[Farm93]

Before the bowl schedule was announced, I asked a Stanford player which bowl he wanted. He said that he and his buddies were hoping for the Las Vegas Bowl, largely because it was played a week before Christmas.

Believable preference.

I continue to suspect that if programs (coaches & players) were given an option to have as many practices as the bowl bound teams between December and February even if they didn't attend a bowl game, many would take the bowl-free option.  Since most schools lose money going to the lower tier bowls, I wouldn't be shocked if most administrations would quickly take the bowl-free path too.

Almost wish the NCAA would give that a try for a year or two.  At a minimum it would thin out the bowl herd a bit as the risk of getting rejected by multiple programs might scare away some of these towns looking for a cheap way to boost tourism.

[Farm93]

Before the bowl schedule was announced, I asked a Stanford player which bowl he wanted. He said that he and his buddies were hoping for the Las Vegas Bowl, largely because it was played a week before Christmas.

Believable preference.

I continue to suspect that if programs (coaches & players) were given an option to have as many practices as the bowl bound teams between December and February even if they didn't attend a bowl game, many would take the bowl-free option.  Since most schools lose money going to the lower tier bowls, I wouldn't be shocked if most administrations would quickly take the bowl-free path too.

Almost wish the NCAA would give that a try for a year or two.  At a minimum it would thin out the bowl herd a bit as the risk of getting rejected by multiple programs might scare away some of these towns looking for a cheap way to boost tourism.