BOWL GAME GLORY

Celebrating College Football’s Timeless Tradition

Like any coach owning legitimate hopes of heading to the College Football Playoff, Shane Beamer was more than disappointed when his South Carolina team fell just short. His distress didn’t last long.

With a 9-3 record and a six-game winning streak to end the regular season, Beamer’s Gamecocks enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history. They knew they’d earned a nice Bowl Season destination, but which one? After hearing one possibility, then others, South Carolina officials found out that representatives at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl wanted his team in Orlando instead of several others from the Southeastern Conference. The news sent the spirits of everyone in the program soaring.

“If you’re not going to be in the playoff, this is the best possible destination. It’s nothing against any other bowl but they chose us,” Beamer said. “In the end, we couldn’t be more fired up about where we’re going.’’

A trip to the Cheez-It Bowl quickly reverberated through Gamecock fans. The program’s initial ticket allotment was swallowed up in hours. Beamer felt so good for his players, a team that has a chance to get a 10th win at South Carolina for only the fourth time ever.

If you’re not going to be in the playoff, this is the best possible destination. It’s nothing against any other bowl but they chose us.

– SHANE BEAMER Head Coach, South Carolina Gamecocks

And the (43) bowl games are ready for action. For 11 months bowl committees clear the decks after one game and then prepare for a bigger and better experience the following December. That’s the case at the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl, for example. The city of Montgomery, Ala., loves its football and the teams from the Sun Belt and MidAmerican Conferences certainly enjoy their experience. So do the fans. Montgomery rolls out the red carpet for its Capital City Christmas Parade where fans, school marching bands and cheerleaders from the competing schools find themselves in the midst of a city-wide celebration of the season — and of college football.

The next night, Dec 14, the party continues as city residents and fans from the competing schools will pack the historic Cramton Bowl for the kickoff. Similar community-based celebrations take place from Boston to Orlando, Las Vegas to Frisco every Bowl Season.

From predicting the matchups and destinations to enjoying a one-of-a-kind experience, Bowl Season continues to create great moments and memories for everyone involved.

– NICK CARPARELLI Bowl Season, Executive Director

“It amazes me every year how excited people get as we approach Bowl Season,” said Bowl Season executive director Nick Carparelli. “From predicting the matchups and destinations to enjoying a one-of-a-kind experience, Bowl Season continues to create great moments and memories for everyone involved. As we like to say, it is truly a celebration of college football.”

There are dramatic, feel-good stories of several programs qualifying for Bowl Season for the first time in years. The Sam Houston Bearkats (9-3) will make their first-ever bowl appearance after transitioning from the FCS. Nebraska has punched a bowl ticket for the first time in eight seasons. Head Coach Matt Rhule knows the impact this next month will have on his players.

“Realizing that these guys haven’t had that (bowl experience) is big,” Rhule said. “That’s an extra two weeks to a month of practice, real practice and preparation. It’s like an extra spring ball. Guys on our team, sophomores and juniors and seniors who’ve never had that time, (we realize) how much it can develop them. Post-season is a huge opportunity for a lot of guys.”

While the country is thirsting for its first look at a 12-team College Football Playoff, history tells us the sporting public loves bowl football of any stripe. Last year’s New Year’s Six and CFP games averaged 15.1 million viewers and hopes are certainly sky high for this year’s expanded playoff games.

But ESPN reported big numbers for other games as well. Its Bowl Season presentation scored 2.4 million viewers across 33 games — 28 matchups surpassed one million viewers, 19 drew 2 million viewers, nine topped 3 million viewers and 11 games reached multi-year highs. The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (6.8 million viewers), the ReliaQuest Bowl (4.6 million) and Pop-Tarts Bowl (4.3 million) topped those charts.

Numbers like that speak to the health of the Bowl Season lineup.

While there will be some high-profile players choosing to miss the bowl experience to protect their NFL status it should be noted that only 257 were ultimately selected by the pros last April. That’s 257 of the thousands of players fortunate enough to be on teams that qualified to be a part of Bowl Season. Leave it to the ever-quotable Colorado head coach, Deion Sanders, to issue a declaration that all coaches feel this time of the year. The Buffaloes are bowl eligible for the first time since 2020.

“Our kids are going to play in our bowl game,” Sanders said, “because that’s what we signed up to do and we’re going to finish. We’re not going to tap out. That throws off the structure of next season.”

Like many coaches, Sanders said he’s looking forward to setting a foundation for the following season and keeping his program on a path to continual success.

“There’s a couple teams that should take note,” Coach Prime noted. “They laid an egg in the bowl game and they haven’t recovered since. We don’t plan on doing that. We plan on going out there fighting.”