zb008 said:

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Onionman said:

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zb008 said:

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The non-playoff bowl games are just holiday entertainment and nothing more. It has been that way since opt outs started happening.

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College football has always just been entertainment.

Please explain to me how it has ever been more than that?

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Watching a bunch of 3rd stringers play is boring to me.

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So you didn't watch any of the A&M game?

Sounds like college football is not for you.

Bowl games only matter these days if you lose.

Guess Michigan cares! No excuses for them and they have a history and have players opt out!!
They may not win but came to play

vander54 said:

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They are just fun to watch. Too many variables to expect more than that.

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This.

I'm really sick of people saying they're meaningless. They're not. Not everything has to revolve around the playoffs. They are usually wonderful trips for the team. It gets fans another chance to see their teams, which is what college sports really should be mostly about, supporting your college team.

Yes, everyone wants to win the national championship and that is what you're striving for and that's fantastic. It truly is but these people that are just so ******* miserable in their lives to hate every single thing that doesn't revolve around that. It's just gross. If this is so disturbing to them to watch these games or being in it for Supporting your team, then just quit ****ing watching it.

I love college football. I love watching it, it should bring joy to people instead of such miserableness.

So the people that are saying balls are meaningless, I i'm done with this team. It's OK to be disappointed when your team doesn't play well of course it is. But Blah blah blah just get over yourself. Life is too damn short to be this upset about something that should bring you joy.

For what it's worth, so far it seems that the non-playoff games have been a lot better and more enjoyable than the playoff ones. And sometimes because they give second string players a chance to shine when the first stringers opt out. Nice.

If A&M wins their bowl then they matter that year, if we don't then nobody should care about bowls.

Bowl games are a reward for a good season. Its a vacation to hang out with friends.

The results mean very little. Why would anyone want to pay full speed in a bowl game and risk injuring themselves/other players?

Makes no sense to tear an ACL and spending the rest of the year rehabbing.

Medaggie said:

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Bowl games are a reward for a good season. Its a vacation to hang out with friends.

The results mean very little. Why would anyone want to pay full speed in a bowl game and risk injuring themselves/other players?

Makes no sense to tear an ACL and spending the rest of the year rehabbing.

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With your logic, why would anyone play college football and risk injuring themself?

When games matter then you play to win/show how good you are against people going full speed for NFL scouts.

When games do not matter, there is no point of doing this to injure yourself. If you are a back up and want to prove yourself, then yes there is a reason. But stars and NFL caliber players have little reason to play hard thus all the opt outs.

Look at the NFL. Do you think the Chiefs, bills, eagles will be playing their starters? Their back ups are in and will do their best.

This is no different than an NBA all star game or NFL pro bowl game. Nice vacation, hang out with friends, do not risk injury. Thus NBA all star games are just dunks and fast breaks. No one taking a charge or crashing the boards.

Medaggie said:

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When games matter then you play to win/show how good you are against people going full speed for NFL scouts.

When games do not matter, there is no point of doing this to injure yourself. If you are a back up and want to prove yourself, then yes there is a reason. But stars and NFL caliber players have little reason to play hard thus all the opt outs.

Look at the NFL. Do you think the Chiefs, bills, eagles will be playing their starters? Their back ups are in and will do their best.

This is no different than an NBA all star game or NFL pro bowl game. Nice vacation, hang out with friends, do not risk injury. Thus NBA all star games are just dunks and fast breaks. No one taking a charge or crashing the boards.

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So when do games matter?

If a team is technically out of the playoff run should all their nfl prospects sit in your opinion?

I argue that bowl games are no different than other games for teams out of the playoffs.

I'll never understand why people like MedAggie say NFL prospects should sit and not play in the bowl. They might get injured.

But then MedAggie never makes a peep when all these NFL prospects are playing in meaningless other games after their team is technically out of the playoff run.

At least be consistent with your fear of having a career ending injury.

sometimes confirms or seals or expedites the fate of asst coaches....some will be on the job front scramble and some have already scrambled and some scramble after the bowl game.

Players are sitting out NY6 bowls games. That answers the question without any doubt. The only (inevitable) fix is to copy TXHSFB and March Madness and do a full 64 team playoff.

standfast said:

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Players are sitting out NY6 bowls games. That answers the question without any doubt. The only (inevitable) fix is to copy TXHSFB and March Madness and do a full 64 team playoff.

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So what will you say when players start opting out of playoff games?

At the rate college football is going, I'm sure that is coming in the future.

Will that mean all games mean nothing?

standfast said:

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Players are sitting out NY6 bowls games. That answers the question without any doubt. The only (inevitable) fix is to copy TXHSFB and March Madness and do a full 64 team playoff.

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Help me out here: what contract bowls still exist that the CFP sends invites forget play on NY that aren't playoff games?

Or perhaps the question is which players opted out of a playoff game?

Onionman said:

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I'll never understand why people like MedAggie say NFL prospects should sit and not play in the bowl. They might get injured.

