(USA Today Sports Images)

Rose Bowl
Stanford (11-2) vs. Wisconsin (8-5)
Jan. 1, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN)

About the Cardinal: Not enough has been made of the remarkable job David Shaw has done with Stanford. Last year, Shaw's first after taking over for Jim Harbaugh, could have been chalked up to Andrew Luck's greatness. But with Luck off to the NFL, leading the Indianapolis Colts from the worst record in the NFL to the playoffs, Stanford hasn't missed a beat. And it wasn't just Luck who left - Stanford players accounted for four of the first 42 picks in last April's draft. Yet, if Stanford would have knocked off Notre Dame on Oct. 13 - and it took the Irish to overtime and were the victim of a controversial call on the final play - the Cardinal might be playing Alabama for the national title. Shaw proved he has the confidence to make a big move, going to freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan with four games left in the regular season even though Stanford was winning games. Hogan led the team to a Pac-12 title.

[Also: Boise State will remain in the Mountain West Conference]

(USA Today Sports Images)

Forget the last two weeks, let’s go ahead and call this the official start to the bowl season.

The Chick-fil-A bowl between Clemson and LSU was circled on everyone’s bowl calendar as the first good matchup of the bowl season. And it didn’t disappoint with Clemson edging out a 25-24 win after a last-second field goal.

It was by far the most exciting and entertaining game of the bowl season.

And it wasn’t just the ending, which included Clemson converting a fourth-and-16 to keep its final drive alive, it was the entire game. From Clemson's Sammy Watkins getting derailed on the Tigers' opening drive to Les Miles being Les Miles on LSU’s final offensive series.

This game was high drama and kept everyone watching interested from start to finish.

[Related: The top five college football stories of 2012]

And that’s how this game should have been.

While you were either nodding off or cursing the Sun Bowl, one intrepid – and probably drunk – fan decided to get his 5 seconds of fame by running across the field during the final minutes of the game between Georgia Tech and USC.

(USA Today Sports Images)

Outback Bowl
South Carolina (10-2) vs. Michigan (8-4)
Jan. 1, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN)

About the Gamecocks: Rarely do people tune in to see a defensive end play, but Jadeveon Clowney is a pretty special player. South Carolina's defensive star is almost certainly going to be the top overall pick in the NFL Draft in 2014 (he's not eligible for the 2013 draft, even though he could be an impact NFL player tomorrow, because of the unfair three-year draft eligibility rule). He changes the entire game plan for opposing offenses who must account for him on just about every play. Clowney will be matched up most of the game against Michigan left tackle Taylor Lewan, a great player in his own right and a probably first-round pick if he decides to leave after this year. Connor Shaw, South Carolina's oft-injured but effective quarterback, will start but Dylan Thompson will also play at quarterback for the Gamecocks according to coach Steve Spurrier.

Sammy Watkins bowl season ended before it even got started.

On the second offensive play of the game, Watkins, Clemson’s most exciting player, got the handoff from quarter back Tajh Boyd and was hammered by LSU defensive end Barkevious Mingo (thanks to throwtheflagblog for the video).

The hit was so vicious that the ball popped out and Watkins was left writhing on the turf.

(USA Today Sports Images)

Capital One Bowl
Georgia (11-2) vs. Nebraska (10-3)
Jan. 1, 1 p.m. ET (ABC)

About the Bulldogs: Had Georgia spiked the ball after its last first down against Alabama, maybe its bowl game would be in Miami in a week. But instead, the Bulldogs finish the season not in the BCS Championship Game, and not in a BCS game at all, but in the Capital One Bowl. The bowl berth might have been disappointing, but this Georgia team is one of the best in the nation. The offense, led by quarterback Aaron Murray and fantastic freshman running back Todd Gurley, scored at least 37 points nine times this season. The defense struggled early but was very good in the second half of the season. Inside linebacker Alec Ogletree and outside linebacker Jarvis Jones are two of the best defensive players around.

(USA Today Sports Images)

Heart of Dallas Bowl
Oklahoma State (7-5) vs. Purdue (6-6)
Jan. 1, 12 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

About the Cowboys: Losing quarterback Brandon Weeden and receiver Justin Blackmon to the first round of the NFL Draft was a big blow. So was losing freshman quarterback Wes Lunt to a pair of injuries that cost him seven games this season. Backup J.W. Walsh deal with injuries too, so the Cowboys turned to Clint Chelf, who played well down the stretch and kept the offensive humming. Despite all the craziness at quarterback, Oklahoma State still finished the regular season fourth in FBS in scoring offense and fifth in total offense.

(USA Today Sports Images)

Good job, good effort USC.

That’s about you can say after watching USC’s uninspired effort against Georgia Tech in the Sun Belt. The underdog Yellow Jackets won 21-7 and the game wasn’t even that close.

But what did we expect from a team that was bashing El Paso from the moment bowl matchups were announced and then kept disrespecting Georgia Tech and the good people of El Paso with further tweets and a late appearance to a team dinner? USC never wanted to be in this bowl game and that attitude showed up on the field.