This Bowl Season's Ringing Hollow

Thank whatever and whomever the College Football Playoff is coming up fast.

The first eight days of bowl action has been unwatchable, and there is not much to get excited about on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

Is the specter of having only two games that matter casting a pall over the rest of the holiday games?

Or is it just that the Your Name Here Bowl has numbed our senses?

The first wave of bowls was thin on highlights:

• One was Frank Beamer's final game as the Virgina Tech coach, as the Hokies defeated Tulsa 55-52 but it reminded me too much of a Big XII game, only without the Big XII teams:
• Arizona did all it could to pay attention in New Mexico:
• And then there was Mormon-on-Mormon violence -- such as it is -- when the Utes damn near blew a 35-0 lead:

Looking ahead to Monday and Tuesday, I respect everyone on the Navy, Air Force, or any military team, but the Middies v Pittsburgh or Falcons v California will not make me run to a television.

Texas A&M meets Louisville in the Music City Bowl. Apparently, the Aggies' strategy is to have the Cardinals not be seen dead anywhere near them:

LSU and Baylor are also in action before New Year's Eve, but neither of their matchups are making my heart race, either.

Thursday should be another story.

Its first game, the Peach Bowl between Houston and Florida State, can be a statement game for the Cougars as they try to prove they belong on the big stage. One player who won't, though, is the Seminoles' QB Everett Golson after getting beaten out of his job.

Let's check this dude with a game that's already been played where we know the result, like the Heart of Dallas Bowl:

That's only one game, but the dude's thought processes are clear to see.

Of course the two semi-final games -- Clemson v Oklahoma and Alabama v Michigan State -- are the marquée matchups of the bowl season, but they should be played on New Years' Day instead of New Years' Eve.

This schedule makes great matchups like Notre Dame v Ohio State and Stanford v Iowa in the Fiesta and Rose Bowls respectively seem anti-climatic.

Most of the other games are not the best matchups except for possibly TCU vs Oregon, which could be another defense-optional game.

This is usually the best time of year for college football fans, but something is missing. And if it's due to the other bowls being overshadowed by the CFP games, then perhaps that's yet another reason to expand it.