(07-31-2020 07:10 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(07-31-2020 05:37 PM)ken d Wrote:  I think it's significant that this is a bowl matching two P5 conferences. If they see the handwriting on the wall, we can just imagine what bowls between G5 conferences, some of which are only marginally viable financially under normal conditions, must be thinking.

Right now, the ACC's plans for their Conference Championship game to be played on either 12/12 or 12/19, in order to allow for flexibility in the regular season schedule due to COVID. I doubt they will be alone planning this way. At this point, I wouldn't want to bet on much past the NY6 bowls holding out to the bitter end. I won't be surprised if the number of post-season games is between 0-10 at the end of the day.

Actually, the G5 bowls might be the least affected. The G5 bowls are largely owned by ESPN and are made for TV affairs. In other words, those games are more about attractive live football TV programming in December than they are about putting butts in seats (or attracting tourist for the local Chamber of Commerce). Attendance is much less of a financial imperative for those bowls to maintain their value to ESPN.

Yes, and not only that, most G5 conferences don't have 10 bowl ties like some of the P5 do. As someone else noted, with just 10 games, all in conference, the SEC will surely not fill 3 or 4 of its 10 ties, even more if they get their usual 3 teams in to the NY6.

In contrast, conference like the MAC often have 6-6 bottom feeders left out of bowls because they don't have enough ties, so they will fill all their bowls.

Unless the NCAA grants a waiver to let 5-5 teams in, it is likely that many P5 bowls will go unfilled.