In the recent years, the proliferation of college bowl games. The 2024 season saw 68 bowl Games (47 games at D-1 level. Now…do YOU really think that there are 94 “really good” D-1 football teams that earned a post-season bowl? This includes the 4 first-round games, 4 quarterfinals, 2 semifinals, and the national championship game as part of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP) format. I believe that as the NCAA expands their football tournament  they’ll go to 16 teams shortly and looking deep down the road—maybe even to 24 teams. There really aren’t even 16 teams that have a chance at winning the NCAA Title through the Bowl games. But, money will, as it always does, drive that idea. The other Bowl games will become less & less important to the schools & audience.   

…The origination of the Each Bowl tells you something about its importance.  For a long, long time the 4 major Bowls were the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl & Cotton Bowl. The Rose Bowl started in 1902 (became annual in 1916)—still @ it’s founding place-Pasadena, California. The Orange Bowl & Sugar Bowl, each began in 1935. The Orange bowl in Miami & Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Justs 2 years later, in 1937 the Cotton Bowl began in Arlington, Texas. Since that time, the money from television has carried many, many more Bowl games to our TV screen. There are now 47 D-1 Bowl games!! I can name about 10 of them…how about you?

….It’s sometimes useful to look @ each entire conference as a whole instead of just 1 of the teams for bowl results.  The SEC had teams in 14 bowl games and finished with 8 wins, 6 losses. With all the hoopla we are fed by the SEC on their athletic superiority, the 2024 Bowls game mixed results.

 …Looking at the 2024 Bowls with Bowling rankings— STRIKES (A GOOD BOWL), SPARES (ok But not really SUPER), GUTTER (terrible game).

…the good (but not great) Missouri 27-24 win over Iowa (another good but not great team)was the lone SEC win over a Big 10 team. It was a STRIKE! Good competitive game from start to finish! Two good teams from SEC & Big 10 (best 2 conferences). I don’t think that my “homer” judgement pushed me too far here! I did admire the emotional control of the Hawkeyes players. I’m not a fan of the players who jump around, finger point, raise both hands, mouth off to the other team, etc to bring attention to themselves after making a good play. I see that with most all SEC schools (including Mizzou). Iowa had absolutely NONE of that stuff.

…For those of you who have not been following the NCAA Football Tournament with 12 teams this year, this is for you! All four teams seeded #1, #2, #3, and #4 have all LOST already! Say bye-bye to #1 Oregon, #2 Georgia, #3 Boise State (I really can’t see how this team was voted the 3rd best in the NCAA season!!) #4 Arizona State (another surprise for me!!) Now…looking closer @ the Bowls.

… Florida crunched Tulane 33-8. Tulane came out of the American Conference. The American Conference is NOT one of the major football conferences. It includes—Houston, E.Carolina, S. Florida, Memphis, Tulsa, UCF, Cincinnati, SMU. It was a bad matchup–This was a GUTTER BALL!

…in a College Football Playoff (CFP) game, Texas jumped way ahead early on Clemson and it looked like a bad mismatch. The Longhorns led by 18 points at halftime 28-10. But Clemson’s QB Quinn Ewers threw for 202 YDS, 1 TD & 1 INT in the 2^nd half to provide some excitement. The Texas combo @ running backs–Jaydon Blue and Quintrevion Wisner, each  ran for over 100 YDS and 2 TDs. Final Score of 38-24 with Texas on top was a SPARE!  Some good plays on each team but really NOT a CLOSE game. It saw each side having its own moments.  SPARE-some good moments but not enough!

…The Biggest STRIKE of the Bowl System was the Notre Dame upset win over Georgia. ND controlled the line of scrimmage. The Irish completely shut down Georgia’s running game, forced a key fumble in the 2^nd quarter that led to a touchdown. The Fighting Irish stopped Georgia on fourth down on 3 times!. ND QB Riley Leonard was his usual efficient-but-not-explosive self. He made it look easy…he made it appear that anyone could have been the QB. Of course, real stars ALWAYS make it look easy! Georgia did seem to have more speed more ND on both sides of the ball but ND kept their good “tackling angles” , strong play in off & def lines to limit the gains and recovered 3 fumbles!

….Big 10 Ohio State crushed SEC Tennessee 42-17. GUTTER BALL. One-sided from start to finish.

…A shocker to me was Navy sinking Oklahoma 21-20. Like most of you, I didn’t have a clue that Navy notched its 11^th win of the year! Finishing at 11-3. Usually, the only time that I see Navy play is in the annual Army-Navy game. But…I missed it this year!! On the Other side of the ball, OU’s baptism into the SEC was a rough one. Their final record was 6-7 with a  2-6 mark in the SEC! Always known for their “running game, OU’s  rushing leader was Jovantee Barnes with a scant 577 yards (64 yds/game) for the season! STRIKE!!

