The rest of the bowls

I think most can agree there are too many bowl games. I'm sure several of them are struggling financially. But I think they have a place in college football; their history can't be ignored, and for a large number of programs, they're legitimate goals and rewards. It was huge for Vanderbilt in 2008, regardless of what game they went to. I can still remember the excitement and importance of my beloved K-State's first bowl win (and only 2nd appearance!) in 1993, and it was the springboard to a very, very good 10-year run of football.

Anyway, there's room for the bowls in my proposal, but some had to go. I have 22 bowl games -- that seems about right. I just took a random shot to guesstimate which ones should stay and which ones should go. Mostly, the newer ones, or the ones taking 8th- or 9th-place teams from leagues got the axe. In reality, negotiation and economics would drive which games stay and which games go, but these were my suggestions to eliminate: Texas Bowl, Motor City Bowl, GMAC Bowl, EagleBank Bowl, International Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, New Orleans Bowl.

Again, for the sake of consistency and equity, only the top 6 teams from each 1st-tier conference go to a bowl (isn't that enough?), and only the champion of the 2nd-tier conferences go. The 2nd place teams already played promotion playoff games, so in reality, the top 2 teams in each 2nd-tier league play in the post-season. That's about enough.

I tried to keep conference affiliations and prestige in mind. I had to put a random conference in a few places, but for the most part, the affiliations stayed true to what's in place today. And no more of 2nd place team from league X plays 6th place team from league Y -- a team will play a team from a different conference who finished in the same place. In my opinion, this would lead to some pretty good ballgames. Scheduling would be similar to today -- whatever best works for travel and TV is good to me.

The non-playoff bowl games

• Holiday: PAC 10 #3 vs. Big 12 #3
• Gator: ACC #3 vs. Big East #3
• Outback: Big 10 #3 vs. SEC #3
• Sun: PAC10 #4 vs. Big East #4
• Alamo: Big 12 #4 vs. Big 10 #4
• Champs Sports: ACC #4 vs. SEC #4
• Music City: ACC #5 vs. SEC #5
• Insight: Big East #5 vs. Big 12 #5
• Las Vegas: PAC10 #5 vs. Big 10 #5
• Independence: Big 12 #6 vs. SEC #6
• Meineke Car Care: Big East #6 vs. Big 10 #6
• Emerald: PAC10 #6 vs. ACC #6
• Liberty: Conf. USA #1 vs. Metro #1
• PapaJohns.com: Sun Belt #1 vs. MAC #1
• Hawaii: WAC #1 vs. Mtn. West #1