Would You Accept a Bowl Over an FCS Tournament Bid?

[mamberso]

So there will not be enough qualified teams this season to play in FBS bowl games (Deadspin - There Probably Won't Be Enough .500 teams to Fill All the Bowl Games (http://deadspin.com/there-probably-wont-be-enough-500-teams-to-fill-all-th-1744225936)). Scenario: Your conference decides to send its champion to an FBS bowl (likely a very minor bowl) instead of the playoffs. Would you be happy with this decision?

[BisonFan02]

No

[SENOREIDA]

No and Yes. I would rather win a national title, but the money and the tv exposure sorta out weigh that so the program can grow.

[BEAR]

How about you send some of those borderline FCS playoff teams to a lower bowl? UCA, if they were healthy, would be a great candidate for one of those lower tier bowls since they didn't make the FCS playoffs. There are other teams too.

[DFW HOYA]

Without question, yes.

However, neither option appears likely.

[Sycamore62]

November 23, 2015

Dear Diary,

Today, bowl games jumped the shark.

[mamberso]

No and Yes. I would rather win a national title, but the money and the tv exposure sorta out weigh that so the program can grow.

From a program stand point, your last point is right on. But as a fan, I would prefer to have a chance for a championship. That is one of the main reasons I have always opposed JSU's move to FBS.

[TheRevSFA]

Nope

[BisonFan02]

No and Yes. I would rather win a national title, but the money and the tv exposure sorta out weigh that so the program can grow.

The only people who watch those bowl games are sports bar TVs and degenerate gamblers.... That being said, enjoy the GoDaddy bowl (or whatever it will be called at that point) if you ever make it.

[Daytripper]

NO.

[JayJ79]

No and Yes. I would rather win a national title, but the money and the tv exposure sorta out weigh that so the program can grow.

do those super minor bowls really bring much tv exposure or revenue? Or is that revenue overshadowed by travel costs and big numbers of ticket quotas that the school has to cover?

[citdog]

Nope. Bowls are for ladies.

[JSUSoutherner]

A New Years Six bowl, sure. Anything else, no.

[ST_Lawson]

Are we talking low-level...like Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (MAC vs Sun Belt) or R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (Sun Belt vs C-USA)?
Or are we talking like a Bayou Classic that for years was nationally televised on NBC (NBC Sports Network this year), pulls in 50k+ fans every year, and probably nets a pretty decent check for the participating institutions?

The first one....no.
The second one...I'd be severely tempted and would probably have to go yes.

[BisonBacker]

After the Cluster*#%@ the selection committee threw out on Sunday and the regionalization of FCS to nothing more than a glorified DII I"m ready to say F#*K this ****.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Not a chance.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

If the minor bowls are going bankrupt inviting teams like Western Kentucky to play in them, it's hard to imagine handing out bowl invites to Eastern Kentucky will suddenly save their business model.

As for Lehigh, I frankly don't see what they'd really get from accepting a bowl invite to play a .500 G5 team, playing in front of fewer fans than a game vs. Lafayette.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

After the Cluster*#%@ the selection committee threw out on Sunday and the regionalization of FCS to nothing more than a glorified DII I"m ready to say F#*K this ****.

It's been regionalized since you've been involved so not sure what is new here.

[IBleedYellow]

Lol.

[Bisonator]

Here's an idea, get rid of some of your stupid ****ing bowls! Seriously 40 ****ing bowl games with 128 total FBS teams?xrolleyesx

[Catsfan90]

How about you send some of those borderline FCS playoff teams to a lower bowl? UCA, if they were healthy, would be a great candidate for one of those lower tier bowls since they didn't make the FCS playoffs. There are other teams too.
I agree with this. Would allow the FCS to continue gaining exposure.

[Catsfan90]

Here's an idea, get rid of some of your stupid ****ing bowls! Seriously 40 ****ing bowl games with 128 total FBS teams?xrolleyesx
When you see a lot of these lower level teams just barely qualify to be eligible they act like they won the Superbowl. I think selection Sunday is was more fun than that.

[Grizzlies82]

Yes!
I'd hate to see them miss the playoffs for a year. However, if Montana is offered an invite to the Rose Bowl I think we should take it (but just once).

