The 2015 bowl slate featured very little drama, huge blowouts, and a record trio of 5-7 teams that participated due to a lack of 6-6 squads needed to fill 80 bowl slots.
So naturally the cities of Austin and Charleston are looking to up the bowl ante to 42 games in 2016.
At this rate, the FBS will need North Dakota State to fill a late-December slot to have enough teams available to participate.
More bowl games? Austin, Texas & Charleston, SC want to get into "broken" bowl system. https://t.co/6eAC40lm6p
— Jon Solomon (@JonSolomonCBS) February 23, 2016
Jon Solomon of CBS Sports has done some amazing reporting this week and provided staggering numbers as to why the entire bowl system is a total mess.
According to Solomon, the Bay Area-based Foster Farms Bowl lost $1.3M on contests held between 2012-2014. Last year an astounding 63% of FBS squads went bowling compared to just 35% in 1997. He also reported that some cities like Little Rock, Arkansas, are throwing in the towel on trying to get a bowl game citing the huge financial risks involved.
This madness isn't stopping two new cities, Austin and Charleston, from trying to get involved in Bowlsanity. This comes just one season after 5-7 teams San Jose State, Minnesota, and Nebraska were all allowed to participate in bowl games to reach the 80 teams needed. Although all three sub-.500 schools won their bowl games, the need for 5-win teams to fill bowl slots should be a clear warning sign to the NCAA that enough is enough.
Another warning sign that bowl season has reached its limit: two squads from the same conference participating in the only bowl contest not to be televised on national TV.
From Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson regarding CSU and Nevada playing in the Arizona Bowl. pic.twitter.com/LfDvGJQNL3
— Matt L. Stephens (@MattStephens) December 6, 2015
