boognish_bear said:

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ESPNs Final Bowl Projection is Baylor vs. LSU in the Texas Bowl. #SicEm

— Grayson Grundhoefer (@GrayGrundhoefer) December 8, 2024

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Funny how ESPN guessed that one correctly. I wonder: How many of their other projections were correct?

whitetrash said:

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TomW said:

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Unrelated to Baylor being mentioned I'm seeing some noise for Alabama in the Texas Bowl. Like a Baylor vs. Bama matchup on New Years Eve in Houston?

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Bama isn't going to fall that far.

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They already did by losing to Vandy & OU. But they are SEC & Bama so the rankings & bowl selection don't reflect the reality of who they are in 2024. My hope is that they lose badly to a mediocre at best Michigan team whose best win was a rivalry game against a playoff team.

"We don't opt out around here. We play football."

Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown says he believes Kyle McCord and other key members of the Orange will play in the Holiday Bowl. pic.twitter.com/rClN8Wij1L

— Cuse Sports Talk (@CuseSportsTalk_) December 9, 2024

Indiana has not won a bowl game since the 1991 Copper Bowl, by far the longest bowl win drought in the P4 by a 13-year margin over 2nd place Colorado.

Question: if Indiana beats Notre Dame but loses the Sugar Bowl to Georgia, is their bowl win drought over? 🤔

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 10, 2024

Bad memory

boognish_bear said:

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"We don't opt out around here. We play football."

Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown says he believes Kyle McCord and other key members of the Orange will play in the Holiday Bowl. pic.twitter.com/rClN8Wij1L

— Cuse Sports Talk (@CuseSportsTalk_) December 9, 2024

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I love this. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I respect the hell out of Deion's old school approach to this topic as well.

It's funny. When you build a culture where kids want to compete/play football and don't entertain opting out as a reasonable position/option, guys tend to suit up, show up and play. We need more coaches who are building this type of culture.

I think Aranda has done a good job in this regard as well. We don't generally have guys passing up opportunities to go play with and for their teammates either.

Oof

Howwwww do you schedule a bowl game here… (and you’ll never guess which side they gave to the measly ol B12 team) pic.twitter.com/HOVJWDpqu5

— KIRK LΞΞ NOLES (@KirkLeeNoles) December 10, 2024

boognish_bear said:

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"We don't opt out around here. We play football."

Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown says he believes Kyle McCord and other key members of the Orange will play in the Holiday Bowl. pic.twitter.com/rClN8Wij1L

— Cuse Sports Talk (@CuseSportsTalk_) December 9, 2024

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I vaguely remember his name.

Wasn't he on Rhules staff at Baylor for a short time?

morethanhecouldbear said:

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boognish_bear said:

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"We don't opt out around here. We play football."

Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown says he believes Kyle McCord and other key members of the Orange will play in the Holiday Bowl. pic.twitter.com/rClN8Wij1L

— Cuse Sports Talk (@CuseSportsTalk_) December 9, 2024

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I vaguely remember his name.

Wasn't he on Rhules staff at Baylor for a short time?

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Yep...he was a talented recruiter. I think he was with Rhule at Temple too before BU.

18 FBS teams finished this year at 5 wins. With Marshall pulling out of the Independence Bowl, they would be given the opportunity to play in descending order by Academic Progress Rate. Here is that ranking of those 18 teams. pic.twitter.com/qstFHRrqXk

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 14, 2024

Did Fresno State change their team name?

Uh…ESPN?! pic.twitter.com/UtnCk7mk2g

— Curt Weiler (@CurtMWeiler) December 23, 2024

It's STILL there. https://t.co/pgDrGSrbeY pic.twitter.com/XS6tDpxOOJ

— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) December 23, 2024

Why did everyone look so old back then pic.twitter.com/m3Uu6P9qii

— Washingtons ghost (@hartgoat) December 26, 2024

boognish_bear said:

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Indiana has not won a bowl game since the 1991 Copper Bowl, by far the longest bowl win drought in the P4 by a 13-year margin over 2nd place Colorado.

Question: if Indiana beats Notre Dame but loses the Sugar Bowl to Georgia, is their bowl win drought over? 🤔

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) December 10, 2024

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...and the drought continues...

blackie said:

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boognish_bear said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Quinton said:

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Not an absolute must win. But if Dave pounds a sec team

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Huh?

Have we pounded anyone with a pulse in the past 3 seasons?

Hint: "With a pulse" excludes FCS teams and teams named Kansas or Texas Tech.

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What is your definition of a team with a pulse? TT finishing 8-4 with wins over both teams that played in the B12 Title game doesn't have a pulse?

We beat them 59-35 on the road.

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Had we beaten Colorado he would have added them as a team with no pulse. Same goes with BYU. His agenda is falling apart in front of his eyes. It's all about the poster being right than good things happening to the program.

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That's amusing coming from you, A poster who thought Steele should have been given more time to turn around the program and that RGIII wasn't the right guy to play QB for us.

jikespingleton said:

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blackie said:

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boognish_bear said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Quinton said:

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Not an absolute must win. But if Dave pounds a sec team

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Huh?

