Although a nationwide cold front chilled the holiday weekend, bowl season is ready to heat up significantly.
After a dozen days of one matchup, maybe two, we're ready for a complete week of three or four showdowns. This is, in fact, the most wonderful week of the postseason.
This edition covers the biggest bowl-season questions, as determined by our panel, for games from Tuesday, Dec. 27, through the end of bowl season, only excluding the New Year's Six contests—which feature two College Football Playoff semifinals.
Bleacher Report's expert team—Max Escarpio, David Kenyon, Adam Kramer, Morgan Moriarty and Brad Shepard—is here to break it down.
What's Your Favorite Non-NY6 Bowl?
Adam Kramer
This one is pretty easy. It's the Alamo Bowl, and I'm not sure it's close.
Washington and Texas are two teams destined to receive a ton of buzz this offseason. Before we get there, however, we should see these squads trade touchdowns in a fascinating matchup.
Washington's Michael Penix Jr. emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the sport, and he could use this performance to catapult into the Heisman Trophy discussion. On the other side, Quinn Ewers has flashed at times this year for Texas. He could certainly use a strong finish to get a fast start on a fascinating offseason in Austin.
While we won't see Bijan Robinson in this game, which is a bummer, there is still a ton to get excited about. The offenses should both find success, and the scoreboard could be very active.
It's a tough game to pick, which is also why it's my favorite. I'm not sure a single outcome would surprise me, and that says plenty about the talent and potential on both sides.
Morgan Moriarty
Same here, Adam. Both teams look like they could be playoff candidates entering 2023.
This is also a great opportunity to see fans watch Penix play. A Heisman candidate for next season, the signal-caller enters the Alamo Bowl second nationally in passing yards (4,354) and with a top-15 mark in touchdowns through the air (29). He's got two talented receivers around him in Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan too.
Texas, meanwhile, enters this matchup 8-4, a big improvement from a 5-7 season in 2021. Ewers missed some time this season with a shoulder injury but has thrown for 1,808 yards and 14 scores in nine games.
Texas, which appears to have the edge defensively, is a 3.5-point favorite, according to DraftKings. This should be a great game, and we'll be talking about both of these teams' playoff hopes heading into next season.