College Bowls 2019/20

Once again it is time for the college football silly season. Each year there are way too many bowl games, only three of which matter. The rest are the equivalent of soccer friendlies or exhibition games. It only takes a .500 season to qualify for a bowl. That means six-win teams get to play. Hardly a mark of excellence. In addition to a lack of good teams, there are also suspect bowl names and locations. Many are just made for TV filler events, particularly by ESPN. So, let's get on with this year's rundown. 

For 2019/2020 there will be 40 bowl games. That means 78 different teams will participate. There are 130 Division 1 - FBS football schools, so 60 % get to play in a bowl. That is quite an exclusive club.  The first game is December 20th, the last on January 6th.

There are always some funny, awkward, or unfortunate bowl names. Almost every bowl now has some tie-in to a title sponsor.  Some of them this year are:

• Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl - Two problems here. First, it is in Nassau Bahamas, not exactly a hotbed for American football. The game is played in a crappy 15,000 seat soccer stadium. We have bigger and better high school football stadiums in Texas. Second, Makers Wanted is just a slogan for an industrial park in Elk Grove Village, IL. 
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl - This game is also played in a rather small 20,000 seat soccer stadium. No, it is not in San Francisco, it is in Frisco, TX. 
• Cure Bowl - Again a soccer stadium, this time with 25,500 seats. The CURE refers to breast cancer. 
• Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl - What's a Cheribundi? It's cherry juice.
• Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl - At least it is played on a natural grass field.
• Walk-On's Independence Bowl -  Walk-On's is a sports bar/restaurant chain. Hardly any of the players will actually be walk-ons. 
• Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl - Shouldn't this be named Tony the Tiger Cereal Bowl? No tigers will be playing in this bowl. It will be the Seminoles vs the Sun Devils. 
• Vrbo Citrus Bowl - Can I buy a vowel? 
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl - I always find this name confusing. What exactly is famous? Idaho, potatoes, the bowl, some or all of the above? This is the game played on the blue field.
• Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic - Not a funny name but the game is no longer played in the actual Cotton Bowl stadium which still exists, it's at Jerry's World. For a few years, there was a minor bowl at the real Cotton Bowl, but none this year. 

The sponsorships change every year. Many only last a year or two. A few stick around for years. 

Because of the lax requirements for bowl eligibility, there are some pretty bad teams in the mix. If in any year there are not enough six-win teams to fill all the slots, they just waive that requirement. In theory, a six-win team will have a .500 winning percentage. Because we now have conference championship games, some teams play 13 games so a 6-7 team is still good enough. It doesn't look like that aberration happened this year. In fact, there was one extra bowl-eligible team this year. Toledo (6-6) is the unlucky team that lost the lottery. However, there are 13 6-6 teams in the fray. That includes The Kent State Golden Flashes and FSU Noles, two extremes of the college football spectrum.  

Enjoy the games, root for your team. If your school is one of the have-nots who made the dance, this is your chance to get a national TV game and maybe a big upset. If you root for a major school that snuck in with a 6-6 record you just hope for a win so it's not a losing season. I'll certainly watch the three playoff games that count and the Gators play in the Orange Bowl. A few others look interesting too. There is also the yearly tally to see which conference does well in the bowls. The ACC has ten teams in the bowls. The SEC and Big 10 each have nine teams. 

If these 40 games are not enough, remember there is an even sillier season at the end. That would be the four all-star games that have lost almost all relevance in recent years. They are now mostly populated by marginal players hoping for a look by NFL scouts. 

So, let the games begin. Happy bowling. Go Gators! Go SEC!

wjh