re: Opting out is not the problem...it's the symptom...

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again, nobody has answered what has caused that shift though.

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I think it was always suspected that GM's would not care if someone didn't play in a bowl but there was still an unknown of "what if they do". With McCaffrey and Fourntette the curtain began to get pulled back on that answer being, no they don't. 2020 removed the uncertainty that missing a bowl game could hurt draft stock.

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2020 removed the uncertainty that missing a bowl game could hurt draft stock.

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Exactly. COVID opt-outs were the last step in normalizing sitting out games and demonstrating that it would not hurt draft positioning.

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sidewalkside

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This is stupid "logic". There aren't "too many bowl games" for any individual athlete. No one plays in more than one.

90%+ of the players in any given bowl have no reasonable shot at the NFL. For many this is the final game of a career that started with pee-wee ball. I will guarantee you that these "meaningless" games mean something to those playing their final game.

Opting out is a personal, business decision to leave your college loyalties behind and move on. So if your favorite player decided to say fuk you to his teammates, it's his call. If you don't like it, you aren't requires to watch.

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It was heading that direction regardless Covid just accelerated it.

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Yes, agreed. That’s what I meant by it being the last step. It just opened up the floodgates so much so that people act now like this has been the norm for a long time. It’s really just the last 2-3 years.

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The real problem is there are too many bowl games that don't mean anything.

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100% agree

teams should be required to have no less than 8 wins to play in a bowl.

dont have enough teams for all the bowls, no problem, just move down to lower tiered schools that have 8 wins

thats how you fix these boring unwatchable bowl games with 5 and 6 win teams

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Whether they meany anything to you or not isnt really relevant. Since the CFP bowl merchandise sales are down, TV viewership is down, opt outs are up, ticket sales are down.

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There are so many other factors at play, there’s no way you can make such a sweeping generalization and attribute all those things to the CFP, especially when many of those dynamics have really only occurred post-COVID. There were a few opt outs in the early days of the CFP, but it’s only exploded in last couple of years. Much of that momentum isn’t even just draft opt outs. Much of it is a product of the early signing period and the transfer portal window creating a flood of players entering the portal before the bowls. That has only provided greater cover for players declaring for the draft. Altogether it becomes a self-fulfilling feedback loop.

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risk vs reward. For players who are going to the NFL, they could raise their draft stock much more by training and having a good combine vs having a good bowl game. There is basically no benefit to them playing in some of these games. Other players, who are young and need experience, there is still a benefit.

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Agreed. Maybe a little different take but 41 bowls or 82 teams. Obviously most non- significant to general public, casual fans. BUT to teams like New Mexico State that played us and got beat up, school hasn't played in a bowl for 60 years and had to appeal just to get in.

I will bet it means alot to these players, athletic programs, etc...

My wife and I attended all 4 Citrus Bowls LSU has played in, 2004 to 2017. In each succeeding game after 2004 LSU had fewer fans attending and the overall actual attendance decreased. And the Citrus has been considered a good bowl in each of those years.

Note: we have opted out of this year's bowl in terms of attendning.

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My wife and I attended all 4 Citrus Bowls LSU has played in, 2004 to 2017. In each succeeding game after 2004 LSU had fewer fans attending and the overall actual attendance decreased.

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I think this says more about the enthusiasm fans felt about the direction of the program and the degree to which they had become spoiled by success than it does about the inherent meaning attached to bowl games in a generic sense.

Having fewer bowls isn’t going to make draft eligible guys suddenly stay because they get to play in the Gator Bowl. .500 teams getting in has no effect on how people feel about the bigger bowl games.