excerpt:
... There was no way of knowing which bowls would be played, much less trying to predict who would go where.
All that changed last week, however, when the Pac-12, Mountain West and MAC announced their returns (on the heels of the Big Ten), and the NCAA Football Oversight Committee officially signed off on waiving bowl eligibility requirements for this year.
So, does that mean all 41 scheduled bowls be played this season?
“Absolutely,” Football Bowl Association Executive Director Nick Carparelli said Monday. “With all the conferences playing, (the NCAA waiver) is not necessarily to ensure enough teams are available, but just to ensure the conferences can fulfill their agreements without having to worry about which teams are .500 or better.”
And let me tell you something: Having now gone through this exercise for the first time this year, there will be some well-below .500 teams participating. In fact, the SEC and ACC, depending on how many New Year’s Six berths they receive, could send nearly their entire leagues to bowl games. I have 13 SEC teams, and one of the matchups I projected would pit 4-7 Florida State against 2-8 Vanderbilt. I’m not kidding.....
theathletic.com
... There was no way of knowing which bowls would be played, much less trying to predict who would go where.
All that changed last week, however, when the Pac-12, Mountain West and MAC announced their returns (on the heels of the Big Ten), and the NCAA Football Oversight Committee officially signed off on waiving bowl eligibility requirements for this year.
So, does that mean all 41 scheduled bowls be played this season?
“Absolutely,” Football Bowl Association Executive Director Nick Carparelli said Monday. “With all the conferences playing, (the NCAA waiver) is not necessarily to ensure enough teams are available, but just to ensure the conferences can fulfill their agreements without having to worry about which teams are .500 or better.”
And let me tell you something: Having now gone through this exercise for the first time this year, there will be some well-below .500 teams participating. In fact, the SEC and ACC, depending on how many New Year’s Six berths they receive, could send nearly their entire leagues to bowl games. I have 13 SEC teams, and one of the matchups I projected would pit 4-7 Florida State against 2-8 Vanderbilt. I’m not kidding.....
Mandel: All 41 bowl games are back on, so here are my first projections
This college football bowl season may bear no resemblance to any other, but rest assured there will be a bowl season.
theathletic.com
