Rating The Bowls

The division formerly known as 1-A has a quirky and antiquated post-season system, driven by tourist dollars, guys in loud-colored blazers, TV executives, and commissioners of power conferences. There has, in recent years, appeared a preponderance of bowl games. This year, there are 32 bowl games, including the BCS national championship game. As I've watched parts of them, I've often wondered: What's the use of all this? Wouldn't these cities be better off bidding on playoff games?

Before I go any further, I will make the following statement: As long as the bowl system is in place, any city/chamber of commerce/corporation/conference that can come up with the NCAA minimum of $750,000 per team should be allowed to have a bowl. If the folks in Shawnee, Oklahoma want to have a bowl game in Jim Thorpe Stadium (built in the WPA era, capacity 5,000), and they can come up with $1.5 million to pull it off, then more power to them. That's a bit extreme, but anyone that can do it should be able to have a bowl game in their city. With that being said, I have developed a rating system for bowls.

I rank bowls based on: payout, conference tie-in (prestige of conference and bowl's place in picking order), TV contract (network and time of game), location/stadium, and tradition. A newer, lower-paying bowl will obviously be rated much lower than bowls such as the Rose, Sugar and Orange. Each bowl will have a rating based on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best.

I will rank the bowls for which I have already picked winners. I will also have bowl ratings with future installments of bowl picks.

Why rank bowls? To have fun with the warped system that we have. Each of these cities have their fine points, and some are better places to live than others. However, some bowls do nothing more than fill some hotel rooms and fill TV time.

Here are the ratings for bowls to date:

Poinsettia: San Diego is a great place, to which I have never been. From what I've heard, Qualcomm Stadium is beginning to fall apart, and the Chargers want a new stadium. This is a new bowl, the lower-paying of the two San Diego bowls, but a needed bowl for the Mountain West conference. They also have a deal for Navy to appear periodically. If there is a place that can handle two bowls, it's San Diego. Rating: 2.2
Las Vegas: Folks usually don't go to Vegas to catch college football. But, it's a nice diversion for traveling fans. This is the home of the Mountain West champion. The stadium is a little old, and is way off the Strip, in Henderson. Being close to Utah & BYU, it works for the Mountain West. Rating: 2.6
New Orleans: This bowl was created for the champion of the Sun Belt Conference. Conference USA provides a middle-rung team as the opponent. The Sun Belt has won this game twice in six years, but it gives their conference to shoot for. The Superdome is usually about a third full for this one. As long as the Sun Belt would rather aim for this game instead of the 1-AA playoffs, this game is fine. New Orleans doesn't need another bowl, but the Sun Belt does. Rating: 2
Papajohns.com: Birmingham got back into the bowl business this year. Legion Field, formerly known as the Football Capital of the South, is falling apart. Birmingham has hosted two other bowls: the Hall of Fame Bowl, and the All-American Bowl. They love football there, but there's a big difference between Alabama-Auburn and a couple of also-rans from the Big East and Conference USA. This is like having a bowl in Oklahoma City. A great place to live, but a questionable place for a bowl. Rating: 1.2
New Mexico: A brand new bowl, designed to give the Mountain West another bowl, and to promote the state of New Mexico. This year's title sponsor is the New Mexico Tourism Department. If it works for them, more power to them. Ultimately, though, another case of good place to live, questionable bowl destination. The MWC vs. WAC matchup isn't a lot to write home about, either. However, San Jose State enjoyed Albuquerque last week, a lot. Rating: 1.6
Armed Forces: Formerly known as the Fort Worth Bowl, this is played at TCU's aging Amon Carter Stadium. Fort Worth is a great place to live, and is underrated as a tourist attraction. However, the weather can be iffy, the MWC-CUSA matchup isn't the greatest, and one can only spend so much time in the Stockyards. This bowl has overcome it's birth pains, though, and is on the way to success. Rating: 1.6
Hawaii: This game was organized to give the University of Hawaii a place to go when bowl eligible. It is a roaring success when the Warriors are in it. It's also entertainment for Christmas Eve. Hawaii is always a good place to go, but you don't want to mess with the Warriors if you have to play them there. Rating: 2.4
Motor City: This bowl was created for the MAC champion. The bowl benefited from the construction of Ford Field, giving it a first-class venue. Problem is, outside the stadium, you're in Detroit in December. Brrr. Rating: 1.4
Emerald: San Francisco, with all its quirks, is a tourist attraction. This game is played in a baseball park, gets a low pick from the Pac 10 and ACC, and is a candidate for cold weather. However, they hit a home run this year with Florida State and UCLA. Rating: 2.4
Independence: You could say that if Shreveport can pull a bowl off, anyone can. This bowl was in Shreveport long before casinos were. They've struggled with sponsor names (Weed Eater), snow (the 1999 freak snow storm game between Mississippi State and Texas A&M), and the various other issues that a mid-tier bowl faces. Still, they press on. This is the little bowl that could. The Big XII and SEC like it. Rating: 1.8
Texas: This is the latest incarnation of the Houston Bowl, formerly known as the galleryfurniture.com bowl. The Houston Bowl needed help, as TCU and Iowa State have still not received total payment from last year's game. So, enter the Big XII, the Houston Texans, and the NFL Network. Those entities saved and restructured the game, believing that Houston was too large a city and Reliant too nice a stadium to not have a bowl game. Good luck. Rating: 1.6
Holiday: Easily the best of the pre-New Year's bowls. San Diego is a great place, and this bowl gets the second pick from the Pac 10 and the third pick from the Big XII. This has been a great game for just about all of its 30-year history, including several barnburners as home of the WAC champion. The only things this bowl doesn't have are a New Year's Day date, and a new Chargers stadium. Rating: 3.6

More bowl ratings to come, along with more bowl picks..