Has anybody had much time to break down the NCAA bowl games?

Has anybody cared?

As I heard someone say on the radio, if you’re not committed to one school — whether you live in the area or attend that particular college or university — the bowls are not for you.

It seems the bowls are only there to give you something to watch from December 17 through Jan. 9 — really, Jan. 9!

I’m sure I’ve said in a past column about how late these games go. I’m not that old to remember when the big games were all concluded on Jan. 1. You used to be home, relaxed, ringing in the new year, a handful of bowls with the national championship known by the end of the evening.

Not anymore.

The idea of Jan. 2 this year is not as bad considering Sundays belongs to the NFL and the NCAA — while not the brightest organization out there, but smart enough to know it would get drubbed by the NFL.

Six games will be played, including two of the five from the Bowl Championship Series: the Rose Bowl (Oregon vs. Wisconsin) and Fiesta Bowl (Stanford vs. Oklahoma State).

The Sugar Bowl (Virginia Tech vs. Michigangan) will be played the next day while the Orange Bowl (West Virginia vs. Clemson) will be on Jan. 4.

The final BCS game is the aforementioned Jan. 9 contest (LSU vs. Alabama).

The two teams met last month with LSU eking out a 9-6 victory.

Whether Oklahoma State (11-1) deserves a shot at the title is moot, because LSU and Alabama played a whale of a game and should be another classic matchup.

But why does the NCAA need to bleed the season out so long?

The season is pushed out more than one week more than it used to be and, as a creature of habit, when the new year rolls around — I think a lot of people focus their attention on the NFL playoffs.

The BCS does not allow a true playoff system, so the computer rankings dictate who will play who.

Unlike the NCAA’s basketball tournaments, where upsets and the format crown a legitimate champion, that can’t work, but a four-weekend one can — it would be done by the beginning of the year.

The school presidents would have to sign off on it, which they won’t, but you could still have all the meaningless bowl games for the other schools.

Locally, West Virginia, by winning the Big East and getting the automatic Big East’s BCS berth, scored big with the Orange Bowl against Clemson.

For Penn State, the scandal that rocked the campus played a part as the Nittany Lions settled for the TicketCity Bowl on Jan. 2 against Houston. A good game, but the Lions should have gotten more.

As for Pitt, it will have to face SMU in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. Jan. 7. Yawn.

Should bowl acceptances be forgotten and never brought to mind?

Definitely yes.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.