#FreeGeorgiaSouthern

There are a lot of people who have a lot of problems with the way the NCAA operates.
I'm not that guy, usually.
Big things like eligibility rules, paying athletes, disciplinary measures -- every once in a while I'll disagree, but I'm not anti-NCAA, in general.
The rules that exist for little or no reason, though, those bother me, and Georgia Southern is taking the brunt of one right now.
Please understand: I grew up hating Georgia Southern. My dad went to Furman, and Georgia Southern took on full "evil empire" status after Marshall left the Southern Conference. There is no bias here.
Yet I can't help but defend the Eagles this time.
I fully understand why the Eagles would be ineligible for the FCS playoffs in their final year at that level. That makes complete sense because, otherwise, they'd be hauling in FBS-level players and likely walk to a title that year.
But once they get to the FBS level, why prevent them from playing in a bowl?
I get that when Marshall transitioned, they rolled through their first year at the FBS level. But it's not like we're talking about a national championship bid here. We're talking about a spot in an exhibition game.
No first-year team at that level will be able to do enough to get into the national title picture. And even if they do, as long as they're following the same rules everyone else is pretending to follow, why leave them out?
For the rest of the bowls, those should be about rewarding teams for a good year. Georgia Southern finished the year 9-3 with an 8-0 mark in the Sun Belt in their first year at that level. That is worthy of reward. The Eagles lost by less than a touchdown to two bowl-participating ACC teams, one of which, Georgia Tech, is playing in the Orange Bowl. That is worthy of reward.
Meanwhile, South Alabama went 6-6 out of the same conference and will play in a bowl. Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette also finished behind the Eagles in conference play and will also play in a bowl.
But the champion of that same conference? Nope, they're staying at home.
I also counted 11 major conference teams that finished the year 6-6, whose fan bases might not even be that excited about bowl destinations, who all got bowls. The Eagle fanbase would've been thrilled to play in the Independence Bowl, but no, that bid goes to South Carolina and Miami.
South Carolina had sold 700 of its allotment of 8,000 tickets, at last check.
But in the end, my main point is this: Why does the NCAA care who plays in these games?