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The Not-Another-Bowl Bowl

With more postseason games than ever, even some top teams are struggling to sell seat

By RUSSELL ADAMS
December 30, 2006; Page P3

Fred and Marianne Lescher are diehard Boston College football fans -- they buy season tickets every year and have traveled from their home in Arizona as far as Indiana and California to see the team play.

But when the Eagles face Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., this weekend, the Leschers won't be there to see it. "Nobody we know is going," says Mr. Lescher, a first-aid supplies salesman.

In college football, an invitation to a postseason bowl has long been considered the ultimate prize for teams. But as the number of bowl games increases, it is getting harder to sell fans on them. Texas Christian University sold only 3,000 of its 10,000-ticket allotment for the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, while the University of Missouri had to give away 1,000 of its 8,000 tickets for the Brut Sun Bowl. Auburn University, which finished the regular season 11th in the country, hasn't found takers for about 2,500 of its batch of 12,500 tickets for the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.

There are a record 32 bowls this season, up from 28 last year and 18 about a decade ago. As TV networks have found a way to make money on even mediocre matchups, a winning record during the regular season is no longer a prerequisite for being picked. This year, seven teams with 6-6 records were chosen, as were 13 teams with 7-5 records. Just to find enough teams to fill the slots, the NCAA this spring had to pass an exemption allowing teams with .500 records to go to a bowl.

Of course, the top-shelf bowls -- including the five Bowl Championship Series matchups as well as games like the Gator Bowl and the Holiday Bowl -- have no trouble attracting the best teams and selling out stadiums. And even many of the newer, lower-profile games sell at least 70% of their seats. But with some bowl sales slowing -- last year, 18 of them saw attendance declines, and overall bowl attendance dropped by about 5%, according to the Football Bowl Association -- it's fueling a broader debate over whether the current postseason format works.

Critics, mainly commentators and representatives from the top football programs, say that a "playoff" tournament would do a better job of determining the best team in the country. Bowl proponents, on the other hand, which include university presidents and representatives from smaller conferences, say that the games are an important source of revenue and exposure for teams outside the top 25.