The debate of whether bowl games actually matter has reached new heights in an expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. Sure, the Pop-Tarts Bowl has its quirks, but when opting out of second and third-tier games becomes the norm, it’s clear there’s an issue.
Take Miami Hurricanes quarterback Cam Ward, for instance.
He played only the first half of his team’s bowl game at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. And based on the criticism, in hindsight, he might have been better off opting out entirely. As the likely No. 1 quarterback prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft, Ward is a major draw, much like the Hurricanes’ prolific offense, but how do you get fans and players alike to buy into a non-playoff game? How do you make them care?
Or look at Oklahoma, a team that saw waves of players either enter the transfer portal or skip the Armed Forces Bowl entirely. Navy took full advantage, knocking off an SEC opponent for the first time in nearly 70 years and mercilessly trolling the Sooners—and the SEC—in the process.
North Carolina had its own nightmare scenario: playing under an interim coach and getting completely kicked in the teeth.
When bowl games feel more like glorified spring exhibitions used to evaluate young players or simply survive coaching transitions, they raise more questions than answers.
So, what’s the deal? Why do these games feel less like celebrations and more like afterthoughts in the modern college football landscape?
For 70 FBS teams, the season ends not with a shot at a national title but with a bowl game outside the 12-team College Football Playoff. These 35 games might not grab the same headlines as the playoff matchups, but they still matter to some.
They have to matter, right?
Nick Carparelli, executive director of Bowl Season — a group dedicated to preserving the relevance of these postseason games — insists they remain a critical part of college football’s fabric. Even with playoff expansion, Carparelli believes the tradition of bowls is as strong as ever.
“People love watching bowl games,” Carparelli told The Athletic. “It’s that unique time of year where people will turn on their TV set on a Wednesday night in December looking for a bowl game. They might not even know what bowl game they’re going to find. They just know they’re going to find one, and they’re going to watch it.”
While that sounds like Carparelli is endorsing bowl games, it actually exposes everything that is working against the current system. How much can these games matter if college football fans have no idea which teams are actually playing and when in what bowl, let alone which star players will or won’t suit up for the game? It’s an admission that bowl games are little more than background noise while our attention is really on something more important.
And that’s the challenge.
And it’s keeping that magic alive amid shifting priorities in the sport where players, fans and even programs seem to be looking ahead before the game is even played.
And if people supposedly love bowl games, why does it feel like fewer and fewer actually do?