[MSUBobcat]

It's been regionalized since you've been involved so not sure what is new here.

^^^ This guy... he gets it.

[BisonBacker]

It's been regionalized since you've been involved so not sure what is new here.
Regionalized is one thing. Having 5 teams on one side of the bracket is another! Agree or disagree this for NDSU is nothing more than MVFC playoffs for the most part.

[MSUBobcat]

Regionalized is one thing. Having 5 teams on one side of the bracket is another! Agree or disagree this for NDSU is nothing more than MVFC playoffs for the most part.

Posted this on another thread, but still waiting for an answer, so I'll leave it here too:

I'm honestly asking: without going against regionalization, what would MVFC fans change (without changing seeded teams)? IMO, the NDSU, UM, SDSU pod was a lock, as was the CSU, CCU, Citadel pod. Whoever got paired with SHSU was feeding into McNeese. You could say they could have put WIU or UNI there to put a Valley team on the other side but then EIU or Dayton against SUU becomes a flight instead of a bus trip. The teams feeding into JMU and Richmond could be moved around but not in a way to involve the Valley without adding a flight where a bus trip was involved. The Chatty-Fordham game is a flight regardless but you'd have to break up the bus trips for UNI or WIU to put them out there.

So without changing a bus trip to a flight, how would the situation be corrected? Does regionalization screw the integrity of the brackets.... undoubtedly. But using the criteria which we all know, I don't really see a conscientious effort to screw the MVFC. There's 11 teams from Illinois west in the field. All except the 2 TX teams, which can't be moved from their bracket due to McNeese's #4 seed, and SUU which is an outlier and flight to anywhere, are on the same side of the bracket.

If anything, this is a direct result of the "western" teams getting the 2,3, and 6 seeds, which are all on the same side of the bracket. If McNeese had gotten the #6 and PSU gotten the #7 seeds, we'd have all Big Sky, MVFC and Southland teams on the same side, with EIU and Dayton thrown in as bus trips, making this year’s playoffs essentially an East vs. West championship.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Regionalized is one thing. Having 5 teams on one side of the bracket is another! Agree or disagree this for NDSU is nothing more than MVFC playoffs for the most part.

That is true this year. It is true because the MVFC got in an extra team that they probably should not have. It is also the only time since you've been involved that all teams were on one side. It has happened to the BSC before though. The fact that you got an extra or so in does not mean anything different that getting say 3 in and all on one side. Griping about it is fine though. It would be nice if it wasn't like this but several of you would have found other things to gripe about. It is just the nature of all this and some of us that talk about it here. As it should be.

[LehighU11]

If the bowl game is against Penn State, then I would prefer that to a playoff entry for Lehigh this year.

Penn State has an incompetent offense that even Lehigh's poor D could handle. PSU almost lost to Army, who fell to Fordham and nearly to PL bottom-feeder Bucknell.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

The only people who watch those bowl games are sports bar TVs and degenerate gamblers.... That being said, enjoy the GoDaddy bowl (or whatever it will be called at that point) if you ever make it.

Bowl games have done remarkably well for ratings, they have even surpassed major sporting events.

Yes, I would take a bowl game over the FCS playoffs.

[Grizzlies82]

Regionalized is one thing. Having 5 teams on one side of the bracket is another! Agree or disagree this for NDSU is nothing more than MVFC playoffs for the most part.

You are right. Clearly they put too many MVFC teams into the playoffs.
Should have thrown in more teams from other conferences. Would have made it better for all of us.
FWIW, they have done this (all team on one side of bracket) to the Big Sky in the past.

[REALBird]

Nope. Bowls are for Salads and Cereal.

What is it going to do for your program that any early season FCS vs. FBS game hasn't done already?
The financial loss to send your boosters, alums, admin staff to the game isn't worth it.
With the 4 team playoff the FBS now has in place, what's the value of playing in a bowl game not steeped in tradition (Rose, Fiesta, Cotton, Orange, Sugar)?

