a consequence.

[southernmetalhead]

I pretty much only casually watched the 4th quarter, but yeah not sure how Ohio State only scores 3 points. I know they were missing some players but damn.