Coming off our first and only bye week of 2024, collegefootballfan.com looks forward to our first bowl game of 2023 this Saturday. It will be a battle between a Power Five team and a Group of Five team. Nine such games are slated during the 2023 bowl season. We head to the Birmingham Bowl to see the Trojans of Troy (11-2), champions of the Sun Belt play improved Duke (7-5) of the ACC. Regarding both programs, their successful coaches from 2023 have moved on to new opportunities. Both will be replaced by very reputable assistant coaches from the past few years.
For this game, DC Greg Gasparato steps in to take over the Trojans replacing Jon Sumrall. He signed on to take over an up-and-coming Tulane program. Duke will be under Trooper Taylor as interim head coach. He replaces Mike Elko who leaves to take on his new challenge at Texas A&M. Good news for Troy, senior QB Gunnar Watson and RB Kimani Vidal who we saw play in the FBS championship win over Appalachian State ,49-23, will be in action once again. After Elko’s departure from Duke, numerous Blue Devils entered the transfer portal. The biggest name includes QB Riley Leonard. He leaves for Notre Dame to follows in the footsteps of another former ACC QB, Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman. Trooper Taylor served this season as Associate HC for Duke among his 30 years in coaching including stops at Tennessee, Oklahoma State and Auburn.
Birmingham Bowl: Troy experience vs. Duke question marks
Under Gasparato, Troy ranked 10th nationally in scoring defense, 14th in rushing defense, and 15th in total defense. We look for the Trojans to win this one. They have a nucleus of good, experienced players returning against a team of Blue Devils decimated by the transfer portal. We ask ourselves, are all these “bowl” games worth playing anymore? They’re no longer about an accomplishment for a team after a fine season. The post season now screams, “Look who’s leaving,” and “Look who is coming to play (or coach) for us next year!” It’s all about individualism now not only for coaches, but for players making moves for NIL money.
Next season, Manny Diaz, Penn State DC takes over as Blue Devil Coach. For Troy, Gerad Parker steps in from his first-year OC duties at Notre Dame. Prior to ND, he coached the offense at West Virginia and receivers at Penn State. He offers a pretty impressive resume as an assistant dating back to his playing days a WR at Kentucky in 2002.
Power Five vs. Group of Five Bowls
Troy vs. Duke comes as one of nine bowl games this season matching Power Five programs to teams that in the past were called Mid-majors. Last season, there were only six such contest. Each faction took three victories. We enjoy seeing the mix of both groups play one another. It gives the Group or Five an opportunity to show that aside from the “Blue-bloods” of Power Five Football, they are just as competitive as many other programs of the so-called Power Five. Most lose to the Elite programs more that line the loss columns of the most dominant FBS programs. Last season, among the group of six bowls, the top-rated Group of Five team, Tulane, defeated perennial FBS Power USC of the fading PAC-12, 46-45. This year, No. 23 Liberty (13-0) takes its Group shot against No. 8 Oregon (11-2) in the Fiesta Bowl.
Group of Five should thrive
Among other such games as note, tonight American AC team South Florida (6-6) plays Syracuse (6-6) in Boca Raton Bowl; MAC’s Bowling Green (7-5) plays Minnesota (5-7) in the Quick Lane Bowl (why couldn’t Army (6-6) get this bowl instead of the Gophers); Tulane (11-2) vs. Virginia Tech (6-6) in the Military Bowl; and SMU vs. Boston College (6-6) in the Fenway Bowl. Our second bowl venture features Memphis (9-3) of the AAC against Iowa State (7-5) of the Big XII at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
We think the Group of Five teams will excel in most of these games. In the future, as proposed in my new book Fifty Years of Tailgate tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly, I suggest scheduling more of the be best of some of these Groups against bowl against SEC and Big Ten opponents. Too many Big Ten vs SEC games. I’d like to see the Group teams play these squads with “Power Five” labels. We might find that the Power is not so dominant over the Group.
What’s in a name?
Remember when fewer bowl games existed and most teams won at least 80% of their games. Eventually 7-4 was competitive as the number of bowls started to expand. Some teams with records of 10-0, like Miami (O.) in the MAC back in 1998 didn’t even get a bid. Now 82 of 134 teams get to “bowl” games. many are 6-6 with a victory over a non-bowl FCS competitor. As indicated earlier, Minnesota got a bid with a record of 5-7. In my book, I propose that all 134 teams are offered the opportunity to play one post season game. Barring injuries or coaching changes or just a lack of interest, they don’t have to play any game. However, whether this becomes reality of not, let’s consider calling only games of post-season games of significance “bowl games,” and call lesser contests for what they really are – “consolation” games.
Didn’t earn a bowl? Console!
To quantify the difference, any game between one team with a record of 8-4 at best plays another team with a worse record, call it a consolation game. They didn’t have great seasons, but take the opportunity to practice like all other schools, earn some TV revenue and buckle up for next season. If both teams have records of 8-4 or better, consider them bowl games. It’s misleading each year when a particular team plays. Fans hear they either have or had ten bowl teams on their schedule. Probably half of these had mediocre seasons, not a “bowl” season. That used to depict an honor for a better than average season at least.
If you look at the 2023 post season games on record, of these contests, 15 of 41 would earn the designation of a Bowl game. So, 30 teams will compete in Bowls then. That makes 22.4% of all FBS teams Bowl teams instead of 61%. That latter ratio definitely does not define the best of the best.
Collegefootballfan.com 2023 Top Ten
Before attending three upcoming bowl games, here’s an analysis of our 2023 regular season. Since August 26 through December 9, we attended 23 different college football games. Among 33 different teams, we saw 29 FBS programs and four FCS programs. Nineteen different stadiums were visited, eight new ones for the first time. Altogether, we attended games in 12 states from Massachusetts to Texas.
Regarding conferences, we witnessed teams from ConferenceUSA (6), American Athletic (4), MAC (4), SEC (4), Sun Belt (4), ACC (3), Big Ten (3), Mountain West (2), and one Independent soon to be AAC – Army. In the FCS, we saw one team each from the Big South-Ohio Valley, Ivy League, Missouri Valley and Patriot League. In upcoming bowl games, we will see Troy and Auburn both play for the second time this year. We add four more FBS teams in Duke, Memphis, Iowa State (our first Big XII), and Maryland.
Based on final records within their level of play, post season results and games we watched each play in, this is our Collegefootballfan.com 2023 Top Ten:
- Michigan 13-0
- Florida State 13-0
- Missouri 10-2
- Penn State 10-2
- Liberty 13-0
- Troy 11-2
- SMU 11-2
- Miami (O.) 11-2
- Toledo (11-2)
- Tennessee (8-4)
Top FCS team: Lafayette 9-2
Stocking Stuffer for your Merry Christmas and Bowl Season to keep up with upcoming changes
Put this on Santa’s list or get one each for your best college football friends, my new book:
Click here on the title: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales, The Good, the Fun and the Ugly