Finally, with more FBS schools deciding to no longer schedule FCS schools, why the hell should we help out their fledgling product? After the 4 team playoff, you may find a few good games left to watch on NYE and New Years Day, but for the most part it's just an extra game. Nope, give me a chance to bring home some hardware and the chance to play well into January.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

I actually would watch a bowl game that had an FCS team that did not make the playoffs though like a UND, UCA, etc. That would grab me as a viewer especially if the travel squad was the same for both teams. I don't even know what the rules are for that sort of thing with bowls so maybe it is up to the schools.

[CappinHard]

The only people who watch those bowl games are sports bar TVs and degenerate gamblers....

Degenerate... what did I ever do to you?!?! xlolx

[phoenix3]

No unless the net payoff would be in excess of $500k. Exposure works two ways. Would much rather take a chance on a NC.

[gregatim]

You are right. Clearly they put too many MVFC teams into the playoffs.
Should have thrown in more teams from other conferences. Would have made it better for all of us.
FWIW, they have done this (all team on one side of bracket) to the Big Sky in the past.

I don't disagree with that. I'm shocked they put a 6 win team in, no matter how "good" WIU's losses were. A good loss??? WTF is that?

Anyway, I was as upset as anyone about all MVFC teams being in the same bracket, but after a 24 hour cooling off period, it is what it is. You want to be national champs, you need to play good football in December and January, no matter who is in front of you.

I also get the sense from lurking on boards that past couple of days that this shouldn't be a complete surprise and that regionalization has always played into FCS playoffs. NDSU has only been in the playoffs 5 years, so we don't have the historical perspective other programs do. We should very well expect to see teams we've played during the regular season during the first couple of rounds of playoffs if the MVFC is getting 3 or 4 teams in every year, which I certainly expect to continue especially with the playoffs expanded to 24 teams.

[JayJ79]

I'm honestly asking: without going against regionalization, what would MVFC fans change (without changing seeded teams)?

The seeds are hardly set in stone. The top 2 are a big deal, and 3,4 somewhat, but beyond that, teams have often been tweaked up or down a spot to facilitate (or avoid) matchups.

Heck, flip NDSU and McNeese (with their corresponding sub-brackets) and voila, you then have 2 MVFC teams on one half of the bracket and 3 on the other half.

[RootinFerDukes]

Is there any real, empirical evidence that football programs see positive boosts from being featured in these non-bcs bowl games? Especially if it doesn't feature a matchup against a P5 school?

Don't most schools lose money by having to buy huge blocks of tickets that mainly go unsold? Most fans don't bother to physically attend these low end bowl games.

[JMUNJ08]

Here's an idea, get rid of some of your stupid ****ing bowls! Seriously 40 ****ing bowl games with 128 total FBS teams?xrolleyesx

Seems like we need more quality teams at the FBS level to fill those slots.....xcoffeex

[Bisonator]

The seeds are hardly set in stone. The top 2 are a big deal, and 3,4 somewhat, but beyond that, teams have often been tweaked up or down a spot to facilitate (or avoid) matchups.

Heck, flip NDSU and McNeese (with their corresponding sub-brackets) and voila, you then have 2 MVFC teams on one half of the bracket and 3 on the other half.

This^^^^^^^. Once they decided ISUr was going to be the 2 then give McNeese the 3 and NDSU the 4 and spread them out. Obviously there was major push back from the other conferences about the MVFC championship game last year even though it was a fantastic game! I'm calling ECB!;)

[clenz]

The only people who watch those bowl games are sports bar TVs and degenerate gamblers.... That being said, enjoy the GoDaddy bowl (or whatever it will be called at that point) if you ever make it.
I watch the hell out of bowl games - at least did when I had cable. We'll see how much I watch them this year.

I've never bet on a football game, and don't go to sports bars just for the hell of it.

I'm very pro FCS playoffs, but I also like the idea of playing someone new that we don't see often, if ever. I like the idea of being able to "gear up" for a single game. I like a lot of things about the bowls. I get that makes me in the extreme minority of this site.

Would I trade a playoff spot for a bowl? Depends on the bowl, honestly. Maybe it's because I'm sick of UNI losing in the playoffs. Ending the season with a piece of hardware that says "champion", even if for a bowl game played in the Dominican at 8AM on a Sunday morning, sounds nice at times.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

I don't disagree with that. I'm shocked they put a 6 win team in, no matter how "good" WIU's losses were. A good loss??? WTF is that?

