1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Are Bowl Games Going Extinct? Some CFB Coaches Think So: May 11th, 12:25pm

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

Are Bowl Games Going Extinct? Some CFB Coaches Think SoAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Back to one-on-one with D.P. Sponsored by the Downtown Lincoln Foundation on 93-7 The Ticket. Fun for you talking some sports. We'll continue to do that, of course, throughout the day and the rest of time right here on 93-7, the ticket. So anytime you need to hear some local sports talk, tune in. Of course, we can talk all different sports as we have so far. Huster angles on it as well. And there's a little bit.

I want to get into some college football coaches devaluing the Bulls. How dare they devaluing the Bulls as the college football playoff looks to expand. But I wanted to serve with this too because we all, of course, have lived through the Ohio State Trey Taylor flirtation over the last week. And we've seen it from the Nebraska angle. Most recently, Trey Taylor says, I'm a cornhusker, refused to burn bridges. I'm committed to not taking any trips to campus. So still looking like he's definitely set to be a Husker. Ooh, can I spend that around on you, though?

Yeah, yeah. When I heard I don't want to burn any bridges, that to me sounded like keeping options open. You know, I'm going to at least take the conversations with these other coaches, but I'm still committed. That to me wasn't, I don't want to burn bridges with Nebraska, you know, leave a trail of smoke and that sort of way. I thought that was, yeah, they're calling.

I have to be honest about it. I'm going to take the conversations. I'm going to take the phone calls. But for all intents and purposes, you know, I'm still locked in going to be in Nebraska next year. Yeah, yeah, no, I think that's the way that he's taking it. And I don't think that's smart. Again, there is a world out there where Trey Taylor's coach that he's planning on playing

for isn't here at Nebraska. I'm not predicting. I'm not saying it will happen. I'm saying there's a possibility of that happening. And, of course, it could be for the other way. I mean, maybe Nebraska does so well. Matt Rule took a different job elsewhere, right? I mean, a lot of different things can kind of play out.

So you do want to keep your options open. But I saw an article too here on kind of the Ohio State angle on it, which was interesting because Ohio State already has a four-star signal caller in their class in Brady Edmonds. And so the Trey Taylor flirtation would be to look to add another quarterback to the room. Edmonds has reacted to this via Greg Biggins by saying, I love Ohio State and can definitely still see myself there. I do think it's smart to protect myself, though, and stay out in front of this. So it seems like you've now got two quarterbacks that are kind of saying the similar thing. And it's the right thing to say. It's the right thing to do.

But it's the modern college football recruiting world where it's just kind of like, yeah, even if both these guys committed, mind you. But even though they're committed, they're talking about keeping their options open. Yeah. So the funny part about this is that on the day that we were talking about all of this with Trey Taylor, it was either that day or the next day, UCLA was there visiting Brady Edmonds at a school.

Southern California, I think Huntington is where he's from, if I'm not mistaken. But the other part of this then is that there are other schools that are also having Ohio State reach out for conversations. So some of the names that popped up

include where were they, Trent Seaborne at Alabama is a guy that might get some conversations. Keegan Croucher at Ole Miss said pretty much the same thing. that Trey Taylor did. Yeah, I'm locked in with Ole Miss. I'm good to go, but I'm going to at least take the call.

The other guy that was really mentioned was Jameson Roberts, the dual threat guy that is committed to Oklahoma right now. I think Ohio State was in or going to see him in person as well. So quarterback movement is the thing. As we know, there's only one starting position for the 130-odd schools that there are in college football. It is the the game of musical chairs. What I do find interesting, though, is to see where Ohio State's at because they've been, you know, or had been recently a two quarterback class type of team.

And not everyone can get away with that. If it's not the no doubt guy in the walk-on kind of, you know, bottom of the roster scout team filler. Places like Ohio State, places like Oklahoma with Lincoln Riley, USC at times with Lincoln Riley, maybe Oregon now as well, can really get. away with stacking high profile quarterback recruit. Now take our chances with it and see which one develops, which one doesn't. Put these guys in competition and see who reacts. That's not something that every program can do. I'm curious to see if Ohio State wants to flex its muscle and take two recruits to see

in that class who pans out better or if they are looking to move on from Brady Edmonds, they gave him, you know, they yank discommitable offer or whatever it is, so many different ways that that could go. Yeah, yeah, it is. like you said, it is rare, rare teams that can, that can pull that off. And also, I mean, I mean, there's a lot of teams that that will, that might call at this point. And you, you like where you're at, you don't feel that call. But if it's Ohio State, that is probably a door, you do want to at least creaked open.

