Middle Tennessee Sneaks Into a Bowl Game, But Do They Deserve It?

As great of a story as the Blue Raiders are by stringing off three straight wins to become bowl eligible, it still seems odd that they made a bowl game.

Before I go any further, I want to express that I'm not taking anything away from the players or the coaches of the Blue Raiders. They played their hearts out all season and they were lucky enough to receive a bowl invite.

With that said, we have to wonder what the bowl season has become in college football when 6-6 teams are playing in December and January.

Making the bowl season use to be a testament to how great of a season a team had, but now it seems that mediocrity is rewarded as well.

The Blue Raiders aren't the only team to single out here. There are plenty of average teams that made the bowl season.

In fact, the Blue Raiders are one of 13 teams at 6-6 that are participating in a bowl game.

Meanwhile, a team like Temple gets snubbed from the postseason at 8-4?

They defeated Connecticut, which also finished 8-4 and is going to a BCS bowl to play juggernaut Oklahoma?

Something isn't right here and if the bowl season is going to stick around, then it has to become less watered down.

In defense of the Blue Raiders, they overcame a major bump in the road when their star quarterback was suspended for the first four games. Only two of their six losses were by more than a touchdown as well.

There is a lot of intrigue with this team thanks to Dwight Dasher at quarterback, and I'm sure that had a lot to do with their invite to the GoDaddy.com Bowl.

Still, a 6-6 record is what it is—average.

It proves that the bowl season has become more about the big money than it is about rewarding the good teams with the postseason.

The problem with this season was the lack of really good teams, and maybe that's an indication that we have too many bowl games to begin with.

When we're having trouble finding enough good teams to fill up the bowl games, that means there are too many bowl games.

You may not realize it by reading this article, but I'm a huge supporter of the Blue Raiders and I'm happy they made a bowl game. However, it would mean a lot more if making the postseason took more work.

No reason to condemn the Blue Raiders for that and they will play hard in their second straight bowl game.