Anyway, I was as upset as anyone about all MVFC teams being in the same bracket, but after a 24 hour cooling off period, it is what it is. You want to be national champs, you need to play good football in December and January, no matter who is in front of you.

I also get the sense from lurking on boards that past couple of days that this shouldn't be a complete surprise and that regionalization has always played into FCS playoffs. NDSU has only been in the playoffs 5 years, so we don't have the historical perspective other programs do. We should very well expect to see teams we've played during the regular season during the first couple of rounds of playoffs if the MVFC is getting 3 or 4 teams in every year, which I certainly expect to continue especially with the playoffs expanded to 24 teams.
Back when the teams were seeded the Griz went to Idaho to play in the first round twice I think it was in the late 80's. You are absolutely correct to point of the lack of historical perspective here because it is why it is so odd to see some of the Bison fans acting like this is some big f'n travesty...it sucks but I can't tell you the number of times it has happened to the BSC but it's a decent amount.

The playoffs are about crowning ONE damn team the champ. It ain't about coddling every fans whims about what they deem is fair. This is always "Silly Billy" week for FCS with all the drama that you see rolling around on the boards.

I am not trying to smack people with this but my god the MVFC has a whole lot of people that seem to make their life's goal to see who can bitch the most about every little damn thing with the playoffs and selections. Then again, there are also a lot of MVFC fans that do a good job of thinking things through and trying to tlak the dramatic bunch off the ledge so there is that.

[PAllen]

Rose, cotton, sugar, orange? Sure. Holiday, aloha, peach, citrus, gator? You bet. Pinstripe, Eagle One Bank, Belk, Beef O'Brady, Emerald Nut, or Idaho Potata? No thanks.

[JayJ79]

This^^^^^^^. Once they decided ISUr was going to be the 2 then give McNeese the 3 and NDSU the 4 and spread them out. Obviously there was major push back from the other conferences about the MVFC championship game last year even though it was a fantastic game! I'm calling ECB!;)

I doubt even the Bison fans would mind dropping from #3 to #4. Yes, it could possibly mean one more road game if the #1 seed was upset (and the #3 advanced), but it would mean only having to possibly face one MVFC team prior to Frisco (and once SDSU lost their seed, that matchup is unfortunately almost a lock).

Plus, given that the switch would have happened prior to the announcement, nobody outside the committee would even know about it, and I think most Bison fans would consider a #4 seed just as fair.

[JayJ79]

Would I trade a playoff spot for a bowl? Depends on the bowl, honestly. Maybe it's because I'm sick of UNI losing in the playoffs. Ending the season with a piece of hardware that says "champion", even if for a bowl game played in the Dominican at 8AM on a Sunday morning, sounds nice at times.

Participation trophies for everyone! Well, okay, half the teams. The other half get hugs and juice boxes.

[Bisonator]

I doubt even the Bison fans would mind dropping from #3 to #4. Yes, it could possibly mean one more road game if the #1 seed was upset (and the #3 advanced), but it would mean only having to possibly face one MVFC team prior to Frisco (and once SDSU lost their seed, that matchup is unfortunately almost a lock).

Plus, given that the switch would have happened prior to the announcement, nobody outside the committee would even know about it, and I think most Bison fans would consider a #4 seed just as fair.

I actually expected McNeese to get the 2 with the nice shiny record.

[MSUBobcat]

The seeds are hardly set in stone. The top 2 are a big deal, and 3,4 somewhat, but beyond that, teams have often been tweaked up or down a spot to facilitate (or avoid) matchups.

Heck, flip NDSU and McNeese (with their corresponding sub-brackets) and voila, you then have 2 MVFC teams on one half of the bracket and 3 on the other half.

As I said, without changing seeds around. You are asking them to look at brackets first, then assign seeds, not the other way around, which IMO is wrong. Assign seeds then fill in brackets, avoiding rematches and flights where possible. My main point was that with the 2,3 and 6 seeds being western teams combined with regionalization, the brackets we got shouldn't be surprising anyone.

[PAllen]

Participation trophies for everyone! Well, okay, half the teams. The other half get hugs and juice boxes.

Sounds like the MVFC come selection time.

