College Football Teams Decline Bowls to Avoid Losing Records

Key Quotes

"And the team that they found to do it was none other than the team that hates Georgia Southern the most, Appalachian State, five and seven. They were like, you know what, we could, we could take the winner off, or we could go punch those assholes we hate in Birmingham. What do you think, fellas? We want to go headbutt Georgia Southern again? Yeah, hell yeah, we like that more than vacation."

The author highlights Appalachian State's motivation for accepting a bowl game invitation. This quote shows Appalachian State's preference for playing a rival, Georgia Southern, over a traditional vacation. The author suggests this choice reflects a team's desire for competitive engagement over rest.

"On Selection Sunday, Brett McMurphy reported, reported Florida State, Auburn, and UCF, Baylor, Rutgers, Temple, and Kansas State turned the game down. And then there's some sort of, uh, the haggling over what does 'turned down' mean? Like Temple came out and said, like, well, no, we didn't turn it down, you know. So like, it, it, there's varying interpretations of exactly what that means, but it's quite a list regardless."

The author presents a list of teams that reportedly declined an invitation to the Birmingham Bowl. This quote demonstrates the author's observation that the meaning of "turned down" can be ambiguous, as evidenced by Temple's differing statement. The author notes that regardless of interpretation, the list of teams is significant.

"For some of these, like, okay, for Temple, I can be like, look, Birmingham's far away, you're maybe not like, I don't know, we're gonna sell our ticket allotment, etcetera, etcetera. Florida State, Baylor, this is 100% like, I'm not looking for it, I'm not looking for more losses. Do not put that. No. I have survived this season. Do not put that shit on me."

The author explains potential reasons why certain teams might decline a bowl invitation. This quote shows the author's perspective that teams like Florida State and Baylor would refuse a bowl game to avoid accumulating more losses. The author suggests these teams prioritize preserving their season's record over participating in an additional game.

"You know, society is held up by rules. And I feel like there's a lot of teams, probably today, a lot of, a lot of alums who were like, wait, we can just turn down the Birmingham Bowl pit? I'm looking at you. Most of them went to Pitt. That was their ancestral homeland. Yeah. Yeah. They're like, we can, I didn't know we were allowed to do that."

The author reflects on the perceived novelty of teams declining bowl game invitations. This quote demonstrates the author's idea that many alumni may be unaware of the option to refuse a bowl game. The author implies that this realization is a recent development for some programs, such as those associated with Pitt.