The real story is using COVID as a cover because of losses to the Transfer Portal, players opting out, and low interest from the fan bases for many of these bowls.
Yep, I agree. Not that any of the bowls so far really matter, but when I tuned in a little the stands were nearly empty. It just looks bad, and if they're not selling tickets to fans what's the point.
And I think there are far too many bowls -- they've really watered down the enthusiasm with so many. Who wants to watch a bunch of 6-6 teams play each other?! They should cut 'em in half, at a minimum, and fill the New Years weekend with good games.
‘...low interest from the fan bases for many of these bowls.’
there’s the real reason; the people that ‘run’ college football need to rethink the entire model, as currently a spate of televised games showing stadia filled to 1/3 capacity at best is a terrible look...to say nothing about lackluster matchups of what are essentially average teams...
when I become the head of the NCAA, I will make changes, though what those changes actually are is a work in progress; stay tuned...
I know I couldn’t care less about Florida’s bowl game, and apparently so did the players.