[Bison56]

xchinscratchx
Sounds like the MVFC come selection time.

[JayJ79]

I am 99% sure that the committee (and every NCAA selection committee for that matter), tweaks seedings on a regular basis to facility or avoid certain matchups. Heck, there are even some where it is written into the procedures (example: ncaa volleyball has 4 pre-determined regional sites, and if a host school is in the running for a seed, they will adjust seeding so that that team would be sent to their home regional should they advance).

[JayJ79]

Sounds like the MVFC come selection time.

it's not our fault that everyone else sucks. :p

[MSUBobcat]

I doubt even the Bison fans would mind dropping from #3 to #4. Yes, it could possibly mean one more road game if the #1 seed was upset (and the #3 advanced), but it would mean only having to possibly face one MVFC team prior to Frisco (and once SDSU lost their seed, that matchup is unfortunately almost a lock).

Plus, given that the switch would have happened prior to the announcement, nobody outside the committee would even know about it, and I think most Bison fans would consider a #4 seed just as fair.

First, the #3 and #4 have the same number of road games(only 1 barring an upset of the #1 and #2). Second, I don't doubt NDSU would take the #4 seed after hearing all the conspiracy theory crap the last 2 days. I'd hope when they assigned the seeds, they were discussing who had the best case for the seeds and not going "well if we put ISU at #2 and NDSU at #3 one of last year's finalists will be eliminated. Then if we throw PSU in that side of the bracket also, we can REALLY stick it to the MVFC." Just seems like someone at the table representing the Valley would stand up and be like "HEY! This is BS!"

[BisonBacker]

Posted this on another thread, but still waiting for an answer, so I'll leave it here too:

I'm honestly asking: without going against regionalization, what would MVFC fans change (without changing seeded teams)? IMO, the NDSU, UM, SDSU pod was a lock, as was the CSU, CCU, Citadel pod. Whoever got paired with SHSU was feeding into McNeese. You could say they could have put WIU or UNI there to put a Valley team on the other side but then EIU or Dayton against SUU becomes a flight instead of a bus trip. The teams feeding into JMU and Richmond could be moved around but not in a way to involve the Valley without adding a flight where a bus trip was involved. The Chatty-Fordham game is a flight regardless but you'd have to break up the bus trips for UNI or WIU to put them out there.

So without changing a bus trip to a flight, how would the situation be corrected? Does regionalization screw the integrity of the brackets.... undoubtedly. But using the criteria which we all know, I don't really see a conscientious effort to screw the MVFC. There's 11 teams from Illinois west in the field. All except the 2 TX teams, which can't be moved from their bracket due to McNeese's #4 seed, and SUU which is an outlier and flight to anywhere, are on the same side of the bracket.

If anything, this is a direct result of the "western" teams getting the 2,3, and 6 seeds, which are all on the same side of the bracket. If McNeese had gotten the #6 and PSU gotten the #7 seeds, we'd have all Big Sky, MVFC and Southland teams on the same side, with EIU and Dayton thrown in as bus trips, making this year’s playoffs essentially an East vs. West championship.

The first bolded part is really all that needs to be said and the committee and those involved in the rule should address it which leads to the second bolded part. And I don't disagree Ursus before you chime in with the financial issues being for the NCAA a money loser. I'm just saying the system with regionalization sucks ass. As far as the MVFC and it getting screwed or not the system does that for them the way it's setup. Regionalization has got to go. The original question was regarding a bowl bid vs the fcs tournament bid. Again if they keep this system in place I say it's time to move on. That's just my opinion. The poster asked what would you accept.

[gregatim]

First, the #3 and #4 have the same number of road games(only 1 barring an upset of the #1 and #2). Second, I don't doubt NDSU would take the #4 seed after hearing all the conspiracy theory crap the last 2 days. I'd hope when they assigned the seeds, they were discussing who had the best case for the seeds and not going "well if we put ISU at #2 and NDSU at #3 one of last year's finalists will be eliminated. Then if we throw PSU in that side of the bracket also, we can REALLY stick it to the MVFC." Just seems like someone at the table representing the Valley would stand up and be like "HEY! This is BS!"

