The BIG in Bowls

ColoradoHusk said:
Why is it a shame that these players are sitting out? You just said that all of these guys would most likely get drafted. Why should they play in a meaningless bowl game when an injury could cost these guys a lot of money. These guys are entering their peak earning years, why even risk it. 
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I’m not going to question a player’s choice that they have the authority to make and has zero effect on my life.  But I also think at some point schools and/or conferences are going to have to address it.  At what point does it become a player not “honoring” his scholarship? Should a sure fire first rounder stop playing with 1 regular season game left because his team has been eliminated from a conference championship? How about 4? I dislike the term “slippery slope”, but....

 
funhusker said:
I’m not going to question a player’s choice that they have the authority to make and has zero effect on my life.  But I also think at some point schools and/or conferences are going to have to address it.  At what point does it become a player not “honoring” his scholarship? Should a sure fire first rounder stop playing with 1 regular season game left because his team has been eliminated from a conference championship? How about 4? I dislike the term “slippery slope”, but....
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And those are fair comments. Nick Bosa basically quit Ohio State this year after getting injured and he decided to focus on getting healthy and prepare for the NFL. I think this will be more of the exception rather than the rule, but my guess is that it will happen more often in future years. It sucks for college football, but I get why it happens. 

 
ColoradoHusk said:
And those are fair comments. Nick Bosa basically quit Ohio State this year after getting injured and he decided to focus on getting healthy and prepare for the NFL. I think this will be more of the exception rather than the rule, but my guess is that it will happen more often in future years. It sucks for college football, but I get why it happens. 
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Agree. I get why it happens, and if I were fortunate enough to be in a situation like that I’d think long and hard about it too.   But I also can see why fans are upset.  It probably isn’t a big enough issue yet to cause a s#!tstorm over though.

 
When a team has 85 players on scholarship, they should always be able to field a team with or without "stars". It does suck, but if you're a fan that subscribes to "college football is a business", it shouldn't bother you that much. I still consider consider college football an extra-curricular activity, but I understand that for many (too many?) of the players, probably getting drafted in first three rounds, school is actually the extra-curricular activity. 

 
Many ways to spin the bowl results, but one I think is close to fact: Pac12 has really fallen off the map. They really need to re-invent themselves or they risk being thought of as more of a G5. USC can't singularly save that conference. Perhaps UO will rise up next season with Herbert.

 
hskrpwr13 said:
Many ways to spin the bowl results, but one I think is close to fact: Pac12 has really fallen off the map. They really need to re-invent themselves or they risk being thought of as more of a G5. USC can't singularly save that conference. Perhaps UO will rise up next season with Herbert.
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Larry Scott is a disaster of a commissioner. I feel bad for Pac-12 fans that they're stuck with such a lame duck, sightless moron running their conference.

 
If your going to take the business aspect of this, then consider the colleges who spend several thousand dollars on these players in scholarship money, ticket sales, and bowl money for schools and conferences.  So if you can play for your school, your scholarship, and for your teammates, I think you should.  Bottom line is these bowl games now are stupid for most all who participate unless your in a major bowl, with major tradition.  

For the record, wrong board, but our basketball coach can't win with this roster on the road, won't ever win on the road after this season.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
Why is it a shame that these players are sitting out? You just said that all of these guys would most likely get drafted. Why should they play in a meaningless bowl game when an injury could cost these guys a lot of money. These guys are entering their peak earning years, why even risk it. 
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Football is a team sport. Do not let your teammates down for selfish reasons.

 
MichiganDad3 said:
Football is a team sport. Do not let your teammates down for selfish reasons.
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You may think the guys sitting out are letting their teammates down, but most teammates agree with a player’s decision to not play in a meaningless bowl game to protect themselves for the NFL Draft. Not every player is in a position to make a lot of $ in the NFL, so their teammates understand it when a guy decides to not play in a bowl game to protect himself.

