The Gator Bowl is the Latest Reminder That All Bowl Games are Pointless

The Gator Bowl will go on apparently. After Texas A&M pulled out of the game this week because of COVID issues, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons are searching for an opponent. That means finding a team without another bowl game which means they're looking at teams with losing records. Right now Rutgers (5-7) is being considered.

This is just an incredibly stark reminder that most bowl games are pointless.

Look, I get that people love the tradition. The Gator Bowl, sorry, let me start again. The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, dates back to 1946, long before anyone ever slayed a tax. For most of its history it featured two ranked teams, but recently, they've had trouble even getting one. Four of the last seven games haven't featured a ranked team. Wake Forest is the first school involved in this game to be ranked in the teens in a decade. That team, the 18th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, lost to the 6-6 Florida State Seminoles.

There was no good reason for that game to exist and there is no good reason for this one to happen. Unless you're worried about the college football players not getting their gift bag, which for the Gator Bowl apparently consists of custom-fit sunglasses, a watch, a bluetooth speaker, a tracker for the bluetooth speaker, a pair of headphones and a portable charger.

What more do you need to see out of Wake Forest? What kind of reward for winning 10 games is it to travel to Florida during a pandemic to beat Rutgers? Who needs to see this? I'll tell you who. College football sickos. I'm sure they will be devastated if there's no game. .. at 11 a.m. on New Year's Eve??? We're rushing to assemble a five-win Rutgers team like the Avengers for an 11 a.m. exhibition? Does no one hear how ridiculous this sounds? ESPN should air group therapy instead.