Our conference rep was UNI's AD. We're all disappointed he wasn't able to get a couple MVFC teams to the other bracket, but in all honesty, SDSU f***ed that up with their loss Saturday. Oh, our poor fury friends to the south and the unfortunate conditions they ran into this week. In all honesty, I'm surprised he didn't figure out a way to get UNI in the other bracket. He should have fought like hell the first half of the meeting to get WIU in and given them up in the second half in exchange for UNI going to the other bracket. Amateur!!!

I've never been a fan to move up to FBS at this point to play in the "I Don't Give A S**t" Bowl, but the regionalization of the tournament has given me pause to consider it anyway.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

The first bolded part is really all that needs to be said and the committee and those involved in the rule should address it which leads to the second bolded part. And I don't disagree Ursus before you chime in with the financial issues being for the NCAA a money loser. I'm just saying the system with regionalization sucks ass. As far as the MVFC and it getting screwed or not the system does that for them the way it's setup. Regionalization has got to go. The original question was regarding a bowl bid vs the fcs tournament bid. Again if they keep this system in place I say it's time to move on. That's just my opinion. The poster asked what would you accept.

I don't think it does as much as you do because it does let some fans go to a playoff game that is in their region. It does suck in other areas but really it is a lot like everything in life in that it is a trade off of not all great options.

It is just that being in the West and where you are we don't get the full benefit and look more at the drawbacks. Think for insance if UM, SDSU, and NDSU were close enough geopgraphically to make the situation The Citadel, CSU, and CCU have going...that would be f'n fantastic for all of our fans.

It is still regionalization and I'm just not as sold as some that it is the worst thing to ever happen is all. What they do is not easy and there will never be a bracket come out that everyone goes "Bingo! They got it!".

This is by definition an analogy for "Rich people problems". This is what we have to bitch about? Well we are living one hell of a life my friend if this is a big concern and really gets our dander up.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

BTW, trying to drama this up as a reason to move on is something I'd step away from unless you want to look like a severe drama queen BB. There may be a lot of reasons you want to move on but acting like this is a biggy is just a wee bit prinessey.

[EKU Toss Sweep]

November 23, 2015

Dear Diary,

Today, bowl games jumped the shark.

It is comedic genius like this that brings me back to AGS. Well that and the fact that we actually have playoffs.

No to the minor bowl bid instead of a bid to the FCS playoffs.

[EKU Toss Sweep]

It's been regionalized since you've been involved so not sure what is new here.

Been wanting to type that since about 11:15 AM yesterday. News Flash: It will be regionalized again next year.

As a fan of a team that didn't make the "regionalized cluster" that has everyone so shocked and surprised, I hope the Colonels are playing somebody way too close and only a bus ride away on the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2016.

[ST_Lawson]

I am not trying to smack people with this but my god the MVFC has a whole lot of people that seem to make their life's goal to see who can bitch the most about every little damn thing with the playoffs and selections. Then again, there are also a lot of MVFC fans that do a good job of thinking things through and trying to tlak the dramatic bunch off the ledge so there is that.

I like to think I'm more of the latter. You will hear no bitching from me about a bracket that I was 95% sure we wouldn't be in.

[BisonTru]

First, the #3 and #4 have the same number of road games(only 1 barring an upset of the #1 and #2). Second, I don't doubt NDSU would take the #4 seed after hearing all the conspiracy theory crap the last 2 days. I'd hope when they assigned the seeds, they were discussing who had the best case for the seeds and not going "well if we put ISU at #2 and NDSU at #3 one of last year's finalists will be eliminated. Then if we throw PSU in that side of the bracket also, we can REALLY stick it to the MVFC." Just seems like someone at the table representing the Valley would stand up and be like "HEY! This is BS!"

Completely agree with Bobcat. The chips fell where they fell and the main culprit was regionalization. Now, if the MVFC teams end up eliminating each other and only each other I think we've proven how tough this conference is. However, PSU and Montana as well as William & Mary and Richmond have other plans. We'll see how this plays out. We're going to learn a lot about every team in the country over the next month. Fun time of the year.

[CHIP72]

The only people who watch those bowl games are sports bar TVs and degenerate gamblers.... That being said, enjoy the GoDaddy bowl (or whatever it will be called at that point) if you ever make it.