If you can, if you can do it because, I mean, the level of success they've had, not just as a program, but really in the quarterback position, but filtering through quarterbacks here recently. Of course, Julian saying, was, was a young man last year going to be, continuing as Ohio State quarterback. But before that, it's kind of been a little bit of a revolving door with the Will Howards and the, you know, the quarterbacks that they've had out there, Cal McCord, the year before. So we'll see, we'll see what kind of happens with all of this.

But as of right now, I feel still pretty confident in Trey Taylor. And I think part of that is, too, just what you just said is, you know, they're not isolating Trey Taylor and throwing, you know, throwing everything at him. They're kind of, they're calling everybody's quarterback. top quarterbacks around the country to see, hey, a reminder, we're Ohio State, the Ohio State, and you might want to at least consider if we're

interested here. So, yeah, very cool stuff. And again, I've seen both Ryan Day and Urban Meyer over the years kind of talk about that position, and especially Urban Myers' court always kind of stuck with me, is that he's looking for a guy that can not just lead on the field, but off the field, too, he's going to expect you to be in the Heisman trophy.

I mean, when you're a starting quarterback at Ohio State, that's the expectation. If you're you're not living up to it, they're going to find somebody else that can do it. So, I mean, that's the kind of expectations that you walk in there at Ohio State. So we'll have to wait and see how that goes. But right now, doing well for Nebraska with Ray Taylor. But I did want to get to this because I wonder if the future of bowl games is not looking so good right now. And I don't know what that means for college football fans if they are okay with that.

But amid playoff expansion talk, Kirby Smart says there's no. value in non-college football playoff games. Now that's, okay, that's a big name saying it. Okay, definitely a guy that's, okay, you can kind of understand the Notre Dame angle of if it's playoffs or bust, all that if you're Georgia. But then Pat Nardusi had a similar thing at Pitt. And of course, he's not in that same kind of conversation. He's in favor of a larger playoff as well.

Doesn't want to see the conference championships go away because he liked the idea of having, you know, an ACC champion, SEC champion, Big Ten champion, which by the way, you still would. You just wouldn't play the conference championship game. But he also said that there's no reason to play a bowl game specifically. He got to, I was talking about playing anywhere outside of Florida or, you know, a warm weather city. So the kids these days, they don't want to go play in a bowl game in a northern city.

But in general, he also said that the bulls are going to go away. So, you know, there's still money there. There's contracts. It's football. It brings it in. And it's always kind of interesting getting to these arguments. or just kind of conversations because there are reasons to kind of keep them around. But at the same time, again, if you expand the 24, I mean, it's hard enough in the 14

playoff. When they did the 14 playoff on those New Year's Day games and then you kind of switch back the next day to bowl games that were just exhibition games, it's like, okay, this is kind of taking me out of element. You've got to wait until the end. But especially if you have an expanded field, you're going to have to play those games while or before many of the bull games are played. and it is it's going to be tough to kind of get back into the every you know the households

across the country are going to be thinking is this appointment television i need to tune in for this or am i going to wait you know bide my football time for of course later in the week just very very interesting time for for bowl games and specifically hearing a couple college football coaches notable and of course kirby smart's been uh two-time champion but pat norduce you know has been one of the longest tenure coaches now in college football, both kind of talking about bowl games not having value and going away in the future. Well, they maybe don't have as much value to a Georgia as they do to a pit. Kind of interesting to hear Narduzzi say that.

And, you know, he's been fine as a head coach, replacement level, maybe slightly better. But that's probably a respected voice across college football as long as he's been in the game. I think that there is still some value in bowl games when viewed through the lens of, this is what makes college sports unique, is that you get to go play a random one-off game, get a big old swag bag, you know, the fun goodies from a corporate sponsor,

you know, go see a new city, have an experience, what have you. Clearly there's no value for the Bulls in terms of what they mean to the postseason. You know, we're not hanging Independence Bull Banners anymore.

