Is College Football Losing Its 'Great' Traditions?

CANVAS STAFF REPORTS - College football has been such a huge part of American culture; it’s hard to imagine the American pastime could be losing its deep-rooted traditions.

The HuffingtonPost.com reports that the organizers of the classic Bowl Championship Series are worried that postseason playoffs could jeopardize the ’great traditions of the bowls.’

However, the Huffington Post points out that the customs really began to fade when revenue became the top priority of the BCS, with corporate sponsorship and television contracts.

For instance, some of the ways the institution has lost its traditional legs, include:

· Having corporate names tied to the bowl names, like the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl and the Rose Bowl presented by Citi.

· And, unfortunately those bowls that are not tied to sponsorships often don’t make it, like Houston ’s Bluebonnet Bowl that was a longstanding tradition for the city from 1959 to 1987.

· Another break with tradition happened when the NCAA added an extra game in 2006 that enabled teams to play 12 games, which allow teams to be eligible to play in the bowl with a 6-6 record.

· And even though the Rose Bowl has stayed true to its traditional location where it’s played, the ’Grandaddy of Them All’ as it is called, has been swayed from its traditional start date of New Year’s Day, January 1, by its massive television sponsorship revenues.

· College football is no longer just played on the traditional Saturday nights, but rather every night of the week at some point in the season as the WashingtonPost.com points out.

· Rather than being played on campus, some of the games are moving inside domes.

· The biggest tradition of all that died with the BCS, is that there is now one national championship game since the whole tradition of college football was always that there were multiple winning teams, rather than just one overall winner.