Though I have no interest in almost all bowl games, the actual numbers disagree with your statement; according to the article linked below, every bowl game played after the 2014 season - 39 games - drew at least 1.1 million viewers.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2015/01/15/reviewing-the-2014-15-bowl-season-highest-bowl-game-prices-attendances-and-tv-ratings/

As a frame of reference, 36 out of the 39 bowl games drew a higher rating than the North Dakota State/Illinois State championship game last season, which drew 1.4 million viewers:

2014 championship game article (mention): http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2015/01/unc-louisville-ratings-espn-basketball-epl-nbcsn-most-watched-fcs-college-football-championship-espn/

A closer comparison of the TV ratings for the games that drew lower or comparable audiences to NDSU/Illinois State reveals the following:

*Camellia Bowl (Bowling Green/South Alabama, 1.1 million viewers) - Saturday 12/20, this game was played at 9:15 PM ET, mostly at the same time as an NFL game (San Diego/San Francisco) on CBS
*Miami Beach Bowl (Memphis/Brigham Young, 1.32 million viewers) - Monday 12/22, this game was played at 2 PM ET on a weekday
*GoDaddy Bowl (Toledo/Arkansas State, 1.37 million viewers) - Sunday 1/4, this game was played at 9 PM ET on a Sunday night after two NFL wild-card playoff games
*Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Air Force/Western Michigan, 1.45 million viewers) - Saturday 12/20, this game was played at 5:45 PM ET, mostly at the same time as an NFL game (Philadelphia/Washington) on the NFL Network
*Bahamas Bowl (Western Kentucky/Central Michigan, 1.5 million viewers) - Wednesday 12/24, this game was played at 12 PM ET on a weekday (Christmas Eve)

*FCS National Championship (North Dakota State/Illinois State, approximately 1.4 million viewers) - Saturday 1/10, this game was played on a Saturday in the early afternoon (1 PM ET) and not in direct competition with any NFL games

All other bowl games drew TV audiences at least 35-40% larger than the NDSU/Illinois State championship game.

It is pretty clear that general college football fans, if given the choice between watching a bowl game between two nondescript, usually G5 teams and a FCS playoff game (including the championship game), will choose the minor bowl game if the game is televised at a reasonable viewing time that isn't at the same time as an NFL game.

[RootinFerDukes]

ESPN keeps making bowl games because they want holiday filler on their network and they realize these are bringing better ratings than the bowling or billiards they used to show decades ago.
As long as people keep watching, they'll keep churning them out.

[The Yo Show]

Though I have no interest in almost all bowl games, the actual numbers disagree with your statement; according to the article linked below, every bowl game played after the 2014 season - 39 games - drew at least 1.1 million viewers.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2015/01/15/reviewing-the-2014-15-bowl-season-highest-bowl-game-prices-attendances-and-tv-ratings/

As a frame of reference, 36 out of the 39 bowl games drew a higher rating than the North Dakota State/Illinois State championship game last season, which drew 1.4 million viewers:

2014 championship game article (mention): http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2015/01/unc-louisville-ratings-espn-basketball-epl-nbcsn-most-watched-fcs-college-football-championship-espn/

A closer comparison of the TV ratings for the games that drew lower or comparable audiences to NDSU/Illinois State reveals the following:

*Camellia Bowl (Bowling Green/South Alabama, 1.1 million viewers) - Saturday 12/20, this game was played at 9:15 PM ET, mostly at the same time as an NFL game (San Diego/San Francisco) on CBS
*Miami Beach Bowl (Memphis/Brigham Young, 1.32 million viewers) - Monday 12/22, this game was played at 2 PM ET on a weekday
*GoDaddy Bowl (Toledo/Arkansas State, 1.37 million viewers) - Sunday 1/4, this game was played at 9 PM ET on a Sunday night after two NFL wild-card playoff games
*Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Air Force/Western Michigan, 1.45 million viewers) - Saturday 12/20, this game was played at 5:45 PM ET, mostly at the same time as an NFL game (Philadelphia/Washington) on the NFL Network
*Bahamas Bowl (Western Kentucky/Central Michigan, 1.5 million viewers) - Wednesday 12/24, this game was played at 12 PM ET on a weekday (Christmas Eve)

*FCS National Championship (North Dakota State/Illinois State, approximately 1.4 million viewers) - Saturday 1/10, this game was played on a Saturday in the early afternoon (1 PM ET) and not in direct competition with any NFL games

All other bowl games drew TV audiences at least 35-40% larger than the NDSU/Illinois State championship game.

