In 1990, 19 bowl games were played at the end of the college football season. This season, 28 will be played. Eight will include one 6-5 team, and five will include two. Had they qualified, the eighth-best teams in the Big 12 and SEC were guaranteed games.
But because of the glut of bowls and autocratic control the BCS conferences wield, fans are stuck with too many games between undeserving teams.
This is not a knock on Troy (from the Sun Belt) or Northern Illinois (MAC), who meet in the Silicon Valley Bowl on Dec.30. But what kind of ratings and attendance can organizers reasonably expect? Both should get the opportunity to face schools from BCS conferences.
The NCAA must fix the system. Here are two suggestions:
HIGHER STANDARDS: Currently, teams with six wins against I-A teams are eligible. There is a word for a 6-5 team: mediocre. And mediocre teams don't deserve an extra game. Increase the minimum wins to seven. Also, no more also-rans. Conferences with eight or nine teams get two bids; 10 or 11 get three; 12 or more get four. Under next season's alignment, this leaves 34 slots.
HIGHER PAYOUTS: Currently, 13 bowls pay each team the minimum $750,000 or just above: Music City ($780,000), Emerald, Silicon Valley, New Orleans, Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Motor City, Tire and those formerly known as the Tangerine ($850,000), Mobile, Humanitarian and Copper. Increase the minimum payout to $1.5-million.
With those bowls eliminated, 15 remain for 30 teams. For four more, only two among the Liberty ($1.35-million), Independence ($1.2-million) and Houston ($1.1-million) must increase their payout.
That leaves 17 games between quality teams who will be rewarded financially for their success. And a postseason worthy of fans stuck with the BCS.
Rave: No public money for stadiums
Here's an idea: Paint a Marlins logo on a moving van and hire Dale Earnhardt Jr. to drive it. Paint an Expos logo on another and hire Tony Stewart to drive it.
First one to Vegas gets to call it home. Imagine the pay-per-view buy rates.
Earlier this month, the Marlins, who have not conned South Florida officials into building a new stadium, talked to representatives of Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the Expos remain in limbo because the District of Columbia Council wants a stadium with 50 percent taxpayer financing instead of 100 percent.
Here's hoping South Florida and D.C. hold firm, even if it means losing their teams.
The original estimate put the cost of the ex-Expos stadium at $440-million. The D.C. auditor put it at $584-million. And for what? Hucksters who beg for corporate welfare, including those in D.C., usually cite one reason: revitalizing an economically depressed area.
But for every Camden Yards in Baltimore, there remains the area of Overtown, "revitalized" by the Miami Arena; a certain part of a certain city "revitalized" by a certain domed stadium visible from the Times office; plus several more "revitalized" areas.
Society must rethink its priorities. Sports don't matter when millions lack health insurance, when underfunded schools struggle to teach children, when humans sleep on the streets.
If the multimillionaire sports owners want a new stadium, let them pay for it.
