I wanted to post on this for a while.
I watched a good # of bowl games, or at least part of and saw a LOT of excitement from a lot of teams, be it P5 or lesser conf. More than NIU portrayed, or at least claimed. Damn you Bahamas and Boca Raton!
Oh, 4th and 18 punt too!
Oh, and how many of these games were played in sub 50 degree weather? If not 40's or 30's?
Some teams of note...
Texas. A historic program that fell on bad times as of late. There players and coaches played like they were going for national title.
NMST- Perhaps my favorite badly played game. True, was about a home game, but man those kids looked happy as did the fans. Guess you enjoy the moment when you win your school's 1st bowl game in 40+years.
MS ST/LVille- Again, Miss St playing after a coach got fired. They were both jacked and when they won, were on cloud 9 even though they weren't at a beach.
Wisconsin- I guess they were inspired by Miami even though they missed playoff. Ah, warm weather.
UCF- I think most saw it, covered. And anyone saying Auburn rolled over find another cliche.