Five Things I Dislike About College Football Bowl Season

Brian Olson

For any diehard football fan, bowl season is a magical time of the year. For about three weeks, we get more than 40 of the most exciting, quirky and sometimes insane football games. It truly is one of the best things in all of sports and we all love it like it is. Sure, there are some bowl season deniers out there, but we at The Transfer Portal CFB do not acknowledge anyone who says there are too many bowls. 

Although I love bowl season, there are still some things that I’ve observed over the years that I dislike about it. Even the things we love can be made better, so here are five observations about bowl season that grinded my gears a little bit this season.  

1. The College Football Playoff semifinal games are too close to the National Championship Game — I get it. Having the CFP semifinal games at the end of bowl season builds the anticipation and drama for the games, but it also creates a month-long hiatus between the end of the season and the semifinal games for teams who qualify, or longer for teams who don’t play for a conference championship like TCU and Ohio State. Also, it puts the time between the semifinal games and the National Championship Game at about a week, which is not nearly enough time for the teams to heal and prepare for the biggest game of the year. If I was the decision-maker, I would move the semifinal games to about the middle of bowl season. Such a move would give about a two-week break for the participating teams from the end of the season, and it gives about a two-week break for the teams moving on to the natty. It would be perfectly balanced, like all things should be. (This is a moot point when the playoff goes to 12 teams in 2024. But I hope they do a better job scheduling those games too.) 

2. Lazy field paint — By no means am I taking a shot at the dedicated men and women who bust their butts getting a football field ready for a game. But the stadium officials who just stick a bowl logo at midfield and call it a day, without making any changes whatsoever, need to resign. Have some pride in your bowl game. The end zone is the ultimate goal in a football game. Ohio scoring a game-winning touchdown with ARIZONA plastered all over the end zone like we need to be reminded where the game is being played just isn’t it. Many bowls are guilty of doing this and it needs to change. Have some pride and paint the end zones to represent the teams that are playing there. 

3. Multiple bowls in the same city or area — Bowl season is an amazing opportunity to showcase college football to fans all over the country and even the world. So it’s frustrating to see that there are some areas that host multiple bowl games. For example, there were FOUR bowl games in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area alone (Cotton, Frisco, First Responders, Armed Forces), and there are even some venues that host more than one bowl across the country. With there being 44 bowl games, there is no excuse why they can’t be spread out to places that don’t normally get to experience college football. And I am sure there are many places who would jump on the opportunity to host a bowl. Places like Canada or Mexico, even some states like Montana, Utah or Maine can provide amazing experiences to athletes and fans alike. 

4. Bowl games named after a corporate sponsor — Don’t get me wrong, companies have been sponsoring bowl games for decades, and that is fine. The bills have to be paid. My issue is when the bowl game itself is strictly named after a sponsor. There is no magic or pageantry to the Guaranteed Rate Bowl or the ReliaQuest Bowl, for example. Some do have fun with it, like the Cheez-It Bowl or Duke’s Mayo Bowl, but the majority don’t add anything to the game besides the name. Some of these bowls have been around a while but have been a revolving door for sponsors, which causes it to lose all sense of history and prestige. I’ve caught myself watching a bowl game and not knowing or remembering what it was before, forcing me to google it.  There is a reason that the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton Bowls are so iconic, and that is because no matter who sponsors the game, it is still THE bowl game we know and love. The Peach Bowl made this mistake a few years ago by dropping the “Peach” from its title and simply being the Chick-fil-a Bowl. Although it was the same game, it just did not feel the same. Luckily, they have corrected that mistake and have brought back the “Peach” to the name. I can’t imagine the Sugar Bowl being known simply as the Allstate Bowl. It just would not feel the same. All bowl games should have a distinct name to it and have the sponsors take a back seat.

5. The National Championship Game being played on Monday night — College football is synonymous to Saturday like the NFL is synonymous to Sunday. Every college football fan looks forward to Saturday to turn on the TV and watch 12+ hours of football. Yet, the biggest game of the season, where a champion is crowned, is inexplicably played on a random Monday night in early January. Look, I understand that the NFL dominates anything it is put up against when it comes to viewership, but imagine the league putting the Super Bowl on a random Wednesday night. There is no reason why the National Championship Game can’t be played on a Saturday night, while the NFL moves its Saturday night finales to Monday like it has all season. The NFL has Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights all season. Let college football have its Saturday! Here’s hoping that this scheduling changes when the new playoff system comes into play.

About the author

Brian Olson
Website | Read more posts by this author

I was raised in Texas, but I am a Georgian by heart. I come from a long line of Dawgs. I have been a diehard Georgia Bulldogs fan since the day I was born. I have hosted multiple podcasts, and college football has always been my passion. I went to the University of Texas at San Antonio to study education, but I plan on returning to get a degree in Journalism. Go Dawgs! P.S. Tyler Simmons was onsides.

You may like these posts