But then MedAggie never makes a peep when all these NFL prospects are playing in meaningless other games after their team is technically out of the playoff run.

At least be consistent with your fear of having a career ending injury.

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I don't see why its hard to understand.

If you are a player who is a 2nd day prospect, then yes you should play because an impressive game will potentially move you up in the draft.
If your team is out of the CFP running, you still play for your team b/c the games still matters and you are still auditioning for the NFL, portal, & now nil value. There is still next season and practice matters.
If you are a top prospect, you have zero reason to play in the game. What does playing in a meaningless game and risking injury do for you? Your college career is over. There is not next season. Extra practice means nothing.

I am not the only person saying this. Just look at all the opt outs esp top draft picks.

Why do you think Scouton and many before him have opted out of the bowl game?

They don't matter much but losing always sucks.

Medaggie said:

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Onionman said:

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I'll never understand why people like MedAggie say NFL prospects should sit and not play in the bowl. They might get injured.

But then MedAggie never makes a peep when all these NFL prospects are playing in meaningless other games after their team is technically out of the playoff run.

At least be consistent with your fear of having a career ending injury.

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I don't see why its hard to understand.

If you are a player who is a 2nd day prospect, then yes you should play because an impressive game will potentially move you up in the draft.
If your team is out of the CFP running, you still play for your team b/c the games still matters and you are still auditioning for the NFL, portal, & now nil value. There is still next season and practice matters.
If you are a top prospect, you have zero reason to play in the game. What does playing in a meaningless game and risking injury do for you? Your college career is over. There is not next season. Extra practice means nothing.

I am not the only person saying this. Just look at all the opt outs esp top draft picks.

Why do you think Scouton and many before him have opted out of the bowl game?

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You are missing the point...I am saying why is the bowl game any different than the games before that which are meaningless for teams out of the playoffs?

So auditioning for the NFL randomly stops before the bowl games? I know there are NFL scouts that attend bowl games so your point makes no sense to me.

So why should a top prospect play in the game before the bowl game if there is a chance of injury and their team is out of the running?

Are you saying that game before the bowl game and that practice is so important they can't skip that one but the bowl skip and bowl practice is fine to skip? Are you saying the NFL scouts that attend the bowl games are not really doing anything but get all their work in prior to the bowl games?

Players have sat out once their teams are no longer in the running before so an expanded playoff helps with that bc teams are in the running longer. Yet some players do not. It all depends on the player and who he's getting guidance from.

One of the best examples I remember of a player playing that that surprised me was Achane against LSU his last game. He had been battling injuries the last part of the season. Plays and go nuts and leads us to victory. Those are the ones I like to remember. Too much focus on players opting out in bowls instead of the ones playing. As Elko said the bowl game is kind of like game one of a new season with focus on prepping for next year more than anything now a days for many teams.

As far as pro scouts, playing, opting out, whatever. Players that can make the NFL will make it. Opting out of bowls for many makes total sense though bc one can get a serious on any given play.

Double Diamond said:

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No and neither does a conference championship.

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False.
First place is always going to mean something because it can't be taken away.

Any time your team is on national television during the holidays it matters that your defense wets and craps the bed for all to see.

The only people that cares about bowl games are the fans of those teams but it doesn't matter any more than a preseason game.

If you disagree, then I bet most on here could not name even 25% of the finished bowl slate or who won it.

I know I could name probably 3 games and I keep up more than 90% of fans.

Bowl games are just good for more practice and a nice vacation.

No games "matter." It's a game. A game being played by a bunch of 19 year-olds you'll never meet. You can invest a lot in it personally but it doesn't actually matter.

New story.

The bigger Playoff was supposed to kill of bowls. It turned out to be the opposite.

TV ratings for most of the non-CFP bowls soared in the first year of the 12-team era.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 7, 2025

45-70Ag said:

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New story.

The bigger Playoff was supposed to kill of bowls. It turned out to be the opposite.

TV ratings for most of the non-CFP bowls soared in the first year of the 12-team era.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) January 7, 2025

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Well, when the only other things to watch on TV are Christmas movies that people have seen countless times, a meaningless bowl game honestly doesn't sound bad by comparison.

The people saying the bowls don't matter are showing a loser's attitude. Let's just say they don't matter so we can avoid the pain of losing. Rationalization at it's finest. If someone invites you then you owe your best effort rather than having the attitude that you are too good for them.

"Bowl games are dying"

Here is my annual post to the “there are too many bowl games crowd.” The 33 non-CFP bowls on ESPN nets this year averaged 2.7M viewers +14% YoY & the largest audience since 2019-20 & P18-49 (+21%). 14 of the 33 bowls hit at least a 5-year high and five hit a 10-year high.

— Burke Magnus (@burkemagnus) January 7, 2025

Agreed.

Also in the last 20 years, A&M's record the year following a bowl loss vs bowl win:

Season record after a bowl loss 561 win% (64-50)
Season record after a bowl win .701 win% (61-26)

It's football so I'll watch it because I like to watch football.

Playoff bowl games yes.

DGAS bowl games (all the others) no.