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Please tell me you are kidding

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In 1965 Ara left them waiting on the field before kickoff in a cold rain for a half an hour.

We then RAN for 4 TDs before they scored near the end of the game against our reserves.

Interesting.

Someday they’re gonna wake up holding a minor league product that has a very remote/tangential connection to actual universities…and wonder why it is no longer popular/profitable.

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warmer climes.

Championships were originally determined before the Bowls.

The question now is: what is it becoming?

In my view it is becoming a minor league...slowly being stripped of the appeal that differentiated it from pro sports and made people passionate about it. (Freely admit a percentage of that appeal has been a mirage in a number of aspects for some time.)

If you listen closely...you'll hear the golden goose gasping...

I love alliteration - good job! :)

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After the pollsters selected the champ, fans spent the next 9 months celebrating or complaining about it. Even if a certain bowl game had no championship implications, tuning in to those games were still great. Then came the BCS.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZJu3u_311k

For almost half a century they were irrelevant

Of course there was little TV coverage before that and ND did not participate until 1970… except for the 1925 Rose Bowl.

TV money changed everything… including ND’s participation

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Beating Texas in a "home" game for them , not to mention they had Heisman monster Earl Campbell. Pretty impressive win by ND if you ask me. .

And others like him - the uniqueness of it all, the drama you could end up with on New Year's Day with multiple teams looking to make a case for one of the 2 polls. It certainly made things interesting.

And I get your point: In 1997, Nebraska and Michigan needed to put their best foot forward to show they deserved the title, and even Tennessee had a shot had they beaten Nebraska and Michigan lost. In 1994, it's largely forgotten that had Miami beaten Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, there was a reasonable chance that some voters may have been swayed to pick them over Penn State. After all, it would have given Miami 2 wins over Top 3 opponents with their only loss to Washington, while Penn State would end up with no wins over Top Ten opponents.

It was unique. Some people loved that.

It was the only sport without an actual championship and something like half of the teams had no path to a championship. I think they should scrap the byes and go with 8 teams, but having a playoff is way better than what it used to be.

Specifically the way it all funneled the championship paths and opportunities to a handful of specific conferences (or more precisely, teams).

In the 90's, Miami and Florida State essentially needed to win 1 or at most 2 big games in cake conferences to arrive on New Year's Day unbeaten or with 1 loss and a shot at the voted title. For Miami and the Big East, that meant basically a home game against an overmatched Big 8 opponent.

The Rose Bowl collusion racket guaranteed that a legitimate contender would not be playing #1 or #2 if those teams were from the S.E.C., A.C.C., or Big 12. Hence we got split titles or teams like Penn State getting shut out altogether.

As for the B.C.S.....a computer determining which 2 teams were "the best" was the silliest thing that I ever heard. And as you mentioned, did virtually nothing to create a path to a championship opportunity for anyone outside the protected class.

I was probably 7 or 8 going "this doesn't make any sense".

Ideally analyzing what set of circumstances would have to transpire for ND to win it all...(or, at least, to achieve the highest ranking.)