They’re discounting Orange Bowl tickets by 50 percent at Florida State and giving them away at Northern Illinois. The University of Florida, for all of the professed excitement of its fan base for an unexpected 11-1 season, is lagging far behind Louisville in ticket sales for their Sugar Bowl matchup. Meanwhile, at the Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl, a game between Northwestern and Mississippi State seems to be quickening pulses only in Evanston, Ill., and Starkville, Miss. In Orlando, Georgia fans are bouncing back from the shock and disappointment of losing the SEC championship game and are close to selling out the school’s 12,500-ticket allotment. The Bulldogs’ opponent … not so much. Nebraska is reporting ticket sales of only about 4,000 for its second trip in a row to Orlando. It’s not just the economy or high ticket prices. At issue is the current bowl system, which is leading to tepid matchups in BCS bowls because of the requirement to give non-automatic qualifying conferences access and more questionable games in non-BCS bowls because of the desire of conferences to "protect" their championship game losers. There is still more than two weeks before New Year’s Day, time for schools and bowls to continue with marketing efforts to fans. But there’s no sugar-coating the current reality: