ESPN releases 2016-17 Bowl Schedule

Submitted by Leaders And Best on

As reported before, the CoFoPoff semis (Peach & Fiesta Bowls) will be played on Saturday 12/31/16. The big change now is ESPN moving the Gator and Citrus Bowls to Saturday 12/31 with an 11 AM EST kickoff time. The Outback, Cotton, Rose, and Sugar Bowls will remain on their traditional date, Monday, January 2nd.


http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2016/05/espns-industry-leading-38-game-bowl-schedule-to-conclude-2016-17-college-football-season/

ijohnb

May 4th, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^

but don't you think the reason for the policy could have changed over the years.  Sunday does not mean what Sunday used to mean for the most part in this country anymore.  You can by alcohol at 10:00 AM on a Sunday now (Not that aren't a bunch of things wrong with that).  I think it is completely possible that the NFL is the reason for the policy now even if it was not to begin with.

Bando Calrissian

May 4th, 2016 at 3:37 PM ^

Yeesh. From the Tournament of Roses themselves:

 

"Never on Sunday" tradition

The Tournament of Roses® has had a “Never on Sunday” tradition since 1893, the first year since the beginning of the Tournament, that New Year’s Day fell on a Sunday. The Tournament wanted to avoid frightening horses that would be hitched outside churches and thus interfering with worship services so the events were moved to the next day, January 2. Though horses are no longer outside local churches, the tradition remains to this day.

https://www.tournamentofroses.com/rose-bowl

ijohnb

May 4th, 2016 at 3:45 PM ^

sorry I did not have the various "Rose Bowl traditions" excerpts locked and loaded and ready to go.  Put it this way, if they hadn't had a "never on Sunday" tradition before the NFL, they would certainly have one now.

Or perhaps "the Tournament of Outback" has a similar tradition that I also don't know about.

dddblue

May 4th, 2016 at 2:36 PM ^

This is yet another reason why I can't stand the NFL. Who cares about a scheduling conflict in week 17. Most teams are either out of it by then or have already clinched a playoff spot. IMO, New Year's day should always be about college football.

ijohnb

May 4th, 2016 at 2:40 PM ^

will in fact be the 12th time the Rose Bowl has been played on January 2nd, (not counting the two years it hosted the BCS national championship game), most recently in 2012.

 

ijohnb

May 4th, 2016 at 2:35 PM ^

don't have a choice unless they definitively deal with the "Rose Bowl problem."  This Rose Bowl is clearly the best stand alone bowl game but it should yield at this point or be given a semi-final every year.  The CPF on New Years Eve concept is a disaster and the Rose Bowl tradition of New Years Day in the same time slot is the reason for the awkward lineup. 

This year is a pretty bad set up for the Rose Bowl on January 2nd anyway because after the CPF games and the Sunday of NFL action, precisely nobody is going to care about those January 2nd bowl games. 

In reply to by ijohnb

I Like Burgers

May 4th, 2016 at 2:45 PM ^

Should also be noted that they equals the college football playoff committee since they are the ones that set the schedule. ESPN hates the current setup since it lends itself to shit ratings.  But it is what it is until the brain trust that brought you such classics as "people don't want a playoff" decide that people don't want playoff games on NYE.

The good news is that the following year, the games are back on New Years Day.  Potentially after that is when you might see a change.

In reply to by ijohnb

The Mad Hatter

May 4th, 2016 at 2:55 PM ^

Especially about giving the Rose Bowl a permanent semi-final game.  I think that's only way the Rose Bowl people would accept moving the game.  Bowl games on NYE are stupid, and I typically don't even go out that night.

Or make the Rose Bowl the NC game.

ijohnb

May 4th, 2016 at 2:58 PM ^

just really had an anti-climactic feeling this year and it should not have.  It did not even appear that the Orange Bowl was sold out and the Bama-State game was too late, took way to long to start and you could kind of sense that really nobody was watching it.  Even before Bama Bama-d them it did not feel like a "big game" and that is inexcusable for a national semi-final game.

In reply to by ijohnb

The Mad Hatter

May 4th, 2016 at 3:09 PM ^

For the last 100ish years the important college bowl games were played on Jan 1.  Why the CFP people would try to mess with that is beyond me.

I don't care if it's a playoff game or not, if it isn't on NYD is seems less important to me.

ijohnb

May 4th, 2016 at 3:34 PM ^

your initial response of "anti-climactic?" and what you said under it have no relation to one another and don't make sense together.

Second, not many people were watching it as evidence from the over-30% decline in ratings from the previous year.

In reply to by ijohnb

Engin77

May 4th, 2016 at 3:49 PM ^

I took your usage of anti-climactic to refer to the slate of bowl games on that day, as if the matchup was disappointing and lacking interest.  If you meant otherwise, please elucidate.

I do not know everyone in the country; my (admittedly) small group of Michigan fans was in full attendence for Alabama-MSU in the Cotton Bowl.  I did read that the ratings figures were down, but this is of little consequence to me; hopefully they'll be way up next year when Harbaugh's team makes its first appearance in the CFP.

ijohnb

May 4th, 2016 at 3:55 PM ^

there is a plausible explanation for the massive ratings decline.  It is possible that nearly the same number of people actually watched the game but did so in large gatherings at parties, etc.  Probably not as many as watched it the year before, but perhaps it was not the precipitous decline that the numbers would indicate.  (I don't think this matters in terms of advertisement dollars though as I believe that the cost of advertisements is strictly related to ratings).

Engin77

May 4th, 2016 at 4:05 PM ^

did you mean the Rose Bowl game seemed anti-climactic?  I felt that too, though probably not as much as Iowa fans.

You have a reasonable explanation for the ratings decline: parties and people watching as best they could at commercial NYE celebrations.

csmhowitzer

May 4th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^

So no more January 1 bowls?

Is ESPN the only one covering the bowl games?

This seems very odd and trying to grab everying for "Monday night footabll" coverage.

I can't recall, was it like that last year too?

Edit: NFL has Sunday locked up and New Years is on a Sunday.

BursleyHall82

May 4th, 2016 at 2:23 PM ^

I hate it when New Year's Day falls on a Sunday. Totally throws off my football-watching schedule.

The NFL should move all its games from Sunday, Jan. 1, to Saturday, Dec. 31, to leave New Year's Day to the colleges.

WolverineHistorian

May 4th, 2016 at 2:37 PM ^

The December bowl games are not as must see for me as they used to be. There's about 5,000 of them now and teams with losing records get invited to them just to fill the allotment. I didn't like it when 6-6 teams started becoming bowl eligible circa 2002 either. The majority of these bowls I don't bother to watch unless a B1G school is involved.

As for the bigger bowls, it just feels all kinds of wrong to not have them on New Year's Day, especially the Rose Bowl.




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ijohnb

May 4th, 2016 at 2:48 PM ^

but as Mike Ehrmentrout so elegantly explained to Walter White, it is time to stop with the half measures.  Obviously the CFP playoff games are now the primetime must see games any given year.  In the years when the Rose Bowl is not a national semi-final, it should relent and be played on New Years Eve day, before the CFP games.  Keeping the Rose Bowl on New Years Day when it is not in the CFP hurts both the Playoff because it is then played on New Years Eve and the Rose Bowl because nobody cares about it after the playoff because it does not have the feeling of a "buildup" to the climax game anymore.