35 games in 17 days! It starts with the New Mexico Bowl featuring the Washington State Cougars against the Colorado State Rams and ends with the BCS National Championship featuring the #1 ranked Florida State Seminoles against the #2 ranked Auburn Tigers.
I get it. I’ve heard all the questions surrounding college football bowl games. I’m sure you have to. You probably have said and asked these same things.
“Why are there so many bowl games?” “Who cares about the (insert generic name) bowl?” “These bowl games are pointless.”
And I’m sure that’s not all you’re hearing or all that you’ve asked. The truth is, though, that these games do matter. Well, they matter to the universities, the coaches, the students, and the players. Oh
and let us not forget, they matter to the networks probably more so than anything else.
The smaller bowls, while not nearly as popular, give teams an incentive for a season full of hard work. Not every team can have the realistic goal of winning a national championship. But I guarantee you that every team has a goal of getting to a bowl game, or at least getting six wins, making them bowl eligible.
Getting to a bowl not only provides more exposure for the university, but it also helps the team become better. There are extra practices that benefit the athletes, because practice time with the coaches is limited during the season. Recruiting gets a boost because the teams are now on national television and getting to tell prospective student athletes about postseason play is always exciting.
Plus there are some great storylines that evolve around every single bowl game. Did you know that it had been ten years since the aforementioned Cougars had been to a bowl game? How about the fact that Boise State will not have Chris Petersen manning their sideline for the first time since 2005 after he was hired away by the Washington Huskies.
This is the last game for many of the players. They will never suit up for another football game again. Think about that. A game many have played since they were in pee-wee leagues and this marks the end. Do you really think you’re not going to get a solid effort?
This is football at its finest. This is the moment when many of those playing are still trying to make an impression for themselves and get noticed. This is their final chance to achieve their goal of making it to the next level.
This is Bowl Season!
Castro's Kingdom 