Congratulations to the MSU football team for clinching its bowl eligibility and giving the seniors one last game to play as Spartans. It’s great to see the team’s work finally pay off.
But while it’s great the Spartans can go on to a postseason bowl game, it’s important to consider the drawbacks of the green and white heading to the Silicon Valley Classic.
A trip to the Silicon Valley Bowl is expensive. Airfare to California is quite pricey for fans to make the trip from Michigan. The distance almost ensures only the most dedicated - or wealthy - fans will come to the game. And if fans don’t come, there will be unsold tickets and lost revenue.
Like the Spartans trip to the Aloha Bowl in 1997, MSU stands to spend a lot of money to make the trip to California - but for a more mediocre experience. Back then, the university lost $310,000 after expenses and paying the Aloha Bowl for the about 8,000 tickets left unsold.
If the university looked at the situation from an economic standpoint, we wouldn’t be going to California for New Year’s Eve. But officials aren’t thinking with their pocketbooks, they’re thinking with their pride.
And what a sense of pride it is - it should be hurt we aren’t going somewhere better. Two other Big Ten teams, both with the same 6-5 record, are going to better bowls. Purdue will go up against Washington State in the Sun Bowl and Iowa is matched up against the Big 12 No. 4 slot in the Alamo Bowl.
This should tell us a little something about what the university needs to do for the football program, and it’s not just about winning more games, although that certainly wouldn’t hurt.
The bowl system has lost a lot of its prestige anyway. There are 25 bowl games being played this holiday season, with names ranging from the “Visit Florida Tangerine Bowl” and the “Insight.com Bowl.”
Every mediocre team that wins six games shouldn’t expect to go to a bowl game. The experience of going to a bowl might be nice, but taking the trip for the sole purpose of taking a trip cheapens the experience.
All told, the MSU Athletics Department needs to work harder to get the team a better exit point to its season. With more athletic clout, the Spartans could have made a better argument for Purdue’s or Iowa’s spot in the more prestigious bowl game our players deserve, and created a brighter high point for the season.
Instead, they’re settling for a young bowl - this will be the second time it’s ever played - all the way across the country that few will see and fewer will want to attend.
Officials should take care in the future to not get caught up in the heady thrill of victory and weigh their options carefully before deciding on postseason plans.
