Richard Hyatt: Playoff makes many bowls meaningless

There was a time when anxious college football fans sat on the edge of their seats waiting to see which holiday bowl would invite their favorite team.

Such celebrations are no more. Unless your school is one of the elite four competing for the national championship, the idea that it is one of 78 teams playing in a bowl game means very little -- especially if they're playing in garden spots such as Shreveport, La., Detroit, Birmingham, Ala., Charlotte, N.C., or Montgomery, Ala.

Having 39 bowl games is outrageous, and the need will diminish even more as the fight for the finals intensifies.

Should the number of finalists increase to eight teams, dreams of playing in the Duck Commander Independence Bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl the Belk Bowl or the Foster Farms Bowl will go away all together.

It's time for the NCAA to quit listening to television's plea for sports programming and eliminate at least half of these post-season games. Make it an honor once again for teams to be invited, and make it exciting for fans to be in the stands cheering for them.

The Rose Bowl, matching Oregon and Florida State, is the site of the first playoff semifinal at 5 p.m. on New Year's Day, followed by the Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Ohio State at 8:30 p.m.

If you think the earlier bowls are overlooked, six of them come after the playoffs. Talk about a letdown. They'll play while the hype is building for the championship game on Jan. 12.

Hoping to keep players engaged, bowl committees continue to offer legal bribes.

The price tag for these gifts is $5.4 million, according to SportsBusiness Daily Journal -- an increase of 11 percent from 2013-14.

Some sponsors turn athletes loose in gift suites where they can select up to $550 in merchandise, though schools and conferences are allowed to bump that amount up another $800.

Here's the loot for area schools:

At the Sugar Bowl, Alabama players will get to shop and will also receive a Fossil watch and a New Era cap.

At the Outback Bowl, Auburn won't go shopping but players will get a $150 Best Buy gift card, a gift card for Outback and a Jostens ring.

At the Orange Bowl, Georgia Tech players will visit a gift suite and receive a Tourneau watch.

At the Belk Bowl, Georgia players will get a shopping trip to a Belk's Department Store and a Fossil watch.

You'll want to clear your schedule for Dec. 20. That's when the fun begins.

Five bowls will be decided with kickoff times ranging from 11 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. It should be an inspiring day of football.

Unfortunately, viewers aren't eligible for gift suites.

-- Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906@knology.net.

This story was originally published December 9, 2014 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Playoff makes many bowls meaningless."