Per Twitter: Tucson (MW/CUSA) and Little Rock (AAC/SB) applying for new bowls, which would take it to 42 for 2015. The Pac-12 is also in exploratory talks about adding a bowl in Melbourne, Australia and targeting 2016. Doncha love today's generation? Everybody gets a trophy...Meanwhile half of these schools will lose money by going to a bowl. But, if they build it, I will bet on it.
Half of the schools? If 20% of the schools make a profit, the NCAA is doing well. The new Arizona Bowl will most likely have one of the 3 CUSA teams from Texas in it, seeing as those three teams are in rather close proximity to Tucson compared to the other teams.
If the Pac 12 succeeds in getting a game in Melbourne, it will be Summer in Australia. It would make for a very nice vacation for the schools that have the alums who can afford to make such a trip. The Pac 12 would get one of the spots. Since it is so far away and the distance is far for anyone to attend, it would be nice to see the SEC get the other spot. As a USC alum, I would not object to a vacation in Australia around Christman time.
If the Pac 12 succeeds in getting a game in Melbourne, it will be Summer in Australia. It would make for a very nice vacation for the schools that have the alums who can afford to make such a trip. The Pac 12 would get one of the spots. Since it is so far away and the distance is far for anyone to attend, it would be nice to see the SEC get the other spot. As a USC alum, I would not object to a vacation in Australia around Christman time.
Yep, bowl games stopped having any meaning years ago. Now it's all about ESPN's bottom line. Did you know that ESPN's lowest rated bowl had better ratings than most of the early round NCAA basketball games? Nick Nolte said it best in Blue Chips. "Because this ain't about education, ain't much about winning, and sure as hell ain't about football...It's about money!"
I feel about the same on this point. I guess bad football is better than no football. But unless I have money on it or it's my own team playing, I probably won't go out of my way to watch the "Insert Corporate Sponsor Presents the Meaningless Bowl live from WhoGivesAShitVille." With 42 and possibly 43 bowls on the horizon I have a feeling the NCAA is going to get burned one of these days if we get 3 or 4 teams that are banned from bowls in one season, or we have a very balanced field of 120 teams where an extra high number of teams finished the season either 7-5 or 5-7. We may be hard pressed to find 65% of the teams with a .500 or better record.
Austin has applied. The smart money is on all of these bowls getting approved. The argument is that as long as there are 6-6 teams, there should be enough bowls for these teams to play in. And to think that there were only 18 bowls games just 20 years ago. The NCAA has destroyed the bowl system. You guys who gamble on anything (which is most of you in here) will have to admit that you have lost money overall. I, myself, do no such thing. I gamble to make money, and I think you guys who will wager on anything for your donations and contributions. To me, it is quite simple. It just takes one game, not 43.
In a related matter, the St. Pete's Bowl has lost it's sponsor, Bitcoin. This is the second sponsor to drop this game in the past two years. No reason was given as to why Bitcoin made this move, but the fact that the Feds are preparing to close them down and send some of their higher-ups to trial may have something to do with it.
