The college football bowl season is well underway, and already there have been some relatively good games. Bowl season is one of the best times of the year. It’s a celebration to end the college football season and see our favorite players one last time before they turn pro.
However, some of those teams that do make it to a bowl game have no business being there, especially the .500 and below teams. Bowl games should be showcasing the best teams of each conference. Therefore, bowl games should feel like a championship game, not a consolation prize.
So far, two bowl games have featured two conference champions going at it, and both games were close. In the Cure Bowl, the Sun Belt champions Troy Trojans edged out the Conference-USA champions the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners by the final score of 18-12.
The other featured an FCS matchup of two historic HBCU schools as the MEAC champions North Carolina Central Eagles defeated the SWAC champions Jackson State Tigers 41-34 in overtime. Both games were good and felt like championship games.
When you watch the other bowls that feature .500 teams and below. They are not fun to watch and the games are dull and don’t have that big feeling of a championship game. That needs to change.
Many can agree that these non-power five schools will not make it to the college football playoff despite the expansion in 2024. There are too many biases in the committee that favor the power-five schools. Instead, these non-power five schools will get into one of the New Year’s Six Bowl games and nothing more.
I think that the non-power five conferences should try to form a partnership with each other that would benefit both conferences. They could play each other in non-conference games in the first four weeks of the regular season before conference play begins.
After that, they play their respective championship games before playing each other again in the bowl games to close out the season.
The Cure Bowl and the Celebrations Bowl should be prime examples of how a bowl game should be staged. Take the two conference winners and make it into the championship game.
The Cure Bowl in Orlando, Florida, should be the permanent championship game between the Sun Belt Conference and Conference-USA champions. Another bowl that could become a host is the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana, which feature the American Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference champions.
As for the Mid-American Conference. They should form a partnership with the Western Athletic Conference. Yes, the WAC returned to football in 2021 and is rumored to be headed back to the FBS in the future. The MAC and WAC would make a great partnership and could use the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, Michigan as its championship game.
In addition to the experience leading up to the bowl game for players and coaches. The fans would also be treated to the experience as well in those host cities leading up to game day. They would be treated to a great game, especially if their team makes it and wins the bowl game.
It’s time to reward the good teams for their hard work all season long and play for a championship. These bowl games would no longer feel like another bowl game. Instead, they will be elevated to the next level to feel more like a championship game.
