The story of one afternoon in college football’s postseason, as told through social media:

Our remedy is SMASH MOUTH FOOTBALL. But also try some CARROT JUICE. RT @optoloper: I need your best hangover remedy. It’s for a friend.

— Capital One Bowl (@CapitalOneBowl) January 1, 2013

Recipe for attendance disaster at the Heart of Dallas Bowl. 11 a.m. New Year’s kick. Lopsided matchup. Big OSU hoops game on Mon. Then rain.

— David Ubben (@davidubben) January 1, 2013

Depends, what time does it start? RT @lakebuenavista: Will you be watching the @capitalonebowl today? bit.ly/TKn0TC

— Capital One Bowl (@CapitalOneBowl) January 1, 2013

First mistake of the day by Boilers RT @carminjc: #Purdue wins the toss and defers to 2nd half. Cowboys to receive.

— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) January 1, 2013

The tax staggered into the street, bleeding from his chest, as the Taxslayer threw a bloody knife into the gutter and ran.

— Bobby Big Wheel (@BobbyBigWheel) January 1, 2013

@andy_staples I KNOW WE’RE DOOMED WHY EVEN PLAY THE GAME

— mgoblog (@mgoblog) January 1, 2013

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We can’t believe Rick Catlett said that either, girls. (AP)

The 2012 Gator Bowl is just hours away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an X’s and O’s breakdown, click through to Stewart Mandel’s game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? The Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl is one of only two current college football postseason contests named after a dot-com. Once sponsored by Outback Steakhouse, it is not the Outback Bowl. What an awkward and weird name to append to an old and proud postseason contest. Nonsense. What’s mightier than an alligator, except an alligator that can find you deductions on your return?

• Where will this game be played? Jacksonville’s EverBank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail party game.

• When is it on television? Coverage begins at noon ET on ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell and Allison Williams. The game will also be streamed on WatchESPN.

• Whom does it feature? SEC versus Big Ten.

• What about this year? Having the 9-3 Northwestern Wildcats and the 8-4 Mississippi State Bulldogs occupying the same bit of real estate has made for some memorable cross-cultural encounters this week:

“Hey! How are you? Looking forward to the game?”"CLANGA CLANGA CLANGA”"I see.”

— Tom McGrath (@TCMcG) December 31, 2012

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Commissioner Delany, can we get a little Gator Chomp?

• From the “Things That Will In No Way End In Heartbreak” Department. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has set up a “Rivalizer” web app that allows you to accessorize the photo of your choice with paraphernalia supporting the ACC or SEC team of your choice. We have a modest example on the right here.

• Well, now we KNOW he’s lying. Nick Saban, betraying his true form by acting like he’s some kind of mortal being with a defined lifespan: “I really enjoy what I’m doing here right now. I’m getting old now.” For the record, we hope he stays at Alabama forever, just to see if he ages more slowly than his statue outside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

• Roster blotter. Alabama’s Barrett Jones continues to rest his injured foot … Oregon’s Kyle Long has lost his eligibility appeal … Washington State’s Jeff Tuel will try his luck at the NFL draft … Missouri’s Ka’Ra Stewart has been dismissed from the Tigers following a drug possession arrest.

• Quote of the day. “The [university] presidents and athletic directors need to wake up about these [non-automatic qualifying] conferences and understand that they don’t have the fan appeal.” — Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett. “His SEC/Big Ten game is going for $2.50.” — Stewart Mandel.

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Tracking the zeitgeist of college football’s second weekend through social media:

MAMA! COME ON INSIDE! ONE OF THESE UTAH TEAMS BOUT TO PUNT! CAN’T MISS THAT!

— Jason Kirk (@JasonKirkSBN) September 8, 2012

ACC MISSED THE BOAT ON UTAH.

— THE KEY PLAY (@thekeyplay) September 8, 2012

Special Teams Coach Beehive was a sentimental hire from the start for Utah. Won’t save his job after this game. (Plus: is beehive.)

— edsbs (@edsbs) September 8, 2012

@andy_staples @ben_jones88 We’re still getting our shirts and ties pressed at 9 am.We’re not Juggalos.

— Bobby Big Wheel (@BobbyBigWheel) September 8, 2012

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Le'Veon Bell's two short-yardage touchdowns helped Michigan State force overtime. (US PRESSWIRE)

Snaps from the Jan. 2 slate’s non-BCS bowls, of which the Big Ten managed to win just one of four…

• No. 12 Michigan State 33, No. 18 Georgia 30 (3OT): Hail, Sparty the redeemer! At the end of a very long afternoon for the Increasingly Inaccurately Named Big Ten, following three dissimilar but equally dispiriting losses by conference squads (more on those down below), MSU pulled one out for the honor of Jim Delany and middle America.

The game began in most ignominious fashion, with the Spartans’ first drive culminating in a safety by all-everything Dawg Brandon Boykin, and two spectacular field-enveloping plays (an 80-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Murray to Tavarres King and a 92-yard punt return by Boykin) giving Georgia a 16-0 halftime lead. Le’Veon Bell made up most of that ground for the Spartans in the second half with two short-yardage touchdown runs, and by the end of his second scoring effort, the game was tied 27-27 with 14 seconds to play in regulation.

Which is about where the trouble started, although Dawgs fans fed up with conservative playcalling on offense might have a good argument that Georgia’s last drive of the fourth quarter sealed its fate. Here, as predicted in this week’s Bowl Breakdown, special teams came into the spotlight in a big, bad way. UGA kicker Blair Walsh, a Groza finalist in 2010 but not himself in 2011, missed a 42-yard field goal attempt (on third down, no less) in the first overtime period, after Bacarri Rambo’s interception of Kirk Cousins snatched away State’s chance to strike first. Walsh connected on a 47-yarder in the second period, as did MSU’s Dan Conroy. Walsh’s final attempt, to match Conroy’s third-period three-pointer, was blocked.

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Hey Ohio State fans, remember this one? (SI)

The 2012 Gator Bowl is just hours away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an Xs and Os breakdown, check out Cory McCartney’s game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? The Gator Bowl prides itself on being the “Sixth oldest college bowl game and the first ever to be televised nationally coast-to-coast.”

• Does it also pride itself on having the goofiest title sponsor of the 2011-2012 postseason? TaxSlayer.com is a mouthful, to be sure, but for our money, that dubious honor still goes to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s.

• Where will this game be played? EverBank Field, known better to the casual viewer as Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, home to the NFL’s Jaguars and the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party rivalry game.

• Isn’t Florida playing in this game? Things in Jacksonville have not gone so well for them this year, haha! Well, yes, but Florida is playing Ohio State, which had problems of its own the last time it ran across the Gators.

• OMG HAVE YOU EVER REALIZED THEY’RE BOTH EITHER FORMERLY COACHED BY OR ABOUT TO BE COACHED BY–Yes. We’re not going to go into that here. You’re going to hear enough about it in pregame, in-game and postgame coverage to satisfy all your Urbz factoid needs, believe us. And then some. And then some more.

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