Bowl vs. playoffs: No easy solution for SCSU

COACH OLIVER "BUDDY" POUGH

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- Everyone’s favorite four-letter sports network needs more bowl games to fill lucrative holiday time slots. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference needs to find a way to generate fresh revenue for its cash-strapped member schools.

Seems like a match made in heaven right? Well ... about that.

Like most things, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While there’s no denying that the chance to compete for an NCAA National Championship carries a lot of weight when it comes to the credibility of a school’s football program, there’s also no getting around the problem with the FCS Playoffs: the almighty dollar.

That’s why when the news broke a few days after Christmas that the MEAC appeared ready to press forward with a plan to divorce itself from the playoffs in favor of an ESPN-funded bowl game pitting the MEAC’s champion against the top team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in a made-for-television postseason event, many Bulldog fans were angered. And rightfully so.

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