It is pretty clear that general college football fans, if given the choice between watching a bowl game between two nondescript, usually G5 teams and a FCS playoff game (including the championship game), will choose the minor bowl game if the game is televised at a reasonable viewing time that isn't at the same time as an NFL game.

The findings of this research make me sad xsmhx.

Ah well, at least FCS still has a 24 team playoff and not a 4 team playoff.

[herd13]

No.

[CHIP72]

If the bowl game is against Penn State, then I would prefer that to a playoff entry for Lehigh this year.

Penn State has an incompetent offense that even Lehigh's poor D could handle. PSU almost lost to Army, who fell to Fordham and nearly to PL bottom-feeder Bucknell.

The movable object vs the stoppable force. I'm not sure Lehigh's defense would hold Penn State under 35 points. (Penn State did have a few high-scoring games, like their 39-0 win against Illinois.)

On an unrelated note, LFN may want to contact LSU about that Lehigh/Louisiana State game with Les Miles possibly out at LSU.

[andthehomeofthe-BIZON-]

That is true this year. It is true because the MVFC got in an extra team that they probably should not have. It is also the only time since you've been involved that all teams were on one side. It has happened to the BSC before though. The fact that you got an extra or so in does not mean anything different that getting say 3 in and all on one side. Griping about it is fine though. It would be nice if it wasn't like this but several of you would have found other things to gripe about. It is just the nature of all this and some of us that talk about it here. As it should be.

Personally I wasn't happy about the bracket, not because the match ups don't make sense regionally, but because I would like to see NDSU play some different teams. I wanted the opportunity to cheer for the conference as a whole to do well. Now we could play all valley teams which will pretty much nullify home field advantage to a large extent. It's hard enough to beat a team once let along twice in a season. Conference teams are very familiar with one another and it can detract from the best team winning. Only good thing about this is the Bison may get a shot at Montana again which could be fun. I'm not addressing the other side of the bracket because I'm not as familiar with anyone playing over there. Which makes the tournament not as exciting.

[WTFCollegefootballfan]

http://www.inforum.com/sports/3888385-schnepf-fcs-playoff-selection-head-scratcher

[bonarae]

For any of the three Ivies, we'll see if the Presidents would allow us to take a seat in a minor bowl. After all, we haven't played in any as a team since the end of World War II... xchinscratchx

[Bisonwinagn]

A New Years Six bowl, sure. Anything else, no.

Same. New year's bowl or bust!!!

[BisonBacker]

BTW, trying to drama this up as a reason to move on is something I'd step away from unless you want to look like a severe drama queen BB. There may be a lot of reasons you want to move on but acting like this is a biggy is just a wee bit prinessey.


No this isn't the only reason I'd like to see a move up. FCS is losing its luster very quickly (see GS or App, soon to be Coastal). Teams are moving on for a reason. But that is another discussion.

[BisonBacker]

Personally I wasn't happy about the bracket, not because the match ups don't make sense regionally, but because I would like to see NDSU play some different teams. I wanted the opportunity to cheer for the conference as a whole to do well. Now we could play all valley teams which will pretty much nullify home field advantage to a large extent. It's hard enough to beat a team once let along twice in a season. Conference teams are very familiar with one another and it can detract from the best team winning. Only good thing about this is the Bison may get a shot at Montana again which could be fun. I'm not addressing the other side of the bracket because I'm not as familiar with anyone playing over there. Which makes the tournament not as exciting.

^^^^^This^^^^^^

[Lehigh Football Nation]

The movable object vs the stoppable force. I'm not sure Lehigh's defense would hold Penn State under 35 points. (Penn State did have a few high-scoring games, like their 39-0 win against Illinois.)

On an unrelated note, LFN may want to contact LSU about that Lehigh/Louisiana State game with Les Miles possibly out at LSU.

Playing LSU in a one-off always made sense even before this development. IMO.