Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Every mainstream sports article does this.  To find prudent, educated sports articles, you have to dig deep.

This is not a mainstream article. It's some jack-wagon blog post. But several pages of discussion referencing it makes clear why this garbage continues to exist.

(Honestly, the vast majority of mainstream articles are rather boring recitations of facts, accounts of events and what principle actors said. Most articles are just bland because they give you the news and not much else. Folks just can't resist the other stuff)

So that part of the article, at least, is just B.S.  That's not surprising.  I was surprised to see that part asserted in the first place.  Fans will travel long distances in great numbers for various reasons.  But going to a medium bowl after a hugely disappointing season is not one of those reasons.

I do buy the argument that Texas-Notre Dame is a much more attractive game than either Texas-Utah or Iowa State-Notre Dame.  If I were running ESPN, I would care about that.  Throwaway bowl games are a dime a dozen.  Matching up two helmet teams, even in disappointing seasons (in different ways) for both of them, in a medium-tier (and presumably medium-cost) bowl is an opportunity not to be casually thrown away.  Or so it seems to me.

If I were king of ESPN, I'd have pulled every lever I had to get a better matchup in the Orange Bowl this year.  I remember that for one Orange Bowl early in this decade tickets were going for $5, and they still had a half-empty stadium.
Never drive 80-90 miles to see the Horns?  Those are some T-shirt fans indeed.

When you see such a thing that surprises you, uses it as an indicator. In fact, when you read "Texas probably sat on the phone like a girl who was asked to homecoming by her best friend before her dream crush made his move," you should step back and say, is there any reason this isn't some dummy spouting off? And when the answer is no, you should close the browser tab. 

When you see such a thing that surprises you, uses it as an indicator. In fact, when you read "Texas probably sat on the phone like a girl who was asked to homecoming by her best friend before her dream crush made his move," you should step back and say, is there any reason this isn't some dummy spouting off? And when the answer is no, you should close the browser tab.

Ha!  Did it really say that?  I guess I skimmed past that bit.

It might not be accurate, but I gotta admit I love the imagery!

In reality, our dream crush is the CFP, and he ain't calling any time soon.

Who are the "bowl promoters" generally speaking?  Do bowls make profits that they share?  Or are they often "city and business leaders"?  I think quite a few are non-profits, they send whatever money they make to some charity.  Maybe that isn't the case any more.

My guess is most minor bowl folks have an interest in promoting business within the city.  Why else does Shreveport have a bowl game?

I think both bowl games tomorrow are owned by ESPN and put on more or less so ESPN has content.

Yeah, whatever money they make, after they pay the exorbitant salaries of the executives promoting the bowl...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2017/12/14/bowl-game-executive-pay-soaring-around-1-million/949198001/

My cynical side is that they operate some sort of small charity to justify their existence, but most of the money made goes towards salaries for the various people involved.

My cynical side is that they operate some sort of small charity to justify their existence, but most of the money made goes towards salaries for the various people involved.

Sounds very familiar, unfortunately. Precisely why I investigate the hell out of them before I open my wallet.