COMMENTARY: Despite bowl eligibilty, FIU’s chances of going to a bowl game still in question

Photo by Kristi Camara

By: Brandon Wise / Staff Writer

The NCAA bowl system is a joke. In the old days, football teams had to be in the top 15-20 to even think about playing in a post-season game. Now, a 6-6 record is good enough to make the school bowl eligible. And with 120 schools in the FBS, there are 35 possible games for teams to go to. So more than half of college football will play in the post-season this year. If that is not a problem then I do not know what is.

FIU, who is now 7-4 and has already achieved its best season in school history, can go 8-4 and miss a bowl game because there are not enough tie-ins to the other bowl that exists. So what will the Bowl Championship Series have to do? Bring in more bowl games.

It is time to forget about this system that has been in place for the last 20 years because of how many flaws it contains. All it has done is create more and more meaningless games, which is now up to 35.

There are always more companies that want to sponsor a bowl. We are heading down a dangerous path here in college football. At some point, there will be a Clorox Toilet Bowl for the worst teams in college bowl, because if the current format holds, each team in college football will be in a bowl game without even winning a game.

Although FIU may not deserve to go to a bowl game because they will likely finish fourth in a conference that gets no respect nationally, I’d take an 8-4 FIU over a 6-6 Louisville team that they beat.

The only reason that Louisville would go is because the Big East has more tie-ins than the Sun Belt.

Now the top two teams in the Sun Belt, Arkansas State and Louisiana, have already accepted bowl bids to the GoDaddy.com Bowl and R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

And with that, the only two Sun Belt Conference tie-ins have been filled. There are only a few scenarios where FIU can still go to a bowl game this year.

Beef O’ Brady’s Bowl

This seems to be the most likely landing place for the Golden Panthers, since UCF has fallen apart this season. This bowl, which takes place at Tropicana Field in Tampa, wants to keep the local teams as much as they can. Right now, USF is the likely foe for FIU, but they are not even bowl eligible yet.

BBVA Compass Bowl

Now, that Louisville has become bowl eligible, the likelihood of FIU ending up is disappearing by the week. But, if FIU impresses the committee this coming week, there is still an outside chance of the Panthers heading to Alabama to possibly take on either an SEC team or a Big 12 team.

Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl

How ironic would it be for the Panthers, who got their first success ever in the post season in Detroit last season, to return there for another matchup? After going to Detroit last year and pulling off the biggest win in school history, who says they can’t have another trick up their sleeves against possibly a Big 10 school. It could be setting up for FIU to pick up its biggest win in school history (again).

Now, for all of this to happen, FIU must win this weekend at Middle Tennessee. Not just win, it has to be in impressive fashion because these bowl committees will be watching with a very close eye at how each team performs heading into to the last week of the season.

However, if the Panthers slip up this week against Middle Tennessee, there is no reason for any bowl committee to even consider them for a bowl game, which is sad because this is the most successful season in school history.