Bowl system has lost its glory

Published 10:01 am Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Good grief! We now have 80 Division 1 college football teams heading to the 40 bowl games.

In the past, winning teams were rewarded by being invited to prestigious bowl games during the holiday season. Well, that’s now history. Currently, some teams with losing records now get rewarded by being invited to lower-tier bowl games.

The University of Missouri, a team that finished with a 5-7 record, declined an invitation to a game. That was admirable on their part, feeling that a losing record did not warrant heading to a bowl game. However, three other teams with losing records (Nebraska, San Jose State and Minnesota) did accept invites, which completed the 80 available slots. Rewarding teams with losing records is sheer nonsense. Perhaps the powers that be should consider expanding the number of bowl games to 64, thus assuring all 128 Division 1 teams a bowl invitation. Alas. The college bowl system has clearly lost most of its luster and glory.

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Gary Altfillisch

Albert Lea