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Bowl Season is a Joke

CaneinBroward said:
Who was the coach of Alabama again in the last year of the BCS in 2013? The team that just missed out on the title game after losing to Auburn in the last week of the season. They went to the Sugar Bowl, had 5 turnovers, and lost by 2 TDs to Oklahoma who was a 17.5 point underdog.

5 turnovers seem pretty careless to me.
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So u wanna use that one bowl game as an example? Lol. How about the 2022 Bama team, that blew out KSU in a “meaningless” Sugar Bowl last season? What about the 2019 Bama team that played in the “hella meaningless” Citrus Bowl & blew out #14 UofM? What about the “hella, HELLA meaningless” Capital One Bowl game where Bama blew out #7 MSU in 2010?

Don’t use an outlier to try to gaslight the board. Any coach who’s a competitor gives a **** about winning EVERYTHING. Just b/c this bull **** narrative keeps floating around doesn’t make it true. Players have become self interested; these muh fckas are opting out of CFP GAMES! Are they meaningless? So let’s keep context where context is.
 
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colperm said:
Let me start off by saying that it's possible that next year's CFB playoff expansion has a positive impact on the post-season product.

Honest question, does anyone really give a **** about bowl games anymore?

Maybe I'm just a casual fan nowadays, or perhaps it's just because we've stunk for 20 years and I've become numb to our inevitable bowl losses... but I absolutely did not care about the Pinstripe Bowl yesterday. I don't care about bowl games enough to critique coaching decisions, personnel decisions, offensive play calling, refs, etc... it all feels trivial now. When you subtract the players who will be selected in the top 3-4 rounds of next years NFL draft as well as transfer portal casualties, the games lose some degree of meaning. Even some of the high-profile bowls have begun to feel more like spring games than conference championship games. It has become common to see third-string QBs facing off against each other! Guys on the field are auditioning for PT and NIL, willing to go anywhere that will throw them a bone.

Again, maybe I'm just numb. Maybe this is copium. Maybe I'm wrong.

But, if the players don't care about a bowl game, why the fvck should I?
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The bowl games - for fans - suck. There's no sugar coating it. It doesn't mean the actual games are meaningless to the players and coaches. The two concepts are not intertwined.
I watched one snap from yesterday's game. One. My excuse was valid - I was working. I followed along on my phone and computer a little, but overall I didn't care much because of what it was - another WhoCares postseason bowl game against a WhoCares opponent after yet another WhoCares season. It sucks to actually type those words out because I realize a little more with each passing mediocre season that I care a little less. Clearly, not that much less as I sit here typing out a dumb response on a Canes message board, but the care-fade is real. The kids like to say "I'm faded," but I wish my fade was like their fade, but it's not.... Oh well. It's the off-season which means it's our time to dominate!

Happy New Year.
 
CANEMC said:
They seriously have to postpone transfer dates until after bowl season. Us gamblers have to do too much research on who opted out or transferred. Took Rutgers based on that btw.
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Been doing a pick’em contest with my son each week of the season. We’ve been hovering around 80% correct. We are both sub-50% for bowls.
 
Jomama said:
Allowing players to enter the Portal before bowl games has made those games absolutely meaningless and completely uninteresting for me. If I wasn't busy I would have watched the Pinstripe game but it was not a priority knowing how many players, including the starting QB, are gone!

I believe we will see bowl games going away once sponsors understand the lack of interest because the teams playing are not really the same teams from the regular season. Of course I wanted the Canes to win but it really is not much more than a glorified scrimmage...
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I don’t think it’ll be lack of sponsors will be the problem. Attendance actually hasn’t been too bad at some of these games and the exposure is great. Look at the publicity Pop Tarts got yesterday. The issue is going to be some of the schools deciding to bail out of some bowls altogether. Most schools don’t have massive athletic budgets and many of them barely break even and even lose money traveling across the country for these lessor bowl games. Add in bunch of opt outs and portal madness and sooner or later some teams are just gonna not bother.
 
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Maybe the game was meaningless but it further proved how scary bad Mario is on gameday…if we looked prepared and had a bunch of young guys playing and lost a close one fine…but this wasn’t that this was another Mario led team doing less with more…we still have 2 timeouts, we screwed up on special teams we get conservative when we should be aggressive to score and put the game away but nope just give the game away
 
Preface:

A.
Coaching stunk.
We weren't prepared.
We played like ****.
I WANTED TO WIN THIS GAME. I'm ****ed.

Ok, that's out of the way.
Now I can respond to the OP....

B.
I agree, something has to change regarding the secondary bowls.
@NC_Canes_11 had the pay idea that may coerce some players to play.
Some of these games are now overhyped scrimmages.

What's that saying...both A and B can be true??
 
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colperm said:
Let me start off by saying that it's possible that next year's CFB playoff expansion has a positive impact on the post-season product.

Honest question, does anyone really give a **** about bowl games anymore?

Maybe I'm just a casual fan nowadays, or perhaps it's just because we've stunk for 20 years and I've become numb to our inevitable bowl losses... but I absolutely did not care about the Pinstripe Bowl yesterday. I don't care about bowl games enough to critique coaching decisions, personnel decisions, offensive play calling, refs, etc... it all feels trivial now. When you subtract the players who will be selected in the top 3-4 rounds of next years NFL draft as well as transfer portal casualties, the games lose some degree of meaning. Even some of the high-profile bowls have begun to feel more like spring games than conference championship games. It has become common to see third-string QBs facing off against each other! Guys on the field are auditioning for PT and NIL, willing to go anywhere that will throw them a bone.