We're not hanging Music City bowl banners anymore. Now that they're, you get my point, right? It's not something to celebrate in the same way. You go to Kinnick and you see them, left and right. I would hang one if I beat Jacob Pavia like that too. Let's be honest. But I think that I don't want bulls going away just for the character and the fabric of college

sports. I think that you can maintain the bowl system and have it in its proper place, just as filler content. You know, I don't want college sports specifically, you know, college football, but I would even argue for the college basketball crown in the NIT and college basketball, you know, we don't need to be so exclusive in terms of some postseason, but I'm okay with being more exclusive in terms of the postseason. More can be more, but less can be more. You know, there's a reason we don't play bowl games in the NFL. It's a profession. It's a job. The stakes are high enough that you need to feel the sting when you miss out on it. Not saying the stakes aren't high in college football.

football, but because bowls have been so integral to the history of it, so many cool moments, so many cool opportunities, you know, yeah, I'm fine with still playing bowls in terms of filler content in terms of, hey, this is what we've always rewarded. We're going to continue to reward this baseline level of achievement. You know where you stand with it. We know where you stand with it. Don't take yourselves too seriously. Have a good time and put on the best show you think you can. I don't think we need NFL bowl games. I don't think we need the NBA's version of the NIT or the college basketball crown. You could argue that the plan is like that, but whatever, too late, we're not going back from it. I think getting rid of bowls would do a huge disservice to the fabric

and the core of what college football has been about, the way we understand it and some of the the myriad things we appreciate about it. But I also don't think that that is necessarily an argument for college football playoff expansion to 24. You know, I wonder what Kirby Smart would say about the 2014 play. Is that too many teams? Does it last too long conference championships? Do they matter? You know, seem to matter to Indiana.

You know, gone 75 years without one or whatever it was. Seemed like they cared to win that game against Ohio State. I think, you know, if Nebraska was ever in that position, I would hope that Nebraska fans would care and be excited to win a conference championship, you know, whether or not the one seat in the college football playoff was at stake, whether or not it was you got to win this game. You're playing for a championship. You know, this determines.

whether you host a first round game or you get a buy, whatever it is, there's still value in these things as long as we don't try to diminish the value too much or try to promote the value beyond what it actually truly should be. But I mean, I think part of it, and I agree with you in an ideal world, but I think it's just tough. I mean, the sport has already turned so much into college football playoff or bust. I mean, I can't get over. But is that the fans fault?

No. No, the fans are being told what they're supposed to believe. The fans are continually fed that, hey, the college football playoff is the only thing that matters. If you don't win a ring, your season is bankrupt. What's the point of it? And I don't think every bowl game has to matter to everyone. The college football playoff matters because of the larger implications on the sport. Who wins?

What does that say about team building in this day and age? What's the say about what scheme or style of play is taking over? But we were here. We saw what making a bowl game for the first time in a while meant to Nebraska. Was it everything? No. It was better than not making one. You know, and I think, you know, in the mid-major, group of five kind of ranks, schools that might make a bowl once every five years. Hey, this is a big deal. We're going to tune in. No, it's not going to do numbers in the L.A. market and the Chicago market in the New York market.

But you know what? It's going to do numbers down in Birmingham. It's going to do numbers in, I don't know, pick another, you know, small college town. We can't just say, well, the fandom of these schools doesn't matter. Get rid of their bowl game. Get rid of their crowning achievement. sure, give them something to hope for and making the 2014 playoff one day. Let's just say, oh, sorry, you weren't good enough to make the college football playoff. Your season's done. I don't love the message that sends to fans either. Well, and I don't know.

I mean, I've never been, I always kind of like the idea of having the, despite the results this past year, the group of five or group of six teams having an opportunity to play for the national title. I mean, anybody that plays the sport should get that opportunity if you go undefeated or, you know, and that's what it's going to take to do it or close to it, right? And so, you know, I, but I've never been a big fan of their kind of group of five championship. But now I'm kind of starting to come into it because at least there would be stakes on that as opposed to just kind of these bowl games. And, and again, the two things that I, the points are going to make is one, again, the college football sport being so focused on the playoffs and the more you expand is going to be added to that. but that's what bothered me about Nebraska, USC,

even into this, even into this offseason, it's kind of, because Matt Ruhl kind of brought it up. And then, you know, Jason Peter was talking about it. But in general, that was kind of the billing for that game. And I'm a Nebraska fan and I'm sitting there thinking, what are you talking about? I'm not having some over some drink, like my, when they lost, I wasn't going, oh, no, the college football playoffs.

