Are There Too Many Bowl Games?

70 teams go in to the post season, 35 come out victorious. Using simple math, we can deduce that over a quarter of the total FBS teams come out a "winner" when the bowl season finally comes to an end. But are they the ones winning, or is it someone (or something) else?

College football has the greatest regular season in all of sport (except many soccer leagues around the world, because most have no playoffs, too). Many argue that the sheer number of teams who make the post season in college football is absurd. There are too many teams playing in the post season.

However, these kids put in the same effort as their rivals. They practice just as hard: sacrifice just as much. Yet many people want to take this moment away from these dedicated young men. No one is awarding them with a national championship, only one team earns that. No one gives them a gold star and tells them that they did a good job. These kids are awarded with playing one more game; one more game of the sport that they love.

Yes, on paper Northern Illinois vs. Utah State looks like an unbearable game to watch. Is anyone really interested in Middle Tennessee State against Navy? I'm sure most people aren't setting the DVR for the Rice vs. Mississippi State game. But there's no reason to take this opportunity away from these kids (I'll keep emphasizing the word "kids" until we all understand that that's what they still are). An opportunity to give them a chance to play a team that they normally would never play; an opportunity to get on national television and play in front of millions of people.

You don't have to watch the games (you don't have to watch any games for that matter), but when you decide not to, just run this hypothetical situation through your mind: you're a senior at (Insert Name Here) University. Your team only won 7 games this season and didn't come close to winning your conference. Remembering spring practices and how brutal the workouts were, you then begin to think, "It sure would be nice to play just one more game." Maybe you didn't give it your all during the last game of the regular season, maybe you didn't play your best game. By going to a bowl game, you get a chance at redemption; a chance at playing one last game of the sport you love.

And besides, if there weren't this many bowl games, what else are you going to watch in December/January when basketball isn't on?