College football

[Vrede too]

"Requiring" only 6 wins (.500) results in some fairly crappy teams going bowling. To let in 5-7 Rutgers is just ridiculous. My original "no respect" was regarding the Aztecs, but it also applies to Wake Forest. If it turns into a neo-worthy stomp, WF won't get much credit for stomping a weak opponent that hadn't played or practiced much in a month; if Rutgers manages to pull off a win, WF will be humiliated and trashed, which wouldn't have happened if Aggies had taken better care of their players. A loss to Texas A&M isn't the same as a loss to an otherwise unqualified team.

For general holiday bowl fans, we've got the Holiday Bowl on 12/28, with UCLA and NC State playing in Petco Park. Probably most generic fans here would pick that instead of an expensive last-minute flight to Jacksonville, leaving only the players families and some alumni in the Gator Bowl stands. For a moment I forgot the purpose of the bowls is to make money, not necessarily to produce good football.

I don't think in-stadium fans is a huge consideration. The Frisco Bowl only attracted 15,801, and that was with TX being much closer to SDSU than FL and UTSA being only a 5 hour drive away. The Gator Bowl will get some folks from NC and some locals, and probably more from NJ than more remote SoCal, but not tons from either. Another thing is that the SDSU fans already did their big Bowl trip for the year and might be disinclined to travel anywhere for another.

One of the articles said that any team would need special NCAA permission to play a 2nd Bowl. Maybe that's not true for a sub .500 team like Rutgers? Whatever, there should have been a decision by now. As you say, prep time is already too short.

[O Really]

Gator Bowl has tried (wished) for years to become a first tier bowl - up there mentioned with Cotton, Orange, etc. This won't help.

[Vrede too]

Gator Bowl has tried (wished) for years to become a first tier bowl - up there mentioned with Cotton, Orange, etc. This won't help.

You called it.

In bowl news, Rutgers will play Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl, replacing Texas A&M....

Friday, Dec. 31

Gator Bowl
No. 17 Wake Forest vs. Rutgers (No. 25 Texas A&M out because of COVID)
11 a.m. | ESPN

8 a.m. PST. Set your alarm, could be an epic upset or train wreck.

[O Really]

Mousers!

[Ulysses]

Well, what is the "purpose" of college football anyway?

[Vrede too]

Mousers!

Who?

Rutgers was selected because:
https://sports.yahoo.com/rutgers-will-r ... 50546.html

... Typically, a team needs to reach six wins in order to go to a bowl game. If there are no available 6-6 teams for an empty bowl slot, the 5-7 teams with the highest Academic Performance Rate (APR) are next in line.

Of the teams with a 5-7 record this season, Rutgers had the highest APR and was the first to receive the invitation to take Texas A&M’s spot. The Scarlet Knights accepted and will now play in a bowl game for the first time since 2014.

Agreeing to play in this game should automatically drop the Academic Performance Rate.

... Wake Forest can tie program record for wins in a season

Wake Forest, meanwhile, went 10-2 in the regular season and won the ACC Atlantic division....

If so, this 11 should come with a huge asterisk.

Any Rutgers players with NFL aspirations would be fools to play in this game. Their chances to shine are slim and this looks like a setup for Rutgers injuries.

[Vrede too]

Well, what is the "purpose" of college football anyway?

What is the "purpose" of any entertainment, duh? Plus, college football is an "audition" for the NFL.

Is this yet another opportunity for you to have delusions of superiority because there's something that you don't have a taste for? It's desperate and pathetic.

[O Really]

Mousers!

Who?

UCF (billy.p's Mickey Mouse U) 29 - Florida 17
Times are bleak in the Swamp

[O Really]

Upon further review, I'm kinda hoping for a Rutgers win. I've got nothing particular against WF, but it would just be fun to ridicule the team "ranking" system.

[Vrede too]

Mousers!

Who?

UCF (billy.p's Mickey Mouse U) 29 - Florida 17
Times are bleak in the Swamp

Ah thanks, I didn't care so I didn't follow the game. If the Gators won wouldn't that have made them mousers?

Upon further review, I'm kinda hoping for a Rutgers win. I've got nothing particular against WF, but it would just be fun to ridicule the team "ranking" system.

Plus, it would be a loss for the historically Baptist.

[Vrede too]

"Requiring" only 6 wins(.500) results in some fairly crappy teams going bowling. To let in 5-7 Rutgers is just ridiculous. My original "no respect" was regarding the Aztecs, but it also applies to Wake Forest. If it turns into a neo-worthy stomp, WF won't get much credit for stomping a weak opponent that hadn't played or practiced much in a month; if Rutgers manages to pull off a win, WF will be humiliated and trashed, which wouldn't have happened if Aggies had taken better care of their players. A loss to Texas A&M isn't the same as a loss to an otherwise unqualified team.

Memphis 6-6 just became available.

COVID-19 cases at Hawaii force the cancellation of Friday's Hawaii Bowl

6-6 in the AAC is probably worse than Rutgers' 5-7 in the Big 10. However, at least Memphis has been practicing since beating Tulane 33-28 on Nov 27. Won't happen, though, it'd make the NCAA look even more incompetent. Memphis may have to hope that some other team has to bail out. Hey, maybe it will sneak into the Playoffs . . . and win the Championship.

[O Really]

It really sucks for the teams not getting to play. Most of the seniors aren't going to the NFL, and the bowl would have been their last college game, after (mostly) a good season. Then poof! It's worse than getting injured in the last regular game of the season and not playing in the bowl. That way at least you'd get to go and participate. Definitely sucks.

[Vrede too]

It really sucks for the teams not getting to play. Most of the seniors aren't going to the NFL, and the bowl would have been their last college game, after (mostly) a good season. Then poof! It's worse than getting injured in the last regular game of the season and not playing in the bowl. That way at least you'd get to go and participate. Definitely sucks.

