College football season is OVER!

I know there’s one stinkin’ game left to play, but you’re not going to watch it, are you? No, of course not, you’re tired of the redundancy of lather-Clemson-rinse-Alabama-repeat.

There were 47, 48, 53, whatever it was, there were a crap-ton of bowl games. Many were blow-outs and sad displays of year-end college football. Some were so bad they were good, and some were just outright fun.

The Cheez-It Bowl

The Cheez-It Bowl between Cal and TCU featured nine interceptions, including six by halftime when the score was 7-0. It had the worst trick play of bowl season. It went into overtime and got even weirder.

Some might think it horrific. Some might think it was the most fun of bowl season - so bad it was good. One thing is certain - it generated more buzz than Cheez-Its could have ever imagined.

I didn’t see a play that topped this for badness, and by badness, I really mean terrible:

The Redbox Bowl - Oregon 7, Michigan State 6

I admit that I only watched this game in spurts. It was all I could take. Michigan State’s offense is... was... I assume like working in a factory job in the 1920s - the same drudgery play after play, resulting in zero satisfaction devoid of joy or happiness, and ending with one wondering why they bothered in the first place.

I have no idea why Mark Dantonio is okay with this type of game plan in the same way I don’t understand why Kirk Ferentz has a buyout worth the GDP of third world countries.

Other bowls were boring because they were blowouts. This was a one-point game and it was hideous because you could have died of dehydration watching it were you not sufficiently drinking the beverage of your choice.

The First Responders Bowl - Canceled

Boston College met Boise State in Dallas for a game that lasted five minutes before it went into a lightning delay. It was never resuscitated. It was the only bowl game ever canceled.

Fans made plans. Bought tickets. They spent Christmas away from home. The people who organized the bowl were aware of the weather, but HOPED that it wouldn’t be a factor. They could made alternative plans. They didn’t.

You read this article in the Idaho Statesman and you find this line from the bowls’ Executive Director Brant Ringler, and you find this line:

“There’s a lot of factors that go into it,” Ringler said. “I think it would be very, very hard to reschedule it.”

Translated: It was too hard to move. It would have taken real work to reschedule. It wasn’t worth the effort. It gave fuel to those who call bowl games “meaningless” when countless thousands see them as viable entertainment.

You can go away and not come back, First Responder’s Bowl.

Stupid Targeting Penalties

Targeting is the most hated penalty in football. It’s confusing. It isn’t called consistently across conferences. Worse, it may end with a player being ejected when there was no intent to injure.

Then again, there was some incredibly stupid targeting plays made throughout the bowl season.

A West Virginia player was ejected on the play below; the dumbest case of targeting I’d seen to that point. Two Texas players - Davante Davis and Jalen Green - were ejected in the final minute against Georgia when the game had already been decided.

Players Who Skipped Their Bowl Games

Quite a number of players decided to skip their bowl games this year in order to preserve their bodies for the NFL draft.

Michigan was without defensive end Rashan Gary, linebacker Devin Bush and leading rusher Karan Higdon. They were crushed, no humiliated by Florida 41-15.

Georgia cornerback Deandre Baker, considered the nation’s top defensive back, skipped the Sugar Bowl against Texas. His team got crushed. West Virginia quarterback Will Grier didn’t play in the Camping World bowl and his team lost to Syracuse 34-18.

LSU cornerback Greedy Williams (the irony of that name, perhaps) didn’t play in the Fiesta Bowl against UCF.

There were a host of others - you get the idea.

You can examine this from different points of view. You can go “old man curmudgeon” like I did with the tweet below or you can take the perspective that these players were justified in not wanting to sacrifice their shot at a very large paycheck to play in a game for which they are not paid and which many consider meaningless.

That’s why we put these things to vote and have a comments section.

Holiday Bowl - Utah’s Third Quarter

The Holiday Bowl might have been the most bizarre of any bowl game this season. Utah lead Northwestern 20-3 at half. That may not seem much by today’s offensive standards (Dantonio, Ferentz aside), but the half was dominated by the Utes. Northwestern lost receivers Flynn Nagel and Bennett Skowronek to injury, and it looked like the Big Ten West winners would be humiliated.

Whatever the hell Pat Fitzgerald said to his team at halftime worked. The nerds came out and tore Utah apart, scoring 28 points in the third quarter. They shut out the Utes in the second half and won 31-20.