How Did College Football Bowls Enter the Game?

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The 2018 NCAA Football Bowl Season is here!

You might have heard a thing or two about college bowl games, but since youre reading this article, youre no doubt wondering what in fact they are.Bowl games are a series of postseason exhibition games for the NCAA football league.Theres quite a bit more to it, so lets break it down.

College Football Bowl Games Are Here To Stay

For most of its history, the Division I Bowl subdivision had no playoff tournament to determine a champion. Sportswriters and other non-players would determine the champions by means of a vote. There was no true postseason - this was the situation decades before the NCAA was formed in 1906. In the 1970s, cities throughout the U.S. decided to host their own post-season exhibition games and regional festivals - the bowl games - which would count towards national titles. In 1998, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) came to fruition. The NCAA has virtually no affiliation with the BCS postseason, but they still handle paperwork for team/player eligibility. In fact, before 2002, statistics from these games werent included in players career totals. The BCS has been heavily criticized because it placed votes and polls over actual numbers and performances to rank teams. Case in point, Utah finished their 2008 season with an undefeated record, but because its conference was considered less competitive, it was at a disadvantage in the BCS. Even President Obama expressed his dissatisfaction with the postseason, saying: We need a playoff.In 2014, the College Football Playoff was rolled out (which is owned by the National Football Subdivision and Notre, not the NCAA) - a four-team seeded postseason format that finally replaced the Bowl Championship Series.The semifinal games of the College Football Playoff rotate between six bowl games - (Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls) - known as the New Years Six. Despite the implementation of the College Football Playoff, cities around the country continue to hold Bowl games because of the economic opportunities around them.Not only are they advantageous to schools themselves, but billion-dollar companies such as Disney also profit from them. Media giants such as ABC and ESPN broadcast them, which means more revenue. So money really is a factor.

How Many Bowl Games Are There?

There are 40 Bowl Games in total. That number was once 41, but the Poinsettia Bowl is a now-defunct post-season game, with its last appearance occurring in 2016. That leaves us with the 40 Bowls still in operation.

The 40 College Bowls

1. Rose Bowl
2. Belk Bowl
3. Armed Forces Bowl
4. Alamo Bowl
5. Peach Bowl
6. Birmingham Bowl
7. TaxSlayer Bowl
8. Arizona Bowl
9. Redbox Bowl
10. Citrus Bowl
11. Outback Bowl
12. Pinstripe Bowl
13. Liberty Bowl
14. Orange Bowl
15. Music City Bowl
16. Hawaii Bowl
17. Fiesta Bowl
18. Camping World Bowl
19. New Mexico Bowl
20. Texas Bowl
21. Sugar Bowl
22. Camellia Bowl
23. Cure Bowl
24. Cheez-It Bowl (formerly known as the Cactus Bowl)
25. Sun Bowl
26. First Responder Bowl (formerly known as the Heart of Dallas Bowl)
27. Las Vegas Bowl
28. Potato Bowl
29. Holiday Bowl
30. Cotton Bowl
31. Quick Lane Bowl
32. New Orleans Bowl
33. Independence Bowl
34. Gasparilla Bowl
35. Bahamas Bowl
36. Frisco Bowl
37. Military Bowl
38. Dollar General Bowl
39. Boca Raton Bowl
40. Celebration Bowl

Quick Facts On College Bowl Games

• For teams to make it to the bowl games, they must have a .500+ record (minimum of six wins).
• Bowl organizers and teams pick bowl matchups.
• Bowl announcements happen spontaneously throughout December/Sunday after the conference championship weekend.
• Bowl seeds arent based on NCAA records.
• There are payouts for bowl games, usually in the six or seven-figure payment range.
• But this money doesnt go the to the players (they are paid handsomely in swag, however, such as Best Buy gift cards, apparel, and other non-monetary currency).
• Players sometimes skip bowl games for reasons such as injuries or NFL opportunities.

College Bowls - Dished Out & Explained

Yes, the college bowl games can be pretty confusing. Theyre often criticized and ridiculed for their seemingly insignificant role in college football rankings and for establishing NCAA records.But theyve become a staple of college football culture.The bowls are an opportunity for teams to strut their prowess on the field and for players to expose themselves to greater opportunities. The bowls also give fans and schools a chance to celebrate their teams on a more glorified stage than what the regular season provides.In this sense, bowl games are more symbolic than they are functional - and in the grand scheme of things, theres nothing wrong with that.Get your NCAA Football Bowl Tickets at Fanxchange and enjoy watching some of the future NFL stars live.