A Sea Of Red

Best:

Boca Raton Bowl SMU vs FAU
Gasparilla Bowl UCF vs Marshall
Belk Bowl VT vs Kentucky
Sugar Bowl Baylor vs Georgia

Worst:

Serve Pro Bowl WKY vs W. Michigan
Gator Bowl Indiana vs Tennessee
Camellia Bowl FIU vs Ark State
Detroit Bowl Pitt vs E. Michigan
Camping World Bowl Notre Dame vs Iowa State
Redbox Bowl Illinois vs California
Sun Bowl FSU vs Az State
Birmingham Bowl Cinc. vs Boston College
Potato Bowl Ohio vs Nevada


Worst bowls were based on team matchups and/or location of bowl. My vote for worst bowl of them all is the Gator Bowl.

Butwhy.gif

Gator Bowl worst of all because of the matchup. If either of those teams are really Gator Bowl worthy, then a lot of other teams should be in a bigger bowl. I realize tie ins came into play, but Indiana shouldn't be in any bowl in Florida. As for Tennessee, they begged, cried , whined and brown-nosed to get to Gator Bowl. Some other team was in line for Gator Bowl, but TN needed their diapers changed, and Gator Bowl agreed to change them.

The Gator Bowl is actually an awesome bowl in spite of the match ups. We stayed on Amelia Island at the Omni Resort and the weather was awesome when I was there.

Ballcoach, does your HATRED for certain teams factor in your selection process of the "Worst Bowls"?

Here is the guide to the best mixing bowls of 2019:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/best-mixing-bowls-4169619

For salad bowls:
https://www.topreviewpro.com/top-10-best-salad-bowls/

Soup bowls:
https://ahjoo.com/top-best-soup-bowls-reviews/

Dessert bowls:
https://www.thekitchn.com/5-perfectlysi ... wls-186981

ATrain wrote: ↑December 11th, 2019, 5:55 pm Here is the guide to the best mixing bowls of 2019:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/best-mixing-bowls-4169619

For salad bowls:
https://www.topreviewpro.com/top-10-best-salad-bowls/

Soup bowls:
https://ahjoo.com/top-best-soup-bowls-reviews/

Dessert bowls:
https://www.thekitchn.com/5-perfectlysi ... wls-186981

This is next level pedantry.

Cider Jim wrote: ↑December 11th, 2019, 5:34 pm Ballcoach, does your HATRED for certain teams factor in your selection process of the "Worst Bowls"?

No, my knowledge of college football is only factor.

Come on ballcoach, you have proven over and over again you are nothing but biased.

With that said, most bowl games aren't very appealing to your average person. Nobody outside of Georgia southern and Liberty fans will care much about the Cure Bowl. Maybe some Ol' Miss fans that still like HF.

I am also a terrible source on this because I haven't watched a full bowl game in 10 years.

I think a lot of fans will watch cure bowl just because Liberty is playing, providing they can get channel on their TV or computer.

Why do you think a lot of non Liberty/Georgia Southern football fans will be watching?

Some will watch just because it's football. Some will watch because Liberty is playing, but Ga Southern will not pull in any outside viewers, where as LU will. Liberty has somewhat of national footprint. I wish game was on ESPN or regular network channel.

Do you have any data to indicate Liberty pulls in any extra eyeballs than other schools of our stature? I've never seen anything to indicate that so I'm just curious.

I think neither GaSo nor us will really pull in any parties not affiliated with our universities to any extent.....BUT, I do have some AppState buddies who WILL BE FLAMES FANS for December 21st. They are committed to watching the game and pulling hard for us against GaSo.

I see it as I travel from state to state.

ballcoach15 wrote: ↑December 11th, 2019, 11:02 pm I see it as I travel from state to state.

So no actual tv data? I'm not saying you are wrong entirely because LU does have a large foot print but none of that has been proven to help TV viewership on a national level.

Why do you continue to ask him to justify his almost always wrong opinions? Is it a drug you just can’t quit?

