It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that once, bowl games had a greater appeal than national championship appearances. But it’s been decades since, and that “appeal” has considerably been diluted over time. In the last four weeks, nine programs declined bowl invitations, leading to a full-blown meltdown in college football. This prompted The Athletic’s Chris Vennini to connect the incident with comments previously made by $100 million Colts quarterback Philip Rivers

“To say a game is meaningless is not in my DNA,” Rivers said following a loss to Jacksonville.

“Those games we played in the backyard, and we were 10 years old, (they) weren’t meaningless, right?” he asked rhetorically. “Nobody gave a riff about those. But you went home crying, or you went home happy, you know? So, there’s no such thing. Everything we do matters.”

While college football is dealing with the watered-down impact of bowl games and the 12-team playoff bracket, Indianapolis Colts’ star Philip Rivers is fighting for the fact that every game matters. On Sunday, Rivers’ offense was fighting desperately for a playoff spot. However, after an interception and two field goals by the Jaguars, the Colts stared down with a 17-23 loss, as the playoff berth escaped past them.

Maybe that frustration resonated with every college football program, which led Vennini to draw a parallel between two incidents.

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Over the past few weeks, Notre Dame, Iowa State, Kansas State, Florida State, Auburn, UCF, Baylor, Rutgers, and Kansas have declined their bowl invitations. Although not every reason prompted the CFP snub. Kansas State and Iowa State declined to participate in the bowl game due to a change in leadership; others turned down the invitation due to injuries. When these programs opted out of the bowl invitation, The Athletic’s Keith O’Brien further called it “The Slow, Inevitable Death of the Bowl Game.”

However, it all started when Notre Dame was snubbed from the playoffs. After taking two brutal losses to Miami and Texas A&M, the 10-2 team was all set to make it to the playoffs. But what came next led to a college football meltdown.

Notre Dame bears the brunt of the criticism

Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame had a shaky start to the 2025 season. With a 12-team playoff bracket, Notre Dame’s playoff dreams took a hit. Miami’s last-minute surge, owing to a head-to-head win, along with Alabama’s continued dominance despite the SEC title loss (title game not factored in the regular season), pushed Notre Dame out of the race.

However, the real culprit was the Irish’s quality of schedule. Except for the Miami Hurricanes, USC Trojans, and the Aggies, Notre Dame’s 2025 slate did not feature elite units. As a result, the program did not make it to the 12-seed format. However, Notre Dame AD Pete won’t bow down. In protest, they declined the Pop-Tarts Bowl, calling these rankings an “absolute joke.”

“There is no explanation that could possibly be given to explain the outcome,” Bevacqua told Yahoo Sports. “As I said to Marcus, one thing is for sure: Any rankings or show prior to this last one is an absolute joke and a waste of time.

“Why put these young student-athletes through these false emotions just to pull the rug out from underneath them, having not played a game in two weeks, and then a group of people in a room shatter their dreams without explanation?”

However, when you hold a brand as prestigious as Notre Dame, your actions invite broader scrutiny. ESPN analyst Booger McFarland was quick to call out the Irish for “pouting” over not getting to play.

The increased pattern of snubbing bowl games might make the present bowl game structure irrelevant soon enough.