Congressional Bowl and the MAC

MACReport · Post by **MACReport** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:19 am

News broke last week about the MAC being involved in a proposed new bowl game in Washington, DC.

We followed up to get some clarification and also spoke with Rick Chryst about the MAC's potential involvement in the proposed Congressional Bowl and some other bowl related matters:

http://www.macreportonline.com

San Fran Falcon · Post by **San Fran Falcon** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:33 pm

Another bowl game?

Whoopeee.

rc_ziggy84 · Post by **rc_ziggy84** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:38 am

San Fran Falcon wrote:Another bowl game? Whoopeee.

I enjoyed it back in '03 and '04 when we were really good and earned spots in bowl games. Now it's getting to the point where even a MAC team can be mediocre and still land a bowl. This is getting ridiculous.

Lord_Byron · Post by **Lord_Byron** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:02 am

Not only another bowl game, but a COLD WEATHER bowl game!!

I'm psyched!!!

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:29 am

rc_ziggy84 wrote:
San Fran Falcon wrote:Another bowl game? Whoopeee.
I enjoyed it back in '03 and '04 when we were really good and earned spots in bowl games. Now it's getting to the point where even a MAC team can be mediocre and still land a bowl. This is getting ridiculous.

+1

There are way too damn many bowl games already. Stop adding more.

footballguy51 · Post by **footballguy51** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 10:33 am

With this many bowl games, is it possible that some bowl games won't have enough teams to fill the spots? As it stands right now, I think maybe 3 teams that were bowl eligible were not sent to a bowl, but it may only be 2. What if we don't get enough bowl eligible teams, for one reason or another? Do we send teams that aren't eligible to fill the spots, or do we cancel the bowl game?

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:41 am

I agree. As much as I want BG and the MAC getting bids, this is getting out of hand. The BCS conferences already get rewarded with too many average teams in bowls. It used to be a reward for a great season...now?

JoeFalcon · Post by **JoeFalcon** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:53 pm

As a college football junkie, I love watching the bowl games. They provide interesting matchups between the conferences and a memorable experience for the players. IMO, there's nothing better than wall-to-wall college football for a month, but I can see how casual fans would be annoyed by it.

6-6 BCS teams sneaking in fosters the perception that "every" halfway decent team gets in, but the Mid-American Conference is a different story. The bids are more than earned. The MAC is a twelve team league that has just three tie-ins, one of which was just added last year. 3 out of 12 is far from "everyone." This year was a bit wacky with only Ohio on the outside looking it, but most years it's not the case. It was just recently that a 10 win NIU team was denied a bowl bid.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:54 pm

Joe,

I'm a college football junkie as well. I just don't like seeing 6-6 teams in bowl games. And make it 3 out of 13 teams in the MAC...our friends at Temple count now.

footballguy51 · Post by **footballguy51** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:20 pm

Falconfreak90 wrote:...our friends at Temple count now.

If you say so.

rc_ziggy84 · Post by **rc_ziggy84** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:21 pm

JoeFalcon wrote:IMO, there's nothing better than wall-to-wall college football for a month, but I can see how casual fans would be annoyed by it.

I don't know, I'd call myself an avid college football fan, and I'm more than annoyed by it.
edit: I'm tired of seeing .500 teams play boring games. It can be high scoring or low scoring, but both are boring as heck when the overall level of play is JV football. Give 16 or so good football games (with enough to completely cover new years day) per bowl season and I'd be happy.

JoeFalcon wrote:6-6 BCS teams sneaking in fosters the perception that "every" halfway decent team gets in, but the Mid-American Conference is a different story. The bids are more than earned.

While I love the exposure, I honestly feel we deserve two guaranteed bowls, possibly three, but not four. I suppose it depends on what your definition of "earned" is. Beat up on some of the worst teams in D1-A football and look good at times while doing it? It's clear our (the MAC's) level of play has risen over the last few years, but it would take a lot to convince me that we have each year four, or even just three, teams who are really deserving of bowl bids.

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:44 pm

rc_ziggy84 wrote: It's clear our (the MAC's) level of play has risen over the last few years.

I don't think that's clear at all.

I do agree that bowl games are getting out of hand, but as long as they make money, they'll continue to be there.

BGSU33 · Post by **BGSU33** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:59 pm

I’m right on the fence on this one. I’m a huge college football fan, but with the numbers of bowls out there already and some of the records of the teams playing in them, yeah, I’ve sort of reached my limit too. However, with that said, I’ll never get tired of seeing BG in a bowl game. Whether we’re 12-0 or 6-6, and if we’re playing in Detroit, Mobile, Toronto, DC or any other location for that matter, I will always be excited and interested. I will say that I do like the idea of the MAC being involved in one of these new possible bowls. If they are going to have another one, I like the idea of the MAC possibly being the conference included.

San Fran Falcon · Post by **San Fran Falcon** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:03 am

I'm sorry, but a 6-6 BG team (or any 6-6 MAC team) has no business in a bowl game. Don't get me wrong, I have a serious problem with a 6-6 "BCS" team in a bowl game as well. This whole system has gotten so watered down. It's almost a joke. Over half of D1-A teams make bowl games already....now we want to open more slots. Geez, why don't we let all 119 D1-A teams play a bowl game and turn it into a single elimination tourney? Hmmm...sound familiar? At least b-ball narrows it down to 65.

rc_ziggy84 · Post by **rc_ziggy84** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:02 am

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:
rc_ziggy84 wrote: It's clear our (the MAC's) level of play has risen over the last few years.
I don't think that's clear at all.

I do agree that bowl games are getting out of hand, but as long as they make money, they'll continue to be there.

Compare now to where we were 10 years ago. I think almost every year since about 2001-2002 MAC team has bumped off a BCS opponent, albeit some pretty weak ones. Maybe that happened in the 90's, but I don't think so, nor do I have the motivation to research. Some can prove me wrong if they want!