College football’s bowl season begins today with the first of four Football Bowl Subdivision games starting at 2 p.m. and the last ending well after midnight. There’s at least one bowl game a day (excepting NFL Sundays) through Jan. 2.
The lesser bowl games set the stage for the playoff semifinals on Dec. 31 when Washington (12-1) plays Alabama (13-0) in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, and Ohio State (11-1) faces Clemson (12-1) in the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona.
The Crimson Tide is an overwhelming favorite (4/11 odds) to win its fifth national title in eight years under coach Lou Saban. In Las Vegas, bettors must risk $110 to win $40 on Alabama.
The national championship game is Jan. 9 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Tickets start at $580 for upper end zone corner seats on StubHub.
UMass has played in two bowl games, once under coach Vic Fusia and the other under coach Dick MacPherson. My father saw UMass lose to East Carolina, 14-13, in the 1964 Tangerine Bowl and returned from Orlando muttering his dislike for the song “Dixie.”
In 1972 UMass went to Atlantic City and thumped UCal-Davis, 35-14, before 2,857 fans in the Boardwalk Bowl. That was it until 2012, when former UMass athletic director John McCutcheon engineered an “upgrade” into the Mid-American Conference of the FBS.
The granddaddy of bowl games is the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where Washington State beat Brown, 14-0, in 1916. The Orange and Sugar bowls came along in 1935, followed by the Cotton Bowl in 1937.
Today there are 40 bowl games plus the national championship.Fans will eagerly trade in quantity for quality, and ESPN is telling the NCAA give us the teams and we’ll give you the air time. All but six of this season’s 40 bowl games are being televised by the World Wide Leader.
It’s a no-lose situation, except with 80 slots to fill and only 128 teams, the NCAA has hit the pigskin ceiling. Thus, cities like Charleston, S.C., and Austin, Texas, will have to wait until the NCAA revises its criteria for postseason eligibility. This year nearly half of all bowl-bound teams had 6-6 records or lower.
Three teams finished under .500 and yet are playing in the postseason: Mississippi State (5-7), North Texas (5-7) and Hawaii (6-7) got the nod because of good grades, but fans want to see talent on the gridiron and not in the classroom.
Consequently, the NCAA has eased up on the minimum attendance requirement to stay in the FBS. Last year nine teams averaged under 15,000 fans (including UMass), and Eastern Michigan averaged under 5,000 fans at Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti.
The NCAA needs the Washington Generals of the world, automatic wins on an opponent’s schedule that can get them a step closer to a bowl game. UMass opponents were a collective 10-1 this season and those Ws were crucial for Boston College (6-6), Hawaii (6-7) and Mississippi State (5-7) to make the postseason.
The only FBS teams UMass played and lost to this season that didn’t earn bowl eligibility were Tulane (4-8) and Florida International (4-8).
UMass has another grueling schedule next year, but local fans can put Oct. 21 and 28 on the calendar, when Georgia Southern and Appalachian State play at McGuirk Stadium. Both schools have storied programs and nine I-AA titles between them. In 2014, they left the FCS to join the Sun Belt Conference. In just two seasons, Appalachian State is 9-3 and a one-point underdog against Toledo in today’s Camellia Bowl (5:30 p.m., ESPN) in Montgomery, Ala.
Former Chancellor Robert Holub and deposed AD John McCutcheon moved UMass out of the FCS and into the MAC after the 2011 season.
The MAC gave UMass three years to go all-in as a full-fledged member and bring its other intercollegiate teams into the fold.
UMass had other plans. It wanted to have a .500 season and get to a bowl game, and use that success to switch to another conference — preferably the American Athletic Conference.
It didn’t work that way. The Minutemen fired coach Charlie Molnar after a 1-11 record his first season in the MAC and hired Mark Whipple who was 3-9 the next two seasons.
At that point UMass should’ve bit the bullet and gone all-in with the MAC. It offered stability. It’s an all-or-nothing conference that spreads the wealth. Western Michigan (Dave Dombrowski’s alma mater) went from 1-11 four years ago to 13-0 and and the Cotton Bowl this season. Eastern Michigan went from 1-11 last year to 7-5 and the Bahamas Bowl this season (its home attendance subsequently tripled).