Jonathan Carone wrote: ↑December 12th, 2019, 9:08 am Why do you continue to ask him to justify his almost always wrong opinions? Is it a drug you just can’t quit?

Probably to give him a chance to be a contributor before standards are enforced to prevent trolls from staying on the board.

I am not a troll. In every school year, I attend more Liberty ball games than anyone on this board.

ballcoach15 wrote: ↑December 12th, 2019, 9:41 am I am not a troll. In every school year, I attend more Liberty ball games than anyone on this board.

That doesn't disqualify you from troll status. The fact that there is still a sizable portion of the board that hasn't figured out if you're serious or satire makes you a troll. Albeit a unique one that isn't self aware.

There is probably but 1 troll on board, and the name isn't ballcoach 15.

Jonathan Carone wrote: ↑December 12th, 2019, 9:08 am Why do you continue to ask him to justify his almost always wrong opinions? Is it a drug you just can’t quit?

It is a flaw of mine, I can't not speak up when I know someone is just blowing smoke. It has gotten me into trouble throughout my career but in rare instances it has actually been beneficial .

I also just hope that one day he will either stop saying stuff he can not back up or he starts thinking through the things he posts and finds data that can back it up. I know it is probably a pointless battle but it is what it is.

Class of 20Something wrote: ↑December 12th, 2019, 9:31 am

Jonathan Carone wrote: ↑December 12th, 2019, 9:08 am Why do you continue to ask him to justify his almost always wrong opinions? Is it a drug you just can’t quit?

Probably to give him a chance to be a contributor before standards are enforced to prevent trolls from staying on the board.

This isn’t going to happen, unfortunately.

Getting back on topic... you have to look at and rank bowl games in two different categories because some are really great in one area and not that great in others. The two main categories I judge them by are operation organization and efficiency and then how fun it is for the teams. I've only been to one bowl game as a fan and that was the Outback Bowl in 2005. There is so much operationally that go wrong in bowls that it sometimes makes teams not want to go to them(there have been some talks about this with the Music city bowl this year). Getting teams in and practice times a neutral facilities is a nightmare to organize with egos of coaches and administration. We are helping organize the CFA bowl this year and its been hilarious to hear the arguments over practice sites and times for practice. Load in and load out at the stadium. etc. My point is that the smoother a bowl game goes for a team the better the experience. Now that has nothing to do with fan experience which some bowls are very good at I just don't know because I haven't been able to witness it first hand. All that being said with my personal experience and the stories of some of my friends in the operational side of things at other schools I can tell you some great bowls: CFA bowl, Orange Bowl, (this one will surprise you) Independence Bowl (yes Shreveport isn't great but there is a reason that bowl has been around forever. ) Belk Bowl, Taxslayer Bowl and Quick Lane bowl(even though the time and city weren't great its well run).
Some Bowls that aren't so great: Pinstripe Bowl(heard some bad stories but haven't experienced it yet) Bahamas Bowl(for obvious reasons its great for fans but horrible for the teams) First Responders bowl
There are others in each category but just wanted to give you a picture of how from a team perspective these bowls are viewed very differently than the fans do. Just my two cents.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned on Sea of Red message boards, is some teams go to bowl games, and are just happy to be there, and their play shows it. Some teams show up ready to play football, and don't allow outside distractions to affect them.
Take the Citrus Bowl, I would guess Alabama isn't too excited about Citrus Bowl, after missing playoffs for first time. Going to be interesting which Crimson Tide team shows up.
Some teams have high hopes for next season, and use bowl game as a foundation. Orange Bowl is a good example. I see Florida coming into Miami highly motivated to get a jump on next season, whereas Virginia will just be happy to be there.

As for distractions (bells, whistles and dog and pony shows"), Virginia Tech has fallen into this trap in the past, despite their 27 straight bowl games.


I have been to bowl games in Atlanta, Shreveport, Orlando and Naval Academy. All were excellent bowls, when I went.