It isn't all that likely that Cal will be picked for the Vegas Bowl, but apparently the athletic department has already told the team that they would decline a Vegas Bowl bid if received (despite the protests of many players) because the period of time when they would need to prepare for the bowl would conflict with finals week.
Personally, I find this to be pretty outrageous. These kids worked their butts off through some really tough times to earn a bowl bid, and you're telling me that the AD is willing to push them to a lesser bowl slot than they potentially earned because he doesn't want the team distracted with practices during finals week?
Are there any known examples of a Division 1 football team declining a bowl bid, and taking an inferior bowl bid, to avoid an academic conflict (as opposed to, say, working with professors to accommodate the kids' schedules)? I find it hard to believe that anyone else is this dumb.
To me, this reeks of yet another example of the Cal athletic department willingly accepting inferior football in favor of academic grandstanding. Ultimately, we aren't likely to get a Vegas Bowl invite anyway so it probably won't make any practical difference, but things like this scream "we aren't really serious about football here" and are lethal to recruiting.
Personally, I find this to be pretty outrageous. These kids worked their butts off through some really tough times to earn a bowl bid, and you're telling me that the AD is willing to push them to a lesser bowl slot than they potentially earned because he doesn't want the team distracted with practices during finals week?
Are there any known examples of a Division 1 football team declining a bowl bid, and taking an inferior bowl bid, to avoid an academic conflict (as opposed to, say, working with professors to accommodate the kids' schedules)? I find it hard to believe that anyone else is this dumb.
To me, this reeks of yet another example of the Cal athletic department willingly accepting inferior football in favor of academic grandstanding. Ultimately, we aren't likely to get a Vegas Bowl invite anyway so it probably won't make any practical difference, but things like this scream "we aren't really serious about football here" and are lethal to recruiting.