Have we pounded anyone with a pulse in the past 3 seasons?

Hint: "With a pulse" excludes FCS teams and teams named Kansas or Texas Tech.

---

What is your definition of a team with a pulse? TT finishing 8-4 with wins over both teams that played in the B12 Title game doesn't have a pulse?

We beat them 59-35 on the road.

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Had we beaten Colorado he would have added them as a team with no pulse. Same goes with BYU. His agenda is falling apart in front of his eyes. It's all about the poster being right than good things happening to the program.

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That's amusing coming from you, A poster who thought Steele should have been given more time to turn around the program and that RGIII wasn't the right guy to play QB for us.

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Where on earth are you getting this from? It doesn't help your credibility at all.

blackie said:

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jikespingleton said:

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blackie said:

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boognish_bear said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Quinton said:

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Not an absolute must win. But if Dave pounds a sec team

---

Huh?

Have we pounded anyone with a pulse in the past 3 seasons?

Hint: "With a pulse" excludes FCS teams and teams named Kansas or Texas Tech.

---

What is your definition of a team with a pulse? TT finishing 8-4 with wins over both teams that played in the B12 Title game doesn't have a pulse?

We beat them 59-35 on the road.

---

Had we beaten Colorado he would have added them as a team with no pulse. Same goes with BYU. His agenda is falling apart in front of his eyes. It's all about the poster being right than good things happening to the program.

---

That's amusing coming from you, A poster who thought Steele should have been given more time to turn around the program and that RGIII wasn't the right guy to play QB for us.

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Where on earth are you getting this from? It doesn't help your credibility at all.

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You are in no position to award or rescind credibility.

jikespingleton said:

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blackie said:

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jikespingleton said:

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blackie said:

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boognish_bear said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Quinton said:

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Not an absolute must win. But if Dave pounds a sec team

---

Huh?

Have we pounded anyone with a pulse in the past 3 seasons?

Hint: "With a pulse" excludes FCS teams and teams named Kansas or Texas Tech.

---

What is your definition of a team with a pulse? TT finishing 8-4 with wins over both teams that played in the B12 Title game doesn't have a pulse?

We beat them 59-35 on the road.

---

Had we beaten Colorado he would have added them as a team with no pulse. Same goes with BYU. His agenda is falling apart in front of his eyes. It's all about the poster being right than good things happening to the program.

---

That's amusing coming from you, A poster who thought Steele should have been given more time to turn around the program and that RGIII wasn't the right guy to play QB for us.

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Where on earth are you getting this from? It doesn't help your credibility at all.

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You are in no position to award or rescind credibility.

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You are just making stuff up. Why do that?

Robert Wilson said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Daveisabovereproach said:

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every bowl game that isn't a playoff game is basically a participation trophy if you want to look at it in a glass half-full perspective

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I look at bowl games as being 'outside of the sport'. Except for CCG's, the season is over. Bowls aren't anything except exhibition games that have been created to make money for a handful of people. Outside of a handful of bowls, the bowls don't move you further into the playoffs and therefore don't mean anything.

You and I can create an organization, obtain funding for it, get a sponsorship from Proctor and Gamble and call it the Pepto Bismol bowl. We can invite teams and hand out pepto bismol to all of the players. We can crown the winner of the game the Pepto Bismol Champ.

whoop de do

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Competitors like to play and compete. Pretty simple. If you like football, you like football. Saying only games with playoff implications "don't mean anything" equates to most games not meaning anything. That's just silly. If you don't like football, then so be it.

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To argue that I don't like football because I don't care for exhibition games is silly straw man argument.

FBS lacks a real playoff system. That's the main reason why bowl exhibitions were created in the first place. After the regular season was over, there was no playoff, no way to determine a champ etc. People who wanted to make money saw the lack of a postseason and created exhibition games - called bowl games.

I grew up watching the Houston Oilers. They finished 8-8 in 1996 and missed the playoffs. Should they have played in a bowl game after the season, because competitors like to play and compete? If they did play in said bowl game, what value would be placed on that game? Would it count for something? These are rhetorical questions - the answer is no. The games wouldn't improve their in-season record and they would still miss the playoffs.

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You think this word "exhibition" adds some rhetorical weight? Ok...

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No, I don't.

We can use the word 'bowl' or the word 'exhibition' or something else. Doesn't matter to me.

All I know is that with +40 bowl games, things are very watered down.

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I would just call them bowl games, since that's what we've called them for the last several decades.

Why do you think bowl games kept popping up until we got to the point that everyone who finished .500 or better could go play in one? Corporate sponsors wanting to lose money?

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Maybe this is why.

Here is my annual post to the “there are too many bowl games crowd.” The 33 non-CFP bowls on ESPN nets this year averaged 2.7M viewers +14% YoY & the largest audience since 2019-20 & P18-49 (+21%). 14 of the 33 bowls hit at least a 5-year high and five hit a 10-year high.