By not having a viable Plan B, UMass could easily finish 2-10 again next season. The new AD, Ryan Bamford, is stuck playing an independent schedule in 2017 that includes FBS powerhouses Tennessee, Temple and South Florida.
UMass is a lamb in the lion’s cage, getting mauled by FBS teams hungry for the postseason.
Bamford has no escape route. Conferences don’t open their arms to teams with 50 losses in five seasons.
It’s a no-win situation.
Here’s a look at the bowl game schedule through Wednesday:
Today
Gildan New Mexico Bowl
New Mexico (8-4) vs. Texas-San Antonio (6-6)
Line: New Mexico by 6½
The game kicks off at 2 p.m. from University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM, on ESPN. Renowned Albuquerque cook Walter White will do the coin flip.
Las Vegas Bowl presented by Geico
Houston (9-3) vs. San Diego State (10-3)
Line: Houston by 4
Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. from Sam Boyd Stadium on ABC. Aztecs running back Donnel Pumphrey is the second-leading ground gainer in the FBS with 2,018 yards and 16 TDs. Houston wideout Linell Bonner’s 93 catches rank him sixth in the FBS. Will Aztec descendants boycot the game?
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
Appalachian State (9-3) vs. Toledo (9-3)
Line: Toledo by 1
Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. from the Cramton Bowl on ESPN. Toledo quarterback Logan Woodside led the FBS with 43 touchdown passes this season, and tight end Michael Roberts (15 TDs) was his favorite target. Mountaineers running back Jalen Moore is averaging 6.2 yards a carry, gaining 1,367 yards on 221 attempts.
Auto Nation Cure Bowl
Cent. Florida (6-6) vs. Arkansas St. (7-5)
Line: UCF by 6
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network from Camping World Stadium, Orlando. Arkansas State’s special teams blocked four punts this season. UCF was third in red zone defense. Undergrads joke that UCF stands for U Can’t Fail.
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
S. Mississisppi (6-6) vs. La.-Lafayette (6-6)
Line: Southern Miss. by 4
Kickoff is at 9 p.m. from Mercedes-Benz Superdome on ESPN. Brett Favre’s alma mater is Southern Miss., and the Golden Eagles carry on with the 22nd best passsing attack in the nation (294 yards a game). The Ragin’ Cajuns’ .500 record is reflected by its average margin of points for (25.8) and points against (25.1).
Monday
Miami Beach Bowl
Central Michigan (6-6) vs. Tulsa (9-3)
Line: Tulsa by 11½
Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. from Marlins Park on ESPN. Tulsa running back James Flanders is the ninth-leading rusher in the FBS with 1,529 yards on 241 carried (6.3 ypg). The Chippewas snuck into the bowl season despite losing four of the last five games.
Tuesday
Boca Raton Bowl
Memphis (8-4) vs. W. Kentucky (10-3)
Line: W. Kentucky by 5
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. from FAU Stadium on ESPN. Western Kentucky has top 20 leaders in rushing (running back Anthony Wales), touchdown passes (quarterback Mike White), and TD catches (wideout Taywan Taylor). Tigers wideout Anthony Miller ranks ninth in the FBS receiving yards (1,283). Western Kentucky hasn’t beaten Memphis since 1939 but this might be the year.
Wednesday
SD County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
BYU (8-4) vs. Wyoming (8-5)
Line: BYU by 9
Kickoff is at 9 p.m. from Qualcomm Stadium on ESPN. The Cougars won seven of their last eight games, including a 51-9 blowout of UMass, but are down to their second string quarterback. No worries, backup Tanner Mangum e threw for 3,377 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2015. Wyoming wideout Tanner Gentry tied for 12th in the FBS with a dozen touchdown catches this season. The Cougars have won their last seven games against Wyoming, and the Cowboys’ porous defense allowed the 23rd most points per game (34.8) in the FBS this season.
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for four decades in the Pioneer Valley.