The top storylines to watch this bowl season

There is so much to watch when bowl season FINALLY comes around, but what do you turn on? With so much football on all the time, combined with all the holiday activities, there is only so much precious time to watch a huge amount of great football.

Compiled here are the best things about this year’s bowl season. Some are players, storylines or oddities that stand out this bowl season. Hopefully, this list will guide you to a few great games and direct your attention to some entertaining matchups.

Mason Rudolph Cementing His Legacy -

Not only has the Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback thrown for 4,553 yards and 35 touchdowns this season, but he is also the best Oklahoma State quarterback in school history. He lead the program in passing yards (12,829) and passing touchdowns (88). Both marks that passed up the previous holder, Brandon Weeden.

Against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Camping World Bowl (terrible bowl name) Rudolph can pad his career stats while running an offense that averages 46.3 points per game.

Love’s Revenge -

After Stanford Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey was snubbed as a Heisman candidate, he stomped all over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Rose Bowl for 368 all-purpose yards. Now Bryce Love has the same opportunity in the Alamo Bowl.

Love has rushed for 1,973 yards and 17 touchdowns this season, averaging 8.3 yards per carry. Now he is squaring off against a TCU defense that allowed only 99.8 rushing yards per game, proving to be stingy against everyone except Oklahoma. Love can make his case for why he should have received college’s prestigious award by rumbling for a big game against TCU.

Forgotten Heisman Hopefuls -

The Cotton Bowl is a face-off between to quarterbacks who were slated to be Heisman finalists when the season kicked off, then slowly receded into the background of the college football landscape.

On the one side, USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold was the talk of the season after finishing 2016 with a magical run that concluded with a victory in a Rose Bowl thriller. On the other, Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett is wrapping up what will be a great run as a collegiate athlete, already attaining 145 total career touchdowns but unable to shake negative narratives throughout his career.

Since Darnold seems to be headed for the league, both quarterbacks will be looking to end seasons and college careers that came up just short of expectations with a great bowl performance.

Handshake Or Na? -

Before the Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas Jayhawks played, the captains of the Jayhawks refused to shake the hand of Baker Mayfield, the Sooners quarterback. Mayfield destroyed them to the tune of 257 yards and three scores. Will Georgia make the same mistake?

Can We Get Bo vs. Clemson? Please? -

After watching plenty of college football in my lifetime (some have told me too much) along with playing at the high school and college level, I would like to think I have picked up a thing or two on what works in football. Not more than a coach like Nick Saban, but a few things.

One of the things that I cannot grasp is why Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough does not get more carries. The man is terrifying, standing at 6-foot-2 and weighing in at 235 pounds, but still able to outrun defensive backs. Yet he only has 108 carries. Scarborough is an intimidating runner that can sprint in space and crush people between the tackles. He needs to get plenty of work against the Clemson Tigers to knock their defense on its heels.

Enjoy Guice -

At the time of this article being written, LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice is questionable for the Citrus Bowl matchup against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. If he does play, make sure to catch him.

Guice is a phenomenal running back that just might be better than the man he followed: Leonard Fournette. He has rushed for 1,153 yards and 11 scores in his junior campaign despite coming in and out of the lineup with hampering leg injuries. Guise is an explosive, punishing running back that has been overshadowed by all the drama around Fournette, the coaching changes at LSU and his own injuries. He will most likely be headed to the NFL next season, so this may be the last chance to watch him in college.