Pandemic sports. The NFL has had more positive cases this month than all of last year. More:

Boise State unable to play in Arizona Bowl due to COVID-19 cases

Boise State became the latest team to back out of a bowl game due to COVID-19 cases.

The Broncos are unable to play in Friday's Arizona Bowl against Central Michigan per Barstool Sports, the title sponsor of the game. Boise State's inability to play the game may set up an opportunity for Central Michigan to play Washington State in the Sun Bowl.

The Cougars are looking for an opponent to play in El Paso on Friday after Miami had to back out of the Sun Bowl because of COVID-19 cases.

There are many financial reasons for Central Michigan to head to El Paso to play Washington State. The Sun Bowl has a combined payout of over $4 million while the payout for teams in the Arizona Bowl is less than $500,000. That disparity sets up a potential scenario where the Arizona Bowl is canceled.

Aha, Boise State and Miami were infected by Central Michigan. Funny that Washington State is even temporarily floundering given their now fired COVIDiot coach.

If the Arizona Bowl is canceled it will become the fourth bowl game to not be played because of the surge in COVID-19 cases. The Hawaii Bowl was the first bowl to be canceled after Hawaii didn't have enough players and the Military Bowl and Fenway Bowl were canceled on Sunday as Virginia (Fenway Bowl) and Boston College (Military Bowl) couldn't field teams.

Texas A&M was the first school to back out of a game because of COVID-19 cases but the Gator Bowl was able to recruit Rutgers as a replacement. That game is also set to be played on Friday between the Scarlet Knights and Wake Forest.

How many more players, staff, fans and stadium workers will be infected at these tweaked bowls? How many will then die? 839,101 total US deaths, so far.

[Vrede too]

Holiday Bowl canceled hours before kickoff because of COVID-19 cases at UCLA

The Holiday Bowl is the latest bowl to get canceled due to COVID-19 cases.

After Fox Sports reported Tuesday afternoon that UCLA would be unable to play N.C. State because of a lack of defensive linemen, UCLA confirmed that it wouldn't be able to participate in the game set to kick off at 8 p.m. ET.

I like both teams.

The Holiday Bowl was set to be played at Petco Park because there is no major football stadium in San Diego....

I wonder how much money San Diego will lose. Someone should be publicly blaming anti-vaxxers for it.

The Holiday Bowl becomes the fifth bowl to get canceled due to COVID-19 cases. The Arizona Bowl, Fenway Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, and Military Bowl have also been canceled so far while the Gator Bowl and Sun Bowl each had to find new teams to replace teams that couldn't play.

The Holiday Bowl said more information would be coming soon in an announcement the game wasn't happening Tuesday night. NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan said in a statement that his school had been in touch with "numerous" other schools in the hopes that it could play a game before the end of the season.

The Hawaii Bowl was the first bowl canceled due to the surge in COVID cases because of the Omicron variant and it was canceled a day before it was scheduled to be played. The Holiday Bowl is the first game of bowl season to get canceled on the same day it was set to kick off....

I'm losing enthusiasm for any bowls this year. Winter Olympics, too.

[O Really]

I wonder how much money San Diego will lose. Someone should be publicly blaming anti-vaxxers for it.

Well, we can start with the 2.5 mill it spent to make Petco Park football-worthy. And it wasn't just the money. They had to change the lease with the Padres to allow football, and then created moveable seating spaces to look permanent, but be able to be returned to original form after the game. They re-sodded, installed new goal posts, new scoreboard, got the Padres to coordinate ticket sales incorporating the changed seating sections, and on and on.

I bet if they had called the Aztecs at 1:00 and asked if they wanted to play NC State tonight, they'd all say "fuck yes" on their way to dress out.

[Vrede too]

Well, we can start with the 2.5 mill it spent to make Petco Park football-worthy. And it wasn't just the money. They had to change the lease with the Padres to allow football, and then created moveable seating spaces to look permanent, but be able to be returned to original form after the game. They re-sodded, installed new goal posts, new scoreboard, got the Padres to coordinate ticket sales incorporating the changed seating sections, and on and on.

I bet if they had called the Aztecs at 1:00 and asked if they wanted to play NC State tonight, they'd all say "fuck yes" on their way to dress out.

Sometimes, there's trash talk after a canceled game:

NC State coach Dave Doeren feels 'lied to' by UCLA after Holiday Bowl withdrawal

Slightly different timing and it might have been #18 NC State (9-3 ACC) playing Washington State (7-5 Pac-12) in the Sun Bowl rather than Central Michigan (8-4 MIDAM).

[Vrede too]

GO:

3.5 point favorite Maryland 6-6 > Virginia Tech 6-6, 3rd ACC Coastal Division FBS. Go Terps!
Iowa St 7-5 > 2.5 point favorite Clemson (19) 9-3. 1 FAT CAN = LOSER.
Oregon (14) 10-3 > 6.5 point favorite Oklahoma (16) 10-2. Go Ducks!

[Vrede too]

GO:

3.5 point favorite Maryland 6-6 > Virginia Tech 6-6, 3rd ACC Coastal Division FBS. Go Terps!

In a reenactment of 1865 Maryland stomped Virginia (Tech) 54-10. Woohoo, winning season.

[O Really]

Terps!

[Vrede too]

Terps!

GO:

Iowa St 7-5 > 2.5 point favorite Clemson (19) 9-3. 1 FAT CAN = LOSER.

Awww, Iowa St had a shot at the end. 4th and 2, QB scrambles for a 1st down, fumbles backwards, recovers his fumble but now short of the marker. Yikes. Pussies win 20-13.