Rick Neuheisel went on The Dan Patrick Show this week and floated an idea about the future of bowl games that sounds insane until you think about the alternative.
The former UCLA quarterback and head coach suggested bowl games could move to the beginning of the season instead of the end, functioning as actual competitive matchups rather than the postseason rewards they’ve always been. It’s radical, but it might be the only way to keep bowl games from disappearing entirely.
“I think it’s a sign of the times,” Neuheisel said about Notre Dame opting out of a bowl game. “We saw Iowa State, we saw Kansas State make similar decisions — obviously coaching changes there as part of it. I think bowl games are going to end up being the first game of the year. I think we’re going to see a bunch of these bowls go by the way of the whales. And I also think the College Football Playoff is going to go — as they extended that deadline to Jan. 23 — I think we’re going to go right past 16 all the way to 24.”
Dan Patrick asked him to explain what he meant by bowl games being the first game of the year.
“I think we’re going to have a hard time talking a bunch of teams into playing in the postseason,” Neuheisel continued. “Maybe I’m wrong — and I hope I am — because I remember vividly how much I enjoyed them both as a player and as a coach. I just think in this day of transaction football, where people are coming and going, that there are going to be a lot of teams and we’re going to see a lot of players that aren’t going to participate. And I think that’s a shame. So, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a bunch of these bowl games get moved to the front end of a college football season.”
The idea is wild, but college football doesn’t have preseason games. Programs have talked about playing competitive scrimmages instead of spring games, but it hasn’t happened. Moving bowl games to August would solve multiple problems. Teams wouldn’t lose players to the transfer portal or opt-outs. Freshmen would get real game experience. Coaches could sort out position battles before the season starts. And bowl games would still exist instead of dying off entirely.
It would also be completely different from what bowl games have always been. They’ve always been rewards for good seasons, not warm-up games before the season even starts. But Neuheisel’s point is that the current system isn’t working. Notre Dame, Iowa State, and Kansas State all opted out this year. Players are sitting out. Rosters are getting gutted by the portal. At some point, bowls either change or disappear.
Whether moving them to the front of the season is the answer is debatable. But the fact that a former Rose Bowl MVP and head coach is seriously suggesting it tells you how broken things have gotten.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.