Over the course of their 123-year lifespan, bowl games have been everything to college football.
They have determined national championships and been utterly inconsequential to them. They have been sites of bigotry and integration. They have been played in Pasadena, Calif., and New Orleans and Toronto and Dayton, Ohio. Despite their increasing obsolescence to top NFL prospects in recent years, virtually every college football player worth their salt has played in at least one.