You know what I mean? It just didn't hit me at that point. But that's what every game is kind of being looked at. And then the other thing is, bowls are just falling apart as it is. Now, again, money still there, TV contracts. But we saw not just Notre Dame, but Kansas, Kansas State was it, I mean, there was a few teams that decided. And it's because of college football, you got to turn the calendar. I mean, they're trying to do some different things there, obviously.

But, I mean, it's just going to be tough. We've seen sit-outs, obviously. To try to preserve the bulls system, and I get what you're saying, because I'm a college football traditionalist. I love that sort of stuff. but again, I think if you go too far one way, you can't say, yeah, but we'll just keep that here and it'll remain the same importance.

Bull games are already just nothing compared to what they used to be because you used to be able to win the Orange Bowl and consider that a successful season. Or, hey, we made it to a bowl game for it. But now it's all playoff or bust. Well, those are the bowl games that are folded into the playoff system. You know, I think that, yeah, you have a point, you know, yeah, winning the Orange Bowl, winning the Rose Bowl,

winning the Cotton Bowl, the Peach Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, etc. Even beating an SEC team in Orlando or Jacksonville, yeah. Right. But what if what if we got to know an SEC versus Sunbelt bowl game? You know, SEC 8 versus Sunbelt 3. That would mean something potentially reasonably. Hey, we get a chance to knock off a big boy that's too scared to invite us to their place. That's too scared to come to our place that doesn't want to schedule a home and home. You know, we're used to getting beat up on.

Here's our one shot. Two lane against USC meant something to that community. You know, USC's able to move on. Okay, that's the blue big lead. It feels bad, but they were able to move on. Tulane's going to be hanging on that for a while. Parley, them into that conversation to start the next year, which is why it was a bummer, you know,

with Retzlaff and Mensa and all that turnover down there, that they weren't able to build it and sustain. But that's what I mean about, you know, bowl games in their proper place. We only, you know, generally speaking, as college football populace, care about the big bowl games. They're fun.

They're marquey matchups, their brand names. I'd love to pick the brain of a group of five fan or a group of five coach and say, does going to a bowl mean anything to you? Does the chance to play one more time, you know, the mystical 15 practices where the biggest leaps known to man, you know, it seemed to happen every year? Do those still matter to you? Because you're right, you know, we're not going to remember who won the Gasparilla Bowl or who won the Armed Forces Bowl or who won the, you know, Idaho Potato Bowl.

But you saw Frank Solich get French fries poured on it. That was pretty cool for him. That was pretty cool for Ohio to say, hey, we want a bowl game. look at our best coaching program history. You know, no, it wasn't the college football playoff, but I think we understand that not every bowl game is the college football playoff. I know we got to go to break. The other thing I would just throw out there is would group of five fans,

schools, administrators, coaches, players be okay with their own championship? Because there's a point where, yeah, okay, it's a long shot for us. We'd like to hang a banner. We'd like to compete against people in our tax bracket, you know, if you will. But then right or wrong, we'd have to. to be honest about what FBS membership means, you know, because, you know, there's a difference between FBS and FCS and moving up what's supposed to be a jump where, okay, you're at the big boy level of college football. Would we essentially be creating a quadruple-A? You know, if we're considering

FCS, the AAA of football, you know, in FBS, Division I, Power 5 is the show, is the majors, do we need Quad-A? Or, you know, does, does FBS, Division I membership mean something in football? or doesn't mean nothing, right now it probably means nothing. So maybe they would like the chance to participate in their own sort of championship for their own sort of bragging rights against teams in like I said, that similar tax bracket, if you will, for them. But maybe FBS membership is supposed to mean something. No, we're here.

We demand a seat of the table when we have a good season. You've said that we are a legitimate FBS Division I conference. Let us in the playoff. You don't want to, but you've said we're an FBS conference before. So if we're an FBS conference, we deserve the same level of respect and chance to compete, even if the odds are stacked against us. Yeah, all you can ask for is a shot. And certainly, like, it'd be interesting.

Because I would at least, I would at least, if I set it up, would be, hey, you can go to the big playoff if you want to. And then, you know, that second kind of group of six tournament would be, yes, the rest of the teams that are bowl eligible and all that sort of stuff. But then you would be without your top two. So what are you really claiming anyway as a champion? Lots to digest here. We'll talk a little bit more about it coming up next year as we closed out one-on-one around the break.