@mjp28 said:

GO WOLVERINES & GAMECOCKS!.......

.........geeezzzz that seems so strange. But GO BIG TEN!

Texas A&M started the 12th man tradition almost 100 years ago and Sherrill refined it with an all 12th man KO team with a schollie safety added. Now one position on the KO team is competed for by non-schollie students. This guy has been it for 4 years so as a reward they made him the blocking back in the I when they use it occasionally. To honor his 4 years representing the Heart of the Team, the 12th man in the stands, they gave it to him to run on the last A&M play of the game and go crazy for him with what he does. College football at it's emotional best, even for the coaches.

@mjp28 said:

GO WOLVERINES & GAMECOCKS!.......

.........geeezzzz that seems so strange. But GO BIG TEN!

Uh-oh, m starting the big game choke-o.

UF 20-10 and VIR 21-0. 

......... UF 27-10, D'OH, not again!

.........geeezzzz that seems so strange. But GO BIG TEN!

First round games:

Tampa Bowl ???   (now called Outback...I want to get rid of all sponsor names) Tampa Fla

Holiday Bowl....San Diego

Gator Bowl....Jacksonville

Alamo Bowl...San Antonio

Sun Bowl....El Paso

Blubonnet Bowl   Houston  (yes, bring back that name)

Bay Area Bowl....SF/Santa Clara

Las Vegas Bowl....Las Vegas

Second round games:

Peach Bowl...Atlanta

Citrus Bowl....Orlando

Cotton Bowl...Dallas

Fiesta Bowl...Phoenix

Semi-finals:

Sugar Bowl...New Orleans

Orange Bowl...Miami

Championship game:

Rose Bowl....Pasadena.       

The Rose Bowl has always been the oldest, greatest Bowl...and should always maintain supremacy among bowl games

@mjp28 said:

Bowl games are also a reward for the teams, fans, schools for having a good or great season.

Meaningless is so harsh!

Meaningless to anything of meaning.  FYI...some schools lose money going to some bowl games.

@the-gipper said:

Just a second here....you list the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl as being part of the playoff system.....yet I understand that Ohio State and Washington are to play in the Rose Bowl, and that Georgia and.....I forget...someone....are to play the Sugar.

So...WTF is up with that?

I think the major bowls do rotate things but I don't really get into it that deep....I just wait for the draws to come out.

Once again I wish they had 8+ plus teams this year including OSU and maybe Michigan........ but better than two, oh well......

@mjp28 said:

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL RATINGS, VIEWERSHIP

Viewership in (parentheses): TV+streaming
Comparisons in [brackets]: TV+streaming vs. TV only
Playoff games compared to last year’s playoff games

Just a second here....you list the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl as being part of the playoff system.....yet I understand that Ohio State and Washington are to play in the Rose Bowl, and that Georgia and.....I forget...someone....are to play the Sugar.

So...WTF is up with that?

Meaningless is so harsh!

@mjp28 said:

meaningless

adjective

1. without meaning, significance, purpose, or value; purposeless; insignificant:a meaningless reply; a meaningless existence.

Precisely.   

Do you REALLY think ESPN, CBSSN, FOX, FS1, ABC would spend millions of dollars to put on meaningless drivel on national television? Not in your lifetime that's for sure!

Yes....I do believe that.   The question is:  meaningless to what purpose?   These games are meaningless to any real purpose OTHER than as a device to make some money...and to have a  vacation.

Now, I am all for both of these things.   You can send me any money you want...or pay for me to go on a vacation.  I will let you buy my way to see the Rose Bowl...even if it is a meaningless game.

But don't tell me they have the same kind of meaning that these games would have if they were a part of an expanded college football playoff system.

16 teams.......8 first round games....4 2d round, 2 3rd round,   1 Championship game.   They could incorporate  14 of these bowls into the playoff system...(plus the title game)..and then we would have something that would be exponentially more interesting...meaningful......and lucrative.

adjective

1. without meaning, significance, purpose, or value; purposeless; insignificant:a meaningless reply; a meaningless existence.

Last year the top 29 bowl games drew over 2 million viewers with the top 9 over 5 million viewers each that is hardly without meaning, significance, purpose or value......in fact the value is very apparent in both TV, school, local and other benefits including exciting FREE entertainment for football fans everywhere.

Do you REALLY think ESPN, CBSSN, FOX, FS1, ABC would spend millions of dollars to put on meaningless drivel on national television? Not in your lifetime that's for sure!

Now I agree some of the lowest games could and probably should be replaced with Round 1 of a 16 team playoff but we'll see on that wifh the NCAA football brass. It would only make dollars and sense!

Oh MARCH MADNESS is coming soon -or- how to do the postseason right even for those "meaningless" #16, 15, 14.... seeds who have never won the tournament......it isn't meaningless now is it.  

GO COLLEGE SPORTS! Sit back and enjoy it!

@mjp28 said:

Or if you like millions of others are a fan of college football or maybe your kid plays on the team. 

No different than soccer, NASCAR, tennis, golf, MLB, NBA, NHL on and on, you know sports in America, eh?

No, because soccer, NASCAR, tennis, golf, MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL etc.  do NOT conduct meaningless post season games...they have tournaments that decide championships...and everyone else goes hom.   Well, maybe golf does.

@the-gipper said:

I guess the only meaningfulness to nearly everyone of these games if you bet and win or lose money on them

Or if you like millions of others are a fan of college football or maybe your kid plays on the team. 

No different than soccer, NASCAR, tennis, golf, MLB, NBA, NHL on and on, you know sports in America, eh?

Viewership in (parentheses): TV+streaming
Comparisons in [brackets]: TV+streaming vs. TV only
Playoff games compared to last year’s playoff games

@the-gipper said:

All meaningless except for the playoff games

Not exactly meaningless in today's viewing if you draw 2 to 4M you have a nice market and the numbers reported tend to be low.

College football bowl viewership trended up, at least on ESPN/ABC, this season.

The ESPN family of networks combined to average 5.7 million viewers for 35 bowl games this season, up 11% from last year. 21 of those 35 games posted increases. ESPN Nielsen ratings now include streaming viewership on TV devices; comparisons are to last year’s TV-only numbers.

Of the three non-ESPN bowls (on a Nielsen rated network), each declined by double-digits and none exceeded 2.2 million.

Bowls hitting multi-year highs this season: Armed Forces (record high), Orange (since 2008*), Las Vegas (since 2012), Cotton (since 2013*), Peach (since 2013*), Fiesta (since 2013*), Idaho (since 2013), Pinstripe (since 2013), Hawaii (since 2013), Orlando (since 2014), Hawaii (since 2013), Birmingham (since 2015), Rose (since 2015), Sugar (since 2015), National Championship (since 2015). * Excluding playoff games.

Bowls hitting multi-year lows: Holiday (lowest on record), Boca Raton (record low), Bahamas (lowest ever), New Mexico (since at least 2005), Alamo (since 2007), New Orleans (since 2009), Texas (since 2009), Belk (since 2010), San Francisco (since 2012), Military (since 2012), St. Petersburg (since 2013), Music City (since 2013), Camellia (since 2014), Mobile (since 2015).....