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College football rule changes we’d love to see happen

By Michael Collins

Oct 3, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of a yellow penalty flag during the game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium. The Bears defeat the Red Raiders 63-35. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 3, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of a yellow penalty flag during the game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium. The Bears defeat the Red Raiders 63-35. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 24, 2014; Honolulu, HI, USA; A general view before the Hawaii Bowl between the Rice Owls and Fresno State Bulldogs at Aloha Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 24, 2014; Honolulu, HI, USA; A general view before the Hawaii Bowl between the Rice Owls and Fresno State Bulldogs at Aloha Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 3 – Bowl Eligibility

Oh, you want to play in a postseason game and earn some extra money and television “Hi Mom!” time?

Just win six games.

Yep. In a generation where we applaud mediocrity and give out participation trophies to everyone, the NCAA doesn’t break from the status quo. Win fifty percent of your games and you’ll get a handsome reward.

Oh, you say some of those smaller bowl games aren’t really rewards? Listen to some of the places these teams get to travel even if they aren’t in a major bowl:

Hawaii, Bahamas, Miami Beach, New York City, Las Vegas, Boca Raton, New Orleans, San Diego….

And the list goes on and on. All for just being so-so during the regular season.

The time has come for the NCAA to really step up and make bowl eligibility something that has to be earned rather than just waltzed into. Even pushing it up to seven games would insure that only teams who finished above .500 would get postseason invites.

“But what if we don’t have enough teams to fill all the bowl slots?” you ask?

Umm. Simple solution. Get rid of some of these pointless and underachieving bowls. There are currently 128 FBS teams, and 40 postseason games (not including the national title game). That means 80 teams out of 128 are going to be rewarded with a bowl bid. Your odds of making the NHL or NBA playoffs are even less than that, and those leagues let practically everyone in the postseason.

The cap should be set at no more than half the teams going to bowl games. Let’s just keep it at 60 teams. 30 bowls. No less than seven wins to get in. That should solve some of the slumping television ratings and empty stadiums in December and January.

Next: Targeting

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