It is now one of the big six: Rose, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, Cotton, Peach. It's a new world and the Peach is now part of it.
Ol' Doodle has been reticent to post this because it may sound like sour grapes in advance. But since the Peach Bowl keeps gaining steam as a possible destination for the Hawks in the gut wrenching circumstance where we lose the game on Saturday, Doodle figures it needs to be said.
This whole Peach Bowl thing is a great case study in Perception vs. Reality. The current reality is that yes, the Peach Bowl is considered one of the "elite" New Years 6 Bowls. It is officially in the rotation for the playoff semifinals. If we go to the Peach, obviously Doodle hopes we beat the snot out of whomever we face, and bring home the hardware.
That having been said, while the Peach may
technically be considered in the same category as the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Cotton, and Fiesta this year, in terms of prestige and history, the Peach isn't even in the same GALAXY as the others.
Here's a little food for thought for those who think the Peach Bowl is just as good as the Rose or Fiesta (the other two likely destinations for the Hawks should they not beat MSU):
- Next time the Peach crowns a national champion will be the first time.
- Next time the Peach hosts an undefeated team will be the first time.
- Next time the Peach hosts a Power 5 conference champion will be the first time.
- Next time the Peach hosts a Top 5 matchup will be the first time.
- Next time the Peach hosts a Top 10 matchup will be only the third time.
In the last 8 years, the highest viewership for a Peach Bowl was 2013 (Texas A&M vs. Duke) with 8.7 million. By comparison, with over 20 million viewers, the 2011 Rose Bowl, which was not for the BCS title (TCU v. Wisky), ranks as one of the 10 most watched programs of ANY KIND in the entire history of cable television.
So they can characterize it however they want...but Chick-Fil-A writing a check and forcing the insertion of the Peach into the exclusive club of historically elite New Years Bowls does not instantly make the Peach into a historically elite New Years bowl.
Despite the amount of money being thrown at it, the Peach is still considered by most people to be historically a mid-major bowl on the same level as the Outback, Holiday, and Alamo. No amount of money is going to permanently erase the past 47 years and suddenly vault the Peach to being "appointment television" the way the Rose, Orange, Fiesta, etc. have been for many, many decades.
Think about it this way....since they apparently have to have 6 bowls in this rotation, can you imagine a scenario where there will EVER be a "New Years 6" that doesn't include the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta, and Orange? Now...can you envision a time in the future where the PEACH is not in that mix? Envisioning it doesn't even really require that much effort. 20 years from now we can all explain how, "Ummm...you know, that one year...uhh...like....the Peach Bowl was considered, you know, to be one of the good bowls...and junk."
When you see a Rose, Sugar, Orange, Cotton or Fiesta.....no explanation necessary.
But after all of this has been said, for those of you still willing to completely suspend disbelief and pretend the Peach is every bit the equal of the Fiesta, Rose, Orange, et.al....ask yourself this;
if the winningest single-season team in Iowa Football history ends up going to the Peach Bowl...would you pay StubHub prices in order to be sure you could attend? Would you do so if it was the Rose Bowl?
If Iowa goes to and
wins the Peach Bowl...on your next trip to Kinnick will you feel compelled to stop by the new Iowa Football complex and race to the trophy case so you can get a selfie with the "coveted" Peach Bowl trophy?
Yeah.........Doodle didn't think so.
Still don't understand? That's okay. Some people are visual learners. Here's a video that may help.
