The NCAA Division I Council has decided to put a three-year moratorium on bowl games after a season seeing teams with losing records getting into playoffs.
Last season there were not enough teams with eligible, winning records to fill each of the 41 scheduled bowl games, forcing the NCAA to include three 5-7 teams to fill all the spots. This is what the organization is seeking to address with the three-year halt on bowl games.
Many felt the possibility of as many as five teams with less than stellar records making it into bowl games diluted the value of the bowls.
Earlier this year the NCAA football oversight committee looked into addressing the proliferation of bowls outpacing the number of deserving teams, as well as stopping the expansion of the made-for-television events, and even subtracting bowls.
“There is an excess of bowl games due in part to a disparate allocation of openings vs. conference bowl histories,” MWC commissioner Craig Thompson said in December. “The result is teams with sub-.500 records participating in bowl games. There is consensus change is needed, and this year’s outcome must not be repeated.”
Now those discussions have led to a halt for three years.
According to ESPN, the moratorium will kick in starting after 2019 regular season.
The decision puts an end to plans in Austin, Texas, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina, locales that looked to gain bowl games this season.
The halt in games isn’t the final word on the problem leading up to the temporary ban, though. The NCAA says it will now take up the issue to see how to permanently correct the situation.
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