[EKUAlum05]

If you really want to make the Pike County Bowl good again, let the other "county" schools play amongst themselves and bring in high quality teams for Belfry and Pikeville to play every year at Pikeville or Belfry.  Oh wait, that's how it used to be when it was played only at Pikeville.  Belfry got to play Highlands, Male, etc.

Saturday.

At Pikeville.

Two big name out of area teams.

Pikeville plays the first game. Belfry plays the second.

Belfry fans and Pikeville fans sitting together. Cheering for each other. Also talking smack the entire time.

Why we ever got away from this model, I will never know.

Has Pikeville ever played Belfry in this game?

Nope.. it was designed to be a chance for Pikeville and Belfry to showcase themselves against different teams from all around the state. 

The format changed in 2000, they added a Friday slate where they brought other teams in to play Shelby Valley and Pike Central. The first year was Harrodsburg and Bellevue I believe at Shelby Valley. The second year they played the Friday game at Pike Central (Paris and Harlan maybe?). I actually didn't mind this format at all, but at the same time I am sure it was the least profitable option for the committee as the Friday games were not nearly as heavily attended and they had to pay stipends for the teams from out of the area.

Then the format changed again where it was four county teams playing each other on Friday, at that point with Belfry & Pikeville still headlining on Saturday at Pikeville. Basically the other County teams started wanting more of a piece of the pie, but for the committee, you probably got a slightly bigger gate and less expenses.

When Belfry's new stadium opened they went to splitting where Belfry hosted a night and Pikeville hosted a night.. with the county teams playing the undercard game each night. Even then, other County Schools wanted more of the pie. In 2008 Shelby Valley actually hosted a night when Belfry played Louisville Holy Cross. If I am not mistaken Shelby Valley also got another rotation as host in 2010. It was at this time I actually started worrying about the Bowl Game as the level of competition being brought in was lagging and it was clear there were too many hands in the cookie jar. Luckily the Bowl Committee seemingly took some of the criticisms to heart and went back to the Belfry/Pikeville rotation and started investing in some bigger headline foes on two year contracts.

The present iteration is a decent product. They have had some good matchups as the Committee has landed some good teams (CovCath) and has started getting some out of state teams (Huntington, Mingo Central) , but I think the vast majority of Belfry & Pikeville fans would prefer the old school, one night approach at Hambley where the other County schools get their split of the profits, but you get an actual showcase day of football.

If I had my preference:
1. One night.. Belfry and Pikeville headlining together at Hambley vs. big name foes
2. Belfry & Pikeville together on Saturday, Friday at Shelby Valley with Shelby Valley and Pike Central playing interesting foes from around the State
3. Belfry and Pikeville host Friday and Saturday vs headline foes, Pike Central and Shelby Valley take on quality local foes in undercard games.
4. Hatfield/McCoy style showdown, KY vs. West Virginia over four nights.