Sugar Bowl

[Stallion]

Louisville gets Pick-6 on first Offensive Play
Florida sold 7,000 seats, Louisville 14,000. The present bowl system is not maximizing profit

[Pony ^]

you mean sugar bowl

And yes, Florida has to have the worst fan base in college football. We would sell double that

[ponyfan08]

Louisville QB just got the wood laid to him!

[Charleston Pony]

It doesn't help that this game is being played on a Wednesday and the 1st day back from the holidays. They needed LSU in this game to draw well

[SMG]

Would have expected Louisville to bring more. Some fans bases get spoiled by going to these things on a regular basis and when the opponent isn't a marquee name, can't expect a big crowd to travel. Also, fans start to realize good seats are on the secondary market not schools allotment.

[Charleston Pony]

New Year's Day or Saturday game would have drawn better, but these BCS games have become all about the TV ratings

[leopold]

Onside kick - WORST call ever.

Saw it coming a mile away.

[SMU21TCU10]

That Big East speed

[Stallion]

Don't like our chances against Louisville next year

[mustangxc]

Then again, 5-7 UCONN managed to beat them at Louisville.

[Paladin]

New Year's Day or Saturday game would have drawn better, but these BCS games have become all about the TV ratings

BCS = killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Lowest attendance of any BCS game in history ? These games were better when they were all played on New Year's Day, IMO.

[ponyte]

The system is killing the big bowls. Odd that the result of the perfect bowl system is to kill the big bowls. Not that any will go away or be in trouble but the really good matchups are at the next level of bowls. Pitt, UConn, Wisconsin were all unranked and in a big bowl. Folks can see this system isn't about the best playing the best but the cartel's power. And ND went to BSC bowls for a long time only to prove they didn't belong by getting blown out. Add in overrated Big 10 teams and Big 12 teams (OSU, OU, NU) getting blown out in national championship games and the utter failure of the current system is appearing.

The BSC promised to eliminate the unworthy and create the ideal matchups only to product cronyism and marginal to ridiculous matchups. And most folks see it.

The NCAA to remain relevant needs to create a playoff system. This will never happen till the big boys decide it is a better way to make money. And one can rest assured that the Big 10 and other conferences will ensure that their champion, even an unranked one like Wisconsin, will get a title shot.

[EastStang]

I agree. New Year's Day, you would line up three TV's and watch the Cotton, Sugar, Rose, Orange Bowls and later ABC added the Tangerine Bowl to compete with the Cotton which was on CBS. And all the New Year's Day Bowls were compelling match-ups and you blocked off the day to watch football. The Orange Bowl always had a great halftime show. Now you have the Rose and the Orange Bowl and two or three bowls you never heard of on New Year's Day, they're all on ESPN (except 1) including the Rose Bowl which means that those who have basic cable don't get the bowls. Not sure why ABC felt it more important to show two hours of local news, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy instead of the Rose Bowl except to boost ESPN. Not sure why it chose to show its really crappy Tuesday night programming (rerun of Shark Tank and some other shows I never heard of) instead of the Orange Bowl. I'd love to see the overnight ratings on the networks on Tuesday night.

[NavyCrimson]

EastStang: Not sure why ABC felt it more important to show two hours of local news, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy instead of the Rose Bowl except to boost ESPN...

Probably because ratings are down compared to what they 'used to be years ago'. You are correct, it's a mess now days & the cartel power grab is killing the sport. So many of our friends, including me, don't even watch the games anymore because of how you described it & that includes the New Years' day games. Outside the alums of the teams & the truly interested, why waste anyone's time.

[birddogger]

Apparently, attendance at last night’s Sugar Bowl was laughable-just barely above Tulane attendance levels. It makes me wonder whether one of the original intended purposes of these bowls (tourism) hasn’t been undermined completely. If a city like New Orleans has to subsidize these bowls to any degree, it may have to think twice, as 20,000-25,000 out-of-town fans simply doesn’t warrant the expense of additional police, etc. and perks that the city provides. But do TV ratings now rule the day?

If so, the NCAA needs to tread carefully. TV ratings for this year’s bowl season have been a mixed bag, with viewership of some bowls down from last year’s record dismal showing. From what I’ve read, minor bowls, such as the Gator, fared badly. Many bowls are in the 5-10 range. Is this a function of mediocre match-ups, over-saturation, requirement of cable to view (thanks, ESPN), BCS tom-foolery or all of the above?