I was listening to some random sports radio show a few minutes ago, and the hosts had an interesting discussion about "We all know most programs are grateful to make any bowl, but what makes a bowl game suck?" (as in one that P5 teams hope not to get stuck with?). In case anyone didn't notice, there are a sh*tload of bowl games, so it's a valid question.

They claim to have asked a bunch of players and coaches about this. They came up with a few key things that were mentioned repeatedly, then mapped them against the recently-announced bowl lineup.

Their "findings":
(1) Too early. (the 6 bowls on Sat 12/15 are the worst, but there are 9 others before Christmas)
(2) Bowl seems like a joke. NOTE: This is not just a function of the bowl's name. Cheez-It is fine, but the New Mexico Bowl, Jared Birmingham Bowl, AutoNation Cure Bowl, etc. are not)
(3) Destination sucks (Albuquerque, Boise, the 3 Alabama bowls, Detroit, Shreveport)
(4) Matchup against a non-P5 opponent

We did fine, mainly by dodging the Vegas Bowl (and the awkward meetup with Tedford and FSU).

Since the matchup announcement, Wilcox has already reviewed 27 hours of TCU tape. Guy never sleeps and is a Timelord. #prepare

>(2) Bowl seems like a joke. NOTE: This is not just a function of the bowl's name. Cheez-It is fine, but the New Mexico Bowl, Jared Birmingham Bowl, AutoNation Cure Bowl, etc. are not)

Don't forget the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl.

Cal84 said:

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>(2) Bowl seems like a joke. NOTE: This is not just a function of the bowl's name. Cheez-It is fine, but the New Mexico Bowl, Jared Birmingham Bowl, AutoNation Cure Bowl, etc. are not)

Don't forget the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl.

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That name conjures up some pretty strange images.

Well, don't forget the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl.

("Makers Wanted" is not a company or organization, but the slogan of an office park in Elk Grove Village, IL near O'Hare airport.)