Biggest winners:
1. I hate to say it, but obviously Bama. Although with a poor showing at the champ game and low ticket prices, I wonder if Tide fans aren't getting complacent and/or entitled? I wonder how much champion merchandise will get bought this year compared to their other years?
2. The Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowls: Ratings shot up 35% for the Fiesta and 21% for the Peach over last year, while most other bowl saw significant drops in ratings. The Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl were way up, but it was b/c it was their turn to be in the semi's this year.
3. ESPN: Gets to brag on their $2.25 Billion babies, the SEC and Alabama, again after a disastrous bowl season last year and Alabama getting beaten by Oklahoma and OSU in consecutive bowl games.
4. Dabo Swinney. He has made quite a name for himself the past few years. He took a pretty lackluster program and has it running at a very high level. Champagne will fall from the heavens, doors will open, velvet ropes will part... for Dabo.
5. The Buckeyes, Urban and the seniors: With a solid showing against another one of cfb's bluebloods, OSU certainly didn't hurt itself this bowl season. While expectations for the season were not met, you couldn't ask for anything more out of that given bowl game. How about those seniors and Urban getting their 50th win?!?!?!
Biggest Losers:
1. MSU and Iowa. What embarrassments.
2. The Big Ten and Delany: with MSU and Iowa's limp wristed attempts, it leaves Delany with that much less leverage while going into TV contract negotiations, reported to be starting in earnest this spring. Another BIG team winning the playoff championship this year (or at least making it to and showing up in the champ game) would have had Delany sitting as pretty as possible in those meetings. Not so much now.
3. ESPN (via the NCAA forcing NYE bowls): The ratings drops only hurt a network that is losing subscriptions and viewers. ESPN apparently gave the CFB powers-that-be the authority to schedule NYE bowls in their negotiations. Oops. Also, with stale and repetitive narratives and seemingly uncreative (or just out of touch) execs, what will it take for them to stop the bleeding?
4. College football fans. Lopsided bowl games don't keep interested fans/viewers for long. And I believe almost everyone outside of the state of Alabama is tired of the dynasty and all of the "conditions" that have brought it about.
5. Oklahoma and the Big 12. Fans were ragging on many teams in that conference about not playing defense this year, and boy did it show come bowl season, with the conference giving up an average of almost 44 points per bowl game.
What say you? Anyone else?