Again, maybe I'm just numb. Maybe this is copium. Maybe I'm wrong.

But, if the players don't care about a bowl game, why the fvck should I?
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Couldn’t agree more. Bowl games are vacations. How could anyone expect the canes to show more with a lot less than they had all season regardless of their opponent.
other than the playoff, bowl games are totally irrelevant. They have no impact on recruiting or setting momentum or tempo for the following season. Bowl games are hyped for their sponsors. Players are in vacation mode and the game is nothing more than an exhibition show.
 
That position may take the edge off of continually losing but if that's the mindset of the players on the field we've got bigger problems. This isn't a bash on the OP and I get it 100% but for the participants it's not acceptable. If your goal is to make a career in this sport or any venture you need to show up everyday, every play.

You career, is the answer to the question - what's to play for. Goes for the coaches as well.
 
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JHallCanes said:
Well said

I mean, winning matters especially when trying to “build culture” like we keep hearing. Absolutely this was a massive game for the team if they win. You saw how Rutgers celebrated the win (or maybe had shut it off by then hopefully)

There’s people that will always fall back on the “stop lowering expectations” line and that’s fine, but it’s really saying absolutely nothing.

If we went out there and lost a game with a depleted roster that’s one thing, but what it really showed was the coaches have learned absolutely nothing from another mediocre season. A month to prepare for…that?

So really all it told me was they’re perfectly fine with how the season played out, and to them we are on track which is horrifying
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I also think people are missing an important point about the word "matters" and why bowl games don't matter. It's not just about whether bowl games "matter" to the TEAMS. The more relevant aspect is that bowl games don't "matter" to INDIVIDUALS. That's why so many PLAYERS choose to sit out.

If bowl games "mattered", more players would risk playing in the game, regardless of NFL draft prospects or transfer destinations. But the bowl games do NOT "matter" to most players.

Clearly, SOME players played; no bowl games were cancelled. Some players who are going to transfer still play in non-playoff bowl games. Some players who are going to be drafted still play in non-playoff bowl games. But MOST opt out.

Yesterday, Miami had a lot more NFL draft/Transfer portal opt-outs than Rutgers had. That's a fact. Maybe the OUTCOME of the game mattered to the players who participated, but the bowl game did NOT matter to all the players who opted out.



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"What we've got here is failure to participate. Some players, you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last night -- which is the way they want it. Well, they get it. And I don't like it anymore than you men."
 
BentSteelCane said:
That position may take the edge off of continually losing but if that's the mindset of the players on the field we've got bigger problems. This isn't a bash on the OP and I get it 100% but for the participants it's not acceptable. If your goal is to make a career in this sport or any venture you need to show up everyday, every play.

You career, is the answer to the question - what's to play for. Goes for the coaches as well.
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Not completely disagreeing, but part of my point is that many of the guys with the talent to actually make a career of football are choosing to skip these games for one reason or another
 
TheEye said:
We never seem to win them and that's a problem.
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That’s why they are “meaningless.” It’s another coping method. The Russell Athletic Bowl sure meant a lot, but now all the bowls are meaningless. Lol. There’s a certain segment of fans that echo this, & it’s usually the ones who are fans of teams that constantly let them down.
 
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Rellyrell said:
I absolutely care about bowl season, & believe it or not, the vast majority of kids who will never play in the NFL, the coaches who’s bonuses are tied to wins, and schools who have apparel contracts that have escalators for bowl wins, total wins absolutely care.
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All good points and I have no trouble believing that the incentive structure is there for schools and most coaches to put in the effort to win these games.

But overall I think there needs to be some tweaks to incentivize the best players to want to compete in these games. Speaking strictly from a fan perspective
 
Rellyrell said:
That’s why they are “meaningless.” It’s another coping method. The Russell Athletic Bowl sure meant a lot, but now all the bowls are meaningless. Lol. There’s a certain segment of fans that echo this, & it’s usually the ones who are fans of teams that constantly let them down.
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To be fair, I've said the bowl games are worthless for decades. I do want to win any bowl game that we are in. But in the current situation, with all the NFL/Portal opt-outs, most bowl games are more worthless than ever.

Maybe a few rules could be changed, like either "delaying" Portal entry or giving Portal kids immediate eligibility to play in the bowl games. Who knows.

Let's just get to the 12 team playoff ASAP.
 
Winning your bowl game should be important. Head into the off-season with some momentum. The last time we won a bowl game, we had a 10 win season the next year
 
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Canezum5 said:
10 years ago? Just wow. Let me know when youre done moving the goal posts.

Friends Moving GIF
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The post was Saban would never let this happen. Who's moving the goal posts? It ain't me.

By the way, for those of you getting all up in your feelings like this is an excuse for yesterday's loss? One has NOTHING to do with the other.
 
Do not complain about yesterday‘s game if you feel bowl games are meaningless.

I understand players opting out rather than risk injury if they’re moving on to the NFL draft or transferring to another program. That’s unfortunate and needs to be addressed, at least the portal problem. And for that matter coaches too, because I’m tired of seeing coaches quit on their team right after the last regular season game.

I guess it’s a difference between having ‘meaning’ and ‘mattering’.

If you’re coaching or playing, the game should matter.
 
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