 
A lot of posters are calling bowl games “meaningless.” I’m just curious as to why you think they are more meaningless than any other non-championship game?  I get that if you’re in the hunt for making your conference title game then your games become more meaningful.  Or maybe your team is a potential playoff contender so you must win all games. However, non-conference games have no bearing on that. Aren’t they also “meaningless “ and therefore should be skipped by good players for fear of getting injured?  In other words, if your team loses more than a couple games or isn’t contending for a conference title, why even finish out the season?   To get to 6 wins so you can play in a “meaningless” bowl?  Point is:  bowl games are not meaningless to everyone.  If you skip playing the bowl,  you are selfishly letting your team and fans down.  

 
Decoy73 said:
A lot of posters are calling bowl games “meaningless.” I’m just curious as to why you think they are more meaningless than any other non-championship game?  I get that if you’re in the hunt for making your conference title game then your games become more meaningful.  Or maybe your team is a potential playoff contender so you must win all games. However, non-conference games have no bearing on that. Aren’t they also “meaningless “ and therefore should be skipped by good players for fear of getting injured?  In other words, if your team loses more than a couple games or isn’t contending for a conference title, why even finish out the season?   To get to 6 wins so you can play in a “meaningless” bowl?  Point is:  bowl games are not meaningless to everyone.  If you skip playing the bowl,  you are selfishly letting your team and fans down.  
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For me it's because the season is over, especially since a lot of the players aren't in great bowls. I can get excited about a New Year's bowl, or even like the Holiday or Outback bowls. But if we're in the Cheez-it bowl, the extra weeks of practice are much more important than the game. It's a post-season game where you can't advance, win or lose - I'm fine with guys skipping it if they're getting ready for the draft.

The last game of the season is still part of the season, so to me that's different - I'm sure not everyone sees it that way. I'd rather see younger guys play and gimmick plays in a low tier bowl game than watch a senior blow out his knee and crater his draft chances. I'm aware those aren't the only two possible outcomes, but it's just not worth the risk long term and I think most teammates respect the decision even if they don't agree with it. Now if a guy has been a horrible teammate the whole time and sits out, maybe they don't respect the decision to sit, but that's really because they don't respect the player.

 
Decoy73 said:
A lot of posters are calling bowl games “meaningless.” I’m just curious as to why you think they are more meaningless than any other non-championship game?  I get that if you’re in the hunt for making your conference title game then your games become more meaningful.  Or maybe your team is a potential playoff contender so you must win all games. However, non-conference games have no bearing on that. Aren’t they also “meaningless “ and therefore should be skipped by good players for fear of getting injured?  In other words, if your team loses more than a couple games or isn’t contending for a conference title, why even finish out the season?   To get to 6 wins so you can play in a “meaningless” bowl?  Point is:  bowl games are not meaningless to everyone.  If you skip playing the bowl,  you are selfishly letting your team and fans down.  
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I have called the bowl games "meaningless" in a few posts, and I have maybe gone too far.  However, the games mean different things to different players.  Here is how I think the bowl games mean to different types of players:

--Guys in their last game may treat it as a final chance to represent their school and go out a winner.  Obviously, the bowl game means a lot to them.

--Many guys who know they are going to play in the NFL see it as unnecessary.  They don't want to stay at school and practice a couple more weeks and don't want to deal with the bowl prep.  They would rather be at home, getting ready for the NFL draft.  Bowl game has no meaning to them.

--Many players treat the bowl game as a reward and an opportunity to spend a few days in a different city.  They can party, get bowl game gifts, and hang out with their teammates, if they can get through a couple hours of practice a day.  The bowl game probably doesn't mean much to them.

--Some young players may want to use the bowl practices and game as an opportunity to prove themselves and get a boost going into the next season.  Bowl game means a lot to them.

--Some coaches will use the bowl game as an opportunity to try new schemes on offense and defense.  I remember when was Colorado shifting their offense from an option attack under Darian Hagan to a more pro-style attack for Kordell Stewart.  Bill McCartney used the bowl season to begin to install the new offense, and had Darian Hagan running a pro-style, passing offense in the Blockbuster Bowl in 1991.  McCartnery was willing to risk losing that bowl game (which CU did) in order to get a jump start on his new offense for 1992.

 
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