There are too many Tidy Bowls, too many 6-5 teams playing, and not enough well-balanced contests between teams that have never met before. FSU and Auburn? Are you serious? They're all of what, 250 miles apart? How does that build interest?
The "National Championship" needs to go back to being the mythical beast it was when AP and UPI polls anointed them -- or argued about them. Screw this "Let's settle this, we'll have UCLA play USC -- again!" mentality.
It's just something else for losers to gamble on .... let them go gamble on basketball or Australian Rules.
I came across this on a sports business web site:
College bowl games averaged 48,793 fans per game during the ‘13-14 season, marking the lowest average attendance since the ‘78-79 season (48,404 for 15 games). This season also marks the third straight year of declining bowl season attendance. The total attendance of 1.71 million fans at the 35 bowl games this season was the lowest since ‘06-07, when there were only 32 bowls.
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2014/01/07/Research-and-Ratings/Bowl-attendance.aspx
They are closer together than that. I would guess maybe 140-150 miles.