EVERY GAME IS A PLAYOFF

GMAC's move a mistake

http://http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2519596
"GMAC Bowl moves to day before BCS title game"

The move of the GMAC bowl to the day before the BCS title game is a huge mistake. It will force an already overlooked bowl into an even more overlooked position. The whole college football community will be looking ahead to the next day - BCS #1 vs BCS #2. Not many people care about a Conference USA team vs a MAC or WAC team - who probably will not even be conference champions - and they definitely won't care with the biggest game of the year looming so large.

Ideally, these games are played in the week before Christmas (as it used to be!), giving it a share of the spotlight for a night. The big bowl games are still a few weeks away, and a college football fan can get excited to see just any game featuring two of the better teams. In a perfect world, the bowls would build in intensity, with the teams and match-ups becoming more intriguing throughout the bowl season.

This is even ruining the bowl season for the teams playing! They have over a month lay-off between games. It extends their seasons and their focus, taking away from their studies - but who cares about the college student-athlete anymore? I'm sure these players would rather play in their bowl game, then relax on their couches and watch the big boys play the big games.

GMAC Financial Services has sponsored the game since its inception in 1999 and has extended its commitment through 2010. "To play in prime time the night before the BCS National Championship Game offers the City of Mobile, and the GMAC Bowl unbelievable exposure" bowl president Jerry Silverstein said.

The cost of that exposure is too much. This decision will prove to be a mistake and (hopefully) be remedied sooner rather than later.

posted by xcdannon @ 7:56 PM