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Replies: 14
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CU Guru [1581]
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Clemson travels well...well...
Dec 16, 2014, 2:30 PM
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Clemson has always travelled well and attendance at bowls is frequently noticeably in our favor. This is a result of the Clemson family truly enjoying their football program. Sadly, the playoff and the BCS before it, have diminished the importance of the bowls. If the playoff goes to 8 teams, and we make it to the playoff but lose in the first round, those families will likely not be travelling to see the tigers play in a bowl.
Ask the Gator Bowl, a once big time new years day bowl, what the BCS did to them. Families used to travel to Jacksonville in average numbers of about 6 even when the average number of people from those families actually attending the game was 4. The other two people hung out and shopped (spent money). The kids were raised with the idea that the holidays were just the time when we travelled to watch the tigers in a bowl game. This is why we travel well. This is also why we are not travelling as well each year. The new young adult tiger fans were raised during the bcs era and the bowls had far less appeal unless they were bcs games and then the ticket prices were prohibitive.
When the playoff goes to 8 teams and Bama is #1 and Georgia Tech is #8 and GT beats them because they only have a little over a week to prepare for a triple option team (they don't play any), the wheels will come off again and dissatisfaction will be at an all time high. And, since Bama played on the 20th, the bama nation will not have been able to travel during the holidays to watch them. And they were #1. Yeah, great.
I wish we could just go back to the way it was before. If a bowl invite comes and the ticket prices are too high, we could just choose a different one and Clemson nation attends in traditional numbers. Who cares if there is no clear cut champion? I love the debate almost as much as the games.
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All-In [34587]
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GT can't even beat Duke...hth***
Dec 16, 2014, 3:20 PM
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Orange Blooded [2182]
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Re: Clemson travels well...well...
Dec 16, 2014, 3:41 PM
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You're right. It has nothing to do with the increased cost or the fact that people love their home theaters or other massive HD screens. It was a dang BCS. Good research.
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CU Guru [1581]
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Well, the main driver...
Dec 18, 2014, 9:34 AM
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to my thought process was that Clemson traditionally travels well. Why? What caused Clemson to travel well and NC State not? Or what about GT and Maryland?
If the reason Clemson travels well now is because of the family tradition of travelling to Clemson games forming behavior, then it must also follow that anything that discourages families from travelling to see Clemson play will result in a reduction of their children who willingly travel far and wide to see a bowl game simply because that is what is done.
Why is it that some people must answer every post with snide remarks like "Good research" etc? Perhaps it is bitterness eating away at their soul. Perhaps they have no soul?
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CU Guru [1099]
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Re: Well, the main driver...
Dec 18, 2014, 9:38 AM
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> to my thought process was that Clemson traditionally
> travels well. Why? What caused Clemson to travel
> well and NC State not? Or what about GT and
> Maryland?
>
> If the reason Clemson travels well now is because of
> the family tradition of travelling to Clemson games
> forming behavior, then it must also follow that
> anything that discourages families from travelling to
> see Clemson play will result in a reduction of their
> children who willingly travel far and wide to see a
> bowl game simply because that is what is done.
>
> Why is it that some people must answer every post
> with snide remarks like "Good research" etc? Perhaps
> it is bitterness eating away at their soul. Perhaps
> they have no soul?
Logic has no place here. Well done tho
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CU Guru [1950]
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I don't think its correct to fully blame the Playoff and BCS
Dec 16, 2014, 4:28 PM
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for the failure of bowls. The bowls have lost meaning because most people don't even know which bowl is which any more due to their insistence of going the corporate sponsor route and changing names every other year. The Gator Bowl you used to love is now called the "Taxslayer Bowl". The Tangerine/Champs Sports Bowl we're in this year is now the Russell Athletic Bowl.
Then you've got the fact that they've made about 40 bowls so that every team that's 6-6 goes to a bowl. It used to mean something to make a bowl, but now terrible teams that load up on nonconference cupcakes can make a bowl game by winning 2 or 3 conference games. It used to be that when a team made a bowl game it was an accomplishment....now even the sorry teams like Illinois, Rice, South Alabama, and South Carolina make bowl games.
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CU Guru [1581]
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I agree that...
Dec 18, 2014, 9:41 AM
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there are many bowls that have far less significance than others but I don't consider that a bad thing. More college football is always better than less. The problem is that the traditional big bowls have lost significance and that is not good. I don't care for the corporate hijacking either but those of us who care know which ones are which.
Either way, I will continue to travel to see my Tigers play anytime possible.
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CU Guru [1497]
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I agree.
Dec 18, 2014, 9:53 AM
[ in reply to I don't think its correct to fully blame the Playoff and BCS ] |
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The bowl season is watered down so much now that any team with a pulse gets a bowl game invite.
I love college football, but I've made it a point over the last few years to not even tune in to the bowls before Christmas (or the silly USDA farm bowls, Birmingham, GoDaddy, that they jam in between the major bowls and the championship game).
The only reason these bowls exist is because of TV money...
I know that me not watching will not change that, but I don't want to reward E$ecPN and the like for putting that product on the field that has absolutely diminished the major bowl games of the past.
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CU Guru [1512]
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Re: Clemson travels well...well...
Dec 16, 2014, 4:56 PM
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smpl: Terrific assessment and oh so true
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CU Guru [1581]
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Another point...
Dec 18, 2014, 9:43 AM
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Remember the times when we jumped teams with better conference records than us because the bowl knew we would travel far better? I kind of like this and selfishly don't want to give it up!
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Oculus Spirit [83119]
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That happened a lot between 1995 and 2002. We went to
Dec 18, 2014, 10:02 AM
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a lot of bowls we didn't deserve and that's why we lost most of them during these years.
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Letterman [261]
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Re: Clemson travels well...well...
Dec 18, 2014, 9:49 AM
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I think a good start would be to limit the number of bowls. Think there is 37 now. I'd like to see only 15-20. Or heck even less. Put the reward back in bowl bids.
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Legend [16032]
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Agreed. In 1981, there were 16 bowl games TOTAL. You...
Dec 18, 2014, 10:25 PM
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...may recall the Orange Bowl, played on 1/1/82. Waaayyyy too many bowls now.
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Oculus Spirit [83119]
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I'm kind of the opposite and have only attended 2 Clemson
Dec 18, 2014, 9:58 AM
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bowl games, the 1977 Gator Bowl against Pitt and last year's Orange Bowl.
I don't see the appeal of going to some bowl games with a crappy atmosphere and half empty stadiums. I'd much rather watch on TV with family and friends. I think the atmosphere of the regular season games, especially the home games beats the helll out of any bowl.
In addition, the four team playoff is the most exciting thing to happen in sports in a long time, imo. I don't pay a lot of attention to the NFL until there are 4 teams left but the NFC and AFC championships beat the helll out of any college bowl system until this year. Now the college system is just as good.
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Legend [16797]
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Re: I'm kind of the opposite and have only attended 2 Clemson
Dec 18, 2014, 10:15 AM
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Personally, expanding the play-offs to eight teams helps the bowl situation, by including a couple more that are sitting 'idle', capacity/interest-wise. Also, doing so would force a couple of bowls to disappear, most likely, because three bowls (six slots) would come from the original eight. Thus, the four first-round games would be very attractive versus, at present, there are four bowls that, while attractive pairing-wise, don't mean much. That would change.
I'm not sure there's value in a 16-team play-off, but it would improve bowl economics...at least in theory...and the 6-6 and 7-5 participants would be virtually eliminated from the mix in the overall 'bowl season'. My two cents...
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