"The system is broken" - MWC Commissioner

[jpfalcon09]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... izona-bowl" target="_blank

Not sure if anyone saw this but it's about time a person with some pull brought this to light. Couldn't agree more with the problems that Mr. Thompson brings to the forefront regarding 5-7 bowl teams and the fact that two of his member schools are playing each other in a bowl game.

[Lord_Byron]

Sorry, but he had a little to do with it in his misguided attempt to start this game.

This is from Stewart Mandel's column on the bowl games:

"Thompson is correct, but he neglects to mention his own role in the too-many-bowls part. His own conference helped launch the Arizona Bowl despite no traditional TV partner. The Mountain West’s digital network planned to stream it. But Thompson would have you believe that other bowls with openings should have voluntarily taken his surplus 7-5 or 6-6 teams over 5-7 Big Ten teams."

[MarkL]

5-7 teams in bowl games should be a wake-up call. We have too many bowl games. Bowl games sometimes die. So when the Bahamas Bowl dies in the next few years along with the next several that die, NCAA should not replace them. In fact I would prefer that teams are only bowl eligible if they are at least .500 overall and .500 in conference play.

[bgsufalcon24]

It used to be that teams had to be at least .500 to get into a bowl. Are we now at the point where we have more bowl slots than teams that finished 6-6 or better?

[Flipper]

Yep...we've gone from the extreme of MAC schools staying home after10 win seasons to 5-7 teams getting bids. Neither situation seems that sensible.

[hammb]

Yep...we've gone from the extreme of MAC schools staying home after10 win seasons to 5-7 teams getting bids. Neither situation seems that sensible.

Agreed.

When we were walking out of Ford Field we were obviously thrilled, but my buddy who is a more casual fan commented that it seemed a bit less exciting than year's passed since we knew we were going to a bowl, none of them are overly prestigious, and there is no berth to a playoff or anything.

I cannot help but agree. I love winning the MAC title, of course, but it would mean more if there were a greater playoff system, and really meant more back in the days where you needed to win it to make a bowl game.

It's crazy to see 5-7 teams going to bowls. Heck, I thought it was ugly when 6-6 teams started getting invites...

[Schadenfreude]

When we were walking out of Ford Field we were obviously thrilled, but my buddy who is a more casual fan commented that it seemed a bit less exciting than year's passed since we knew we were going to a bowl, none of them are overly prestigious, and there is no berth to a playoff or anything.

I posted a clip of the 1994 Central Michigan debacle in another thread. That was the drama of that game. The winner got a MAC title and a trip to Vegas. Loser stayed home.

It's better to have a few bowl games to go around -- some really good MAC teams got hosed in the old system -- but 5-7 teams should not be playing in the post season, either.