Bowl games struggle with cancelations

College football bowl game are being canceled due to Covid-19 positive tests on the rosters of some teams and other problems, with some finding replacements to attend the events.

Thus far, bowl games that were canceled without replacement teams include SoFi Hawai’i Bowl (Memphis vs. Hawaii), Military Bowl (Boston College v East Carolina), Fenway Bowl (Virginia v SMU), Ariona Bowl (Boise State v Central Michigan), and the Holiday Bowl (UCLA v NC State).

Central Michigan has been released of their bowl tie-in to the Arizona Bowl and will now play Washington State in the Sun Bowl. Boise State officially removed itself from the Arizona Bowl. This came after Miami (FL) had not even made the flight to the Sun Bowl in El Paso.

The Holiday Bowl in San Diego was canceled less than five hours ahead of the game due to issues in UCLA’s defensive line.

Hawai’i cited positive Covid tests as a reason to abandon their namesake Hawai’i Bowl. However, reports indicated chaos and drama inside the Hawai’i locker room, as some apparently expressed concern over head coach Todd Graham’s motives in getting a bowl game.

Texas A&M opted out of the Gator Bowl due to COVID-19, allowing the NCAA to find a replacement. Rutgers has officially stepped in for Texas A&M and will face Wake Forest on Dec. 31.

Texas A&M dropped out for multiple reasons, one of the biggest because they didn’t have enough scholarship players available to field a team, according to TAMU Coach Jimbo Fisher and athletic director Ross Bjork. The program was down to 38 scholarship position players, 20 being offensive and defensive linemen. Additionally, tight end Jalen Wydermyer and running back Isaiah Spiller declared for the NFL draft, and quarterback Z a c h Calzada entered the transfer portal. All in all, TAMU had more than 40 players out between positive tests, seasonending injuries, transfers and opt-outs.

The Alamo Bowl is was in question with Oklahoma and Oregon with the Ducks appearing to be relatively shorthanded for a couple of reasons including reporting some players testing positive.

While spikes in cases continue to alter plans across the sports world, many are wondering if the protocols need to be changed since bowls games are being canceled because of protocols developed 18 months ago and asymptomatic college students are being tested.

The loss in money and bonuses begins to mount up with each canceled bowl game. In 2020 canceled games cost well above $22 million in TV advertising revenue alone. That doesn’t touch the amount that cities hosting games and businesses lost in revenue.

As Sun Bowl organizers scrambled to replace the Miami team, El Paso businesses had flashbacks of the 2020 cancelation, which brought close to an eight-figure hit to the economy. The Sun Bowl Association estimates the Borderland’s bowl game brings up to $15 million annually to El Paso’s economy. El Paso was given a reprieve as Central Michigan was allowed to fill the slot to play Washington State.

The cost to angry fans across the entire country is now mounting up for those incurred expenses associated with flights, car and gas expenses, motels and meals and expensive game tickets -only to have the bowls canceled, and in the case of the Holiday Bowl, just hours before kickoff. Thousands traveled from North Carolina to San Diego for the game.

The Arizona Bowl also had thousands of fans arriving to cheer their favorite teams, when bowl organizers announced Boise State was dropping out due to players testing positive, canceling the game.

While there have been some reports of a few positive tests among the Fiesta Bowl players, there haven’t been enough to impact either school’s ability to field a team on New Year’s Day.

Some fans said that even if the bowl games are canceled, they can do nothing about it. And no money will be refunded.

But if the problem moves forward there is a bigger question. What will happen if one of the four teams in the College Football Playoff has to drop out? The rules say that it will count as a forfeit, but the NCAA has the power to change its mind.