— Burke Magnus (@burkemagnus) January 7, 2025

Robert Wilson said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Robert Wilson said:

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jikespingleton said:

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Daveisabovereproach said:

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every bowl game that isn't a playoff game is basically a participation trophy if you want to look at it in a glass half-full perspective

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I look at bowl games as being 'outside of the sport'. Except for CCG's, the season is over. Bowls aren't anything except exhibition games that have been created to make money for a handful of people. Outside of a handful of bowls, the bowls don't move you further into the playoffs and therefore don't mean anything.

You and I can create an organization, obtain funding for it, get a sponsorship from Proctor and Gamble and call it the Pepto Bismol bowl. We can invite teams and hand out pepto bismol to all of the players. We can crown the winner of the game the Pepto Bismol Champ.

whoop de do

---

Competitors like to play and compete. Pretty simple. If you like football, you like football. Saying only games with playoff implications "don't mean anything" equates to most games not meaning anything. That's just silly. If you don't like football, then so be it.

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To argue that I don't like football because I don't care for exhibition games is silly straw man argument.

FBS lacks a real playoff system. That's the main reason why bowl exhibitions were created in the first place. After the regular season was over, there was no playoff, no way to determine a champ etc. People who wanted to make money saw the lack of a postseason and created exhibition games - called bowl games.

I grew up watching the Houston Oilers. They finished 8-8 in 1996 and missed the playoffs. Should they have played in a bowl game after the season, because competitors like to play and compete? If they did play in said bowl game, what value would be placed on that game? Would it count for something? These are rhetorical questions - the answer is no. The games wouldn't improve their in-season record and they would still miss the playoffs.

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You think this word "exhibition" adds some rhetorical weight? Ok...

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No, I don't.

We can use the word 'bowl' or the word 'exhibition' or something else. Doesn't matter to me.

All I know is that with +40 bowl games, things are very watered down.

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I would just call them bowl games, since that's what we've called them for the last several decades.

Why do you think bowl games kept popping up until we got to the point that everyone who finished .500 or better could go play in one? Corporate sponsors wanting to lose money?

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Maybe this is why.

Here is my annual post to the “there are too many bowl games crowd.” The 33 non-CFP bowls on ESPN nets this year averaged 2.7M viewers +14% YoY & the largest audience since 2019-20 & P18-49 (+21%). 14 of the 33 bowls hit at least a 5-year high and five hit a 10-year high.

— Burke Magnus (@burkemagnus) January 7, 2025

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People enjoy watching football.

My argument against bowl games is that those same people would also watch a larger postseason tournament (Division II and FCS have 24 teams and Division III has 32) or a secondary tournament below the 12-team playoff (think of a football version of the NIT), and it would be a better way to end the college football season IMO.

Bowl games can be fun games, but it's gotten to a point where the schools and players themselves don't take them seriously. In that environment, I'd like to see those games traded out for ones the programs and schools might be more inclined to invest themselves in.

I love bowl games, no matter how insignificant


The transfer portal has messed it up a bit but they're still fun nonetheless…

New story.

The bigger Playoff was supposed to kill of bowls. It turned out to be the opposite.

TV ratings for most of the non-CFP bowls soared in the first year of the 12-team era.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 7, 2025

blackie said:

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jikespingleton said:

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blackie said:

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jikespingleton said:

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blackie said:

---

boognish_bear said:

---

jikespingleton said:

---

Quinton said:

---

Not an absolute must win. But if Dave pounds a sec team

---

Huh?

Have we pounded anyone with a pulse in the past 3 seasons?

Hint: "With a pulse" excludes FCS teams and teams named Kansas or Texas Tech.

---

What is your definition of a team with a pulse? TT finishing 8-4 with wins over both teams that played in the B12 Title game doesn't have a pulse?

We beat them 59-35 on the road.

---

Had we beaten Colorado he would have added them as a team with no pulse. Same goes with BYU. His agenda is falling apart in front of his eyes. It's all about the poster being right than good things happening to the program.

---

That's amusing coming from you, A poster who thought Steele should have been given more time to turn around the program and that RGIII wasn't the right guy to play QB for us.

---

Where on earth are you getting this from? It doesn't help your credibility at all.

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You are in no position to award or rescind credibility.

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You are just making stuff up. Why do that?

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This started with you fabricating an entire paragraph and It's ironic that you chose the word credibility after doing so.

Bear8084 said:

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New story.

The bigger Playoff was supposed to kill of bowls. It turned out to be the opposite.

TV ratings for most of the non-CFP bowls soared in the first year of the 12-team era.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 7, 2025

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Even G5 ratings were quite decent.

1.93M USF vs SJSU (NYE night)
1.7M Texas State vs UNT (Friday early afternoon post New Years)
1.6M Arkansas State vs Bowling Green (at night between Christmas and NY)

Compared to the bottom of P4 ratings:

1.7M Florida
1.48M Cal
1.2M TCU
1.2M WVU
866K NCST