Bowl games used to be a treat for college football programs to play in after having a successful season.
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As more postseason games were added to the schedule, the bowl season started to become diluted, though there were still prestigious games played around New Year’s Day.
With the expanded College Football Playoff and the modern transfer portal, finding competitive teams to play in bowl games isn’t easy. The Big 12 had several programs willing to pay fines to opt out of a bowl opportunity.
The controversy spread to Notre Dame, as it snubbed the Pop-Tarts Bowl after being left out of the CFP.
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The Auburn Tigers missed out on becoming bowl eligible when they finished with a 27-20 loss at home to then-No. 10 Alabama on Nov. 30. Despite finishing with a 5-7 record, the Tigers were offered an opportunity to play in a postseason game as more qualified teams rejected invitations.
New Auburn head coach Alex Golesh explained his reasoning for not playing in a bowl game, saying it would have been hard to coach a team with all of the staff turnover. Had the Tigers thought so many teams would reject invitations, Auburn might have played in a bowl this year.
“I think if it all had happened a week ago and our guys were all here, the staff that was previously here was still here intact for the most part, I think that would have been realistic,” Alex Golesh said, via On3. “I think you go through the week and when that question was posed to us there’s multiple things that go into it.
“One, there’s so much staff turnover that it would be hard to truly be able to put it all together and be competitive to where you have a chance to go win a football game. If you’re going to go play a game you’re going to go win the game.”
Golesh said most of the players went home after finals, and Auburn didn’t want to bring them back as the program deals with roster management for 2026. He didn’t think it was fair to the players.
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