T*W*I*S: In Bowl Games, Most Colleges Pay the Tab

Between now and the second week of January a total of 35 college bowl games will be played.  One will matter.  The rest are fluff games engineered by the BCS and bowl game committees, with the permission of the NCAA, which will have no real meaning except that participating teams get an extra month or so of practice heading into their winter drills and spring practice sessions, and a few of the teams will take home some coin.  Oh, there are some intriguing match-ups.  Arkansas and Ohio State?  That should be a barn burner.  Boise State and Utah?  That’ll be some fun.  TCU and Wisconsin will be good for a look-see.  But, for the most part, while the excitement of the moment is palpable, nearly every school will actually lose money.  Why?  Because the people  running the bowls require schools to purchase a minimum number of game tickets at full price.  The schools will sell a fraction of those tickets, and worse yet, they will not be receiving any refunds from the bowl bigwigs.   Oh, and the schools get the pleasure of paying all their team’s, cheerleaders’ and band’s expenses.  That’s hotel, food and travel for, what, 350 or more people for five days or more?  No help from the bowl people there, either.  Sounds like there are a lot of folks getting rich on the bowls, except the schools.  There’s just something not quite right about this arrangement.  If there was ever a time for a playoff system, it’s now.  The teams might lose money, but at least the games would mean something.  What do you say?