Is The College Bowl System Unfixable?

Welcome to the latest episode of Hot Takedown, FiveThirtyEight’s sports podcast. On this week’s show (Dec. 20, 2016), we debate whether we’ve reached peak bowl season in college football — and discuss ways to reform the system. Next, following the benching of Houston Texans QB Brock Osweiler this weekend, we take a look at his stats and ponder whether he would have been better off with the Denver Broncos. Finally, ’tis the season: with an assist from Neil Paine and IMDb, we try to apply Elo ratings to Christmas movies. Plus, a significant digit on how a celebration ruined the Celebration Bowl for North Carolina Central.

Links to what we discussed:

• Heading into the start of bowl season, Neil Paine attempted to grade the many, many, many college football matchups.
• Back in April, Bleacher Report’s Barrett Sallee argued that there is no such thing as too many bowl games.
• ESPN’s Stats & Information took a look at the numbers that led to the sidelining of Brock Osweiler this weekend.
• Before Osweiler and Trevor Siemian faced off against each other this October, ESPN took stock of the pros and cons of each quarterback.
• If you’d like some more Christmas movie suggestions, this IMDB keyword search will give you some ideas.
• Significant Digit: 15, the number of yards lost on an excessive celebration penalty that was enforced at the Celebration Bowl — and that decided the game. With a couple minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, NC Central scored a 39-yard touchdown against Grambling State. The receiver who scored removed his helmet in celebration, resulting in a penalty that moved the extra point attempt back. NC Central missed the extra point and wound up losing, 10-9.