College football’s bowl system has survived and expanded despite many external threats, including PR disasters, community indifference and heavy criticism of the now-defunct Bowl Championship Series.
More serious threats are building within the system — and that was never more clear than during the 2018-19 bowl season.
Coaches bailed on their teams, players opted out of games they didn’t consider meaningful enough, recruiting and transfers drew attention away from the field and one game was canceled for weather rather than endure the financial and logistical headaches of rescheduling.
And outside of the cancellation — here’s hoping that was a once-in-a-lifetime debacle — there’s every reason to believe those cracks in the bowl system are only going to get worse.