College football is great – I’ve been blessed to be a Michigan alum & fan over the past three years, with three straight trips to the College Football Playoffs. #GoBlue!
But here’s what irritates me about college bowl games – there’s too damn many of them that they don’t mean much. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great around the holidays to watch football – especially when compared to the standard “nothing else good on television” fare. But I think it’s important for a football team to HAVE A WINNING RECORD to go to a bowl game.
Out of the 43 Bowl games being played by FBS schools, there are 11 bowl games where one or both teams don’t have a winning record. (Just like last year.) There are five teams below that have 7-5 (winning!) records, so 3 of the 11 games could be salvaged. That’s certainly what I would recommend.
The 2023 “Pity Bowls”
| Pity Bowl Game | Date | Team | Team |
| Independence Bowl | 16 Dec | Cal (6-6) | Texas Tech (6-6) |
| Famous Toastery Bowl | 18 Dec | Western Kentucky (7-5) | Old Dominion (6-6) |
| Boca Raton Bowl | 21 Dec | South Florida (6-6) | Syracuse (6-6) |
| Gasparilla Bowl | 22 Dec | UCF (6-6) | Georgia Tech (6-6) |
| Camellia Bowl | 23 Dec | Arkansas State (6-6) | Northern Illinois (6-6) |
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | 23 Dec | Georgia State (6-6) | Utah State (6-6) |
| 68 Ventures Bowl | 23 Dec | South Alabama (6-6) | Eastern Michigan (6-6) |
| Quick Lane Bowl | 26 Dec | Bowling Green (7-5) | Minnesota (5-7) |
| First Responder Bowl | 26 Dec | Texas State (7-5) | Rice (6-6) |
| Pinstripe Bowl | 28 Dec | Rutgers (6-6) | Miami (FL) (7-5) |
| Music City Bowl | 30 Dec | Maryland (7-5) | Auburn (6-6) |
Jed Christiansen 