…Vanderbilt knocked off Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl 35-27! It was the 1^st Bowl win for Vandy in 11 years!! Vandy led by a comfortable 35-13 lead with 9:59 left in the game. Tech kept fighting and scored 2 touchdowns in the final 5:03 of the game. STRIKE!  It was a huge 1^st year for Head coach Clark Lea as he completely overhauled the Vandy program in the offseason. He brought instant results in 2024. They were ranked for the 1^st time since 2013! One of those six victories also came against the Alabama Crimson Tide, who were ranked No. 1 at the time and lost to Vanderbilt for the first time in 40 years!! STRIKE

….Arkansas-Texas Tech was a back-forth game.  The Razorbacks led 21-3 after the 1^st quarter. Texas Tech seemed in charge in the 2^nd quarter and sliced the lead to 24-19 by halftime. Arkansas controlled the 3^rd quarter by outscoring Tech 10-0 in that 3^rd period.  This game was a SPARE.  Momentum switching back & forth in the first 3 quarters but the 4^th quarter didn’t see much real excitement.    

…in Las Vegas, So Cal overcame a 17 point deficit to upend Texas A&M 35-31. The Trojans took control in the 4^th quarter as they outscored the Aggies 21-7 in that final quarter. USC is on the way to continuing their long-time ability to have star running backs @ tailback. Bryan Jackson led the team with 16 carries for 66 yards and 1 TD in the 35-31 win versus Texas A&M. The true freshman set a personal record for in all rushing categories. Jackson rushed for 188 yards and a touchdown on 36 carries. He’ll look for more playing time as he continues to mature as a collegiate running back. This game was a STRIKE!

…..in a battle of two really “big name” football schools, Michigan upended Alabama 19-13 in the Reliaquest Bowl. 1^st year head Coach @ Michigan, Sherrone Moore, enjoyed his biggest win of the season. The Wolverines came on strong as 2024 season unfolded. It’s the 2^nd consecutive year that Alabama lost to Michigan in a season-ending bowl game.  Of course, last year in was in the National championship game. Bama is still good but….apparently Nick Saban DID make a difference. Kalen DeBoer’s 9-4 record was the lowest number of wins @ Bama since 2007 when Nick Saban in his 1st year @ Bama when he posted a 7-6 record. Remember….this IS the professional team of the State. STRIKE

…Mississippi romped over Duke 52-20.  Clearly a GUTTER BALL! From my angle, the ACC just isn’t the same caliber of league as Big 10 (or the Big 20 or whatever it is) and the SEC.

….Some observers are calling this game the best of the year–Texas/Arizona State was really a game of huge momentum swaying back & forth. I watched the 1^st half, it was ALL Texas as their 17-3 didn’t reflect how dominant they were on the field. I was really surprised a couple hours later, while watching another game, that Arizona State had “come back” to make it a real game. Arizona State scored the last 16 points (yes…2 TD AND 2 Extra point conversions to tie the game@ 24-24). In the 1^st Overtime, each team scored a Touchdown and kicked an extra point to make it 31-31. In the 2^nd OT, Texas scored a TD on a pass from QB Gunner (you could only use that name in the South 😊) Helm.  Az State was unable to score. SUPER game—best STRIKE of the Day!

….Let me catch you up with the 1^st NCAA Football tournament. 1^st round games– #8 Ohio State beat #9Tennessee42-17; #5 Texas crushed #12 Clemson 38-24; #7 Notre Dame beat #10 Indiana 27-17; #6 Penn State walked over #3 Boise State 38-10  How did Boise State get ranked #3 is my question!!!

Quarterfinals-2^nd round—#8 Ohio State avenged their earlier loss to #1 Oregon as they rambled to a 41-21 win. #5 Texas went 2 OT to outlast #4 Arizona State 39-31. #7 Notre Dame beat #2 Georgia  23-10. #6 Penn State walked over #3 Boise State.

…btw..in 3 of the 4 semifinal games, over 100,000 fans were in attendance! You don’t think that it’s by chance that these huge stadiums were chosen by the NCAA, do you? The cheapest ticket that I could find was $329…prices reached over $1000 @ some games!!

….Sooooo…here’s the semifinals coming up this week—Ohio State vs Texas & Notre Dame vs Penn State. Looks like 2 good games this weekend!! No real surprises here. Wonder…will it work out every year (like it did this 1^st year) of being 4 long-time power house programs in the Final 4? Have a super week and send me some of YOUR thoughts about GOING BOWLING with Strikes, Spares, Gutter Balls.