Bowls

Bowls. Crazy things they are. To some they are the year-in, year-out expectation. To others they are fun, exciting little things that come up every 4-5 (or even 10-15 years). Still to others, they are simply concave objects that hold cereal. We UNC football fans want to be the 1st, though in the last 8 or so years we've been the middle, causing some of us to stare intently at the Dean Dome hopeing/wishing/praying nothing else in the world mattered except roundball. Enough of this for a long enough time leads one to become a member of the last category. But right now lets hope the Heels are moving their way up to the first.



Look, bowls are outdated relics of what used to be college football. We all know why they exist, its the same reason Notre Dame has a national TV contract: money. College football using the BCS and the bowl system in general is like a billionaire driving a Honda instead of a Ferrarri. Since everyone is waiting to see where their respective teams are going, I might as well spew random thoughts about the upcoming bowl season.



An 8-team playoff is ideal, but bc this isnt gonna happen soon, we have the BCS. My main issue with the BCS really is that is leans too heavily on voters who alot of times dont pay attention (the Texas-Oklahoma debacle is as much the voter's fault as it is the computers). If we must keep the BCS (which we do), my two adjustments to it are:



1) Eliminate preseason polls. Everyone knows these are terrible and unfortunately impact the national title hunt because they are based on false pretenses. Again, these are released mostly to make money for magazines, newspapers, ect.



2) Head-to-head matchup clause. Keep all the formula's the same but have a clause that says that if Teams A and B are rated approximately equal in the BCS (say, both are 11-1, and 2 and 3 respectively in the polls) yet Team A beat Team B earlier in the season, Team A gets the 2 and Team B gets the 3. It just makes too much sence I guess.



I think these two changes would help greatly. As far as non-BCS bowls are concerned. These I think everybody likes for the most part, excpet there are just way to many. I think NO TEAM should go bowling with a 6-6 record, also every team should only schedual ONE 1-AA team (that means you Clemson and Georgia Tech). Basically, only teams WITH A WINNING RECORD should go bowling. This alone would probably slim the number of bowls down. Only let good bowls be played after Jan 1st.



I also think that conference tie-ins need to have solid pecking orders, not "three bowls get to choose equally." Make the bowls choose the teams with the best record available. I've been reading that Clemson (7-5) will get a Gator Bowl bid over 8-4 Florida State and UNC. This is utter bullshit and in no way can this be justified. Clemson is one of those teams who played two 1-AA teams, which means against actual teams they are 5-5. So sure, why not give them the nod over a team that is 7-4 against actual teams.


Here's what i think should happen:

1. Orange: VT (9-4, am i the only person thinking VT will win this game)

2. Peach: GT (9-3, best team in the ACC, rarely do bowl officials go with a home-town team, but i think this will happen.)

3. Gator: FSU (8-4, common sense)

4. Tangerine: BC (9-4, again, assuming they lose to VT on Saturday)

5. Music City: UNC (8-4, this could be interchangable with above due to BC's small fanbase)

6. Care Care: Clemson (Proximity, and again, they are only 7-5)

7. Emerald: Miami (7-5, collapsed down the stretch)

8. Humanitarian: Maryland (7-5, sucks to be you)

9. EagleBank: Wake Forest (7-5, least attractive fanbase)

10. N.C. State will go somewhere, just noone knows where

Look, if Clemson really does get the Gator its a travesty. A team, an administration, a fanbase that doesn't deserve anything will get the 3rd best bowl in the conference. Not only is it unfair for the players/fans of other schools that didnt whine about how bad their coach is/was and actually played to get a better record then Clemson, it fucks up the order of everything. I think we should all feel good that college football is unfair at the top and at the bottom. Once this news becomes official and the shafting of UNC to the Car Care is complete please check back to The Webbed Heel to watch my head fucking explode.