Breaking Down The 2018-19 Bowl Schedule

College football is my favorite sport and I love bowl games.

Over the past decade or so, trashing bowl games has become an annual rite of passage. It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. And it’s unfair.

Do I think college football should have a full-blown, 16-team playoff with auto bids for all 10 conferences? I sure do. Regardless, I love bowl games. There is nothing that surpasses the month of December for those who love college football – day after day of college football.

Why is this a bad thing? Why do I have to defend more college football?

Regardless, it’s time to focus on the fun stuff as the 2018-19 bowl schedule is out and it’s glorious. For the first time since the College Football playoff started, the powers at be have made the shockingly easy decision to move the playoff games away from New Year’s Eve. It’s really hard to overstate how stupid it was to play college football’s semifinals on a workday – yes, millionaire commissioners, people work on New Year’s Eve day.

That being said, this year’s schedule provides a glimpse into the future of college football’s postseason, take a look and let’s dive in to analyze.

Peach Bowl vs Belk Bowl, huh?

The first surprising scheduling decision was Peach Bowl being played on noon on Saturday, Dec. 29, as a lead-in to the two college football semifinals (Orange/Cotton). Last year, the Cotton Bowl was moved from a Saturday noon slot and up to a primetime Friday night slot, which I figured would be more appealing to the Peach Bowl.

Likewise, this year’s New Year’s Eve is a Monday night without any NFL on, which is where the Peach Bowl had been played for years before the New Year’s Six came along. You may not recall, but the Peach Bowl did huge numbers in that time slot. The 2013 edition with Johnny Football had more viewers than any non-playoff Peach Bowl since.

Even more head-scratching was ESPN’s decision to move the Belk Bowl to that same Saturday timeslot on ABC. Last year, the Peach Bowl had to deal with Notre Dame/LSU on New Year’s Day, which wasn’t great but at least expected because it was New Year’s Day. The Belk Bowl didn’t need to move to Saturday. Why is ESPN competing with its own games unnecessarily?

Furthermore, the fledgling Arizona Bowl has announced its intention to play in the timeslot - an odd decision by them, yet still more competition for the Peach Bowl.

Matchups dictate ratings but I have a feeling it will end up with awful ratings for the Belk Bowl, depressed ratings for the Peach Bowl, and a mistake ESPN won’t make again.

New Year’s Eve is Back, Baby!

For years, New Year’s Eve had been the ultimate college football appetizer. All the “real” games were played on New Year’s Day, so New Year’s Eve was filled with random bowls, unique matchups and legendary finishes. Anyone remember the Independence Bowl in the snow? Or Johnny Football’s aforementioned comeback vs Duke? Or any of the insane Sun Bowls?

The New Year’s Six stupidly tried to turn New Year’s Eve into another football holiday and, uhh, it didn’t work. That’s not what the games on New Year’s Eve are for!

They are the soundtrack in the background, to watch during the day and to be enjoyed at night if necessary. You don’t plan your New Year’s Eve around college football, though it’s nice to know it’s there.

This year, that spirit has returned to the day with a fun lineup of six bowls across four different networks. In particular, the primetime slot will feature two bowls – the Gator and Holiday – that used to resonate as huge games during bowl season. Hopefully, the better timeslot and showcase will give each game a much needed jolt of excitement.

Bowl Season’s First Saturday: A New Tradition

ESPN finally figured out that bowl season should kick off in a grand way and the first Saturday of bowl season has turned into a collection of fun games to whet our appetites.

The recent creation of the Celebration Bowl to crown the HBCU National Champion between the MEAC and SWAC champions has been a tremendous addition to the schedule. Likewise, the Las Vegas Bowl – though rumored to be changing – has been a great anchor. The other 3 ESPN bowls have settled into a nice tradition of being played on the first Saturday of bowl season, with the Cure Bowl a new addition that brings the CBS Sports machine into the fold.

Should you rearrange plans to watch these games? Probably not. But in a sport steeped in tradition, it’s always nice to see new ones develop.

A True Test of New Year’s Day

When the college football playoff scheduling was announced initially, I was worried about New Year’s Day. Who is going to care about the Sugar Bowl after the semis are played?

The first two times the semis were played on New Year’s Eve, this bore out. In 2015, the ratings for the Rose and Sugar hit historic lows. In 2016, further hampered by New Year’s Day falling on a Sunday, the Rose Bowl had great ratings thanks to USC/Penn State while the Auburn/Oklahoma nightcap fizzled.

Now that New Year’s Eve has been taking off the semifinal rotation, we’ll get a true indication of whether New Year’s Day can survive as a touchstone of American sporting life without the playoffs involved. Again, matchups will drive this. Still, I worry the Sugar Bowl’s SEC/Big 12 tie-ins are going to again reduce the nightcap of the bowl season to a footnote.

And this is where I say again that the semis should always be played on New Year’s Day…

We Need Group of Five vs Power Five Bowl Games

I’ll close with a rant about matchups, not scheduling. With news of the Las Vegas Bowl likely turning into a Pac-12/SEC game with a new NFL stadium, the number of Group of Five vs Power Five bowl games is rapidly declining to zero.

The worst thing that can possibly happen to college football is the rumored split of the Power Five conferences to only play themselves, in a pseudo-NFL structure. We can’t have this. The lifeblood of college football goes beyond the big boys – we don’t need more matchups of 6-6 Power Five teams.

Bowl games are at their best when they mean something. Case in point, UCF’s victory over Auburn in the Peach Bowl. At the same time, Notre Dame beat LSU in a great Citrus Bowl, but those two schools always think they should be playing for more. UCF was playing for everything, and Auburn was playing to defend the pride of the SEC.

Conflict is good, especially in sports. Reducing the bowl system to two separate schedules – one for Power Five teams and one for Group of Five teams – will have adverse effect on the entire sport.

Let’s hope smarter people prevail. Or someone with money intervenes to make these matchups happen.

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