2022 Bowl Season Produced Fireworks, but the Future of Bowls is Uncertain

Bowl season was outstanding. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

There has been hand-wringing from critics across the country, from national pundits to even our own Freddie Maggard. Opt-outs, the transfer portal and coaching carousel left many college football fans jaded this bowl season. “The bowl games don’t mean as much.” This generalization may apply to some teams in certain situations, but all-in-all, the 2022 bowl season produced excellent football games more times than not.

More than 50% of the games in the 2022 bowl season were one-score games. As expected, the best were saved for last. In the tier-two bowl games primarily played between Power Five programs between Christmas and New Year’s, 60% of the contests were decided in the final four minutes. A few of the most entertaining games, excluding the thrilling CFB Playoff semifinals:

• Oregon erased a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to North Carolina and doinked in the go-ahead PAT with :19 remaining.
• Ohio threw a game-winning touchdown pass to beat Wyoming in overtime.
• Kansas rallied from 25 points down in the third quarter, only to fall to Arkansas in three overtimes. It was one of three bowl games decided by a two-point conversion.
• Notre Dame threw a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:38 left to cap off a 12-play scoring drive and defeat South Carolina 45-38. The Irish did not lead until the fourth quarter.
• UCLA retook the lead with :34 left, but lost to Pitt on a 47-yard field goal 30 seconds later.
• Tulane trailed USC by 15 with 4:30 left in the Cotton Bowl and won.

Bowl season is far from perfect. There were plenty of ugly, uninteresting blowouts, and the BBN watched one in the Music City Bowl. A few blowouts should not prevent you from enjoying the beautiful madness that is bowl season, one that could soon change for the better.

Potential Changes and Improvements to Bowl Season

Bowl season isn’t going anywhere. According to the AP, only two of the 39 bowl games that aired on ESPN drew less than 1 million viewers. There’s too much money to be made by all parties involved to shrink the bowl season, however, the CFB Playoff’s expansion is forcing it to change.

In the 2024-25 season the CFB playoff will expand to 12 teams, with first round games starting in mid-December, typically the first week of bowl season. Bowl games will have to alter their schedule to avoid conflicts with the Playoff in order to preserve their status as ratings giants.

Furthermore, they can use all of the money they’re making to ensure these games are meaningful, thanks to NIL. This year the Cheez-It struck Name, Image and Likeness deals with four players ahead of their two Orlando bowl games. Bowl game sponsors can use NIL deals as incentives for players to participate. They may not be lucrative enough for Will Levis to risk his first round NFL Draft status, but maybe they have enough money to convince Chris Rodriguez to play one more college football game. Who needs a bunch of useless gifts when you could just earn cold, hard cash?

While it’s still in the infant stages, NIL deals with star players can reverse the opt-out trend that’s forced many college football traditionalists to opt-out of watching “meaningless” postseason football. Bowl season is changing and it should create more quality college football games in December.