The story of one wee bowl game, as told through social media:

@siholly getting ready to watch the Go-Daddy of them all!

— Alain Cloutier (@acloutier27) January 7, 2013

The Kent State “Stan Sitwell Dress Eyebrows” helmets are pretty sweet.

— RaginCajunRebel (@RaginCajunRebel) January 7, 2013

Picture of said helmet, if you are away from a TV. (Via USA Today Sports Images)twitpic.com/bt4u38

— Eye on College FBall (@EyeOnCFB) January 7, 2013

Kent State is playing in its first bowl game since the 1972 Tangerine Bowl (lost to Tampa) #KSUvsARKST on @espn

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 7, 2013

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Dri Archer could be off to the pros soon. Take this time to appreciate him, America. (AP)

The 2013 GoDaddy.com 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 R.J. Rico’s game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? The very last bowl game that’s not The Big’n. The MACtion before the SECtion. The amuse-bouche to the swingin’ meatball subs of Monday night. We’re not great at metaphors. This is the GoDaddy.com Bowl, one of just two remaining college football postseason games named after a d0t-com, and a frankly unworthy linguistic successor to the nicely-cadenced GMAC Bowl that preceded it. But say this for the GDDC: It’s unwieldy to pronounce, but has delivered unto us an extremely compelling matchup of non-AQ luminaries. Don’t hate.

• Where will this game be played? Ladd Peebles Stadium in Mobile, where the South Alabama Jaguars play their home games. This stadium also hosts the Senior Bowl.

• When is it on television? Nightcap game! Coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, featuring Mark Jones, Brock Huard and Jessica Mendoza. The game will also be streamed on WatchESPN.

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The GoDaddy.com Bowl: Come for the Danica Patrick commercials, stay for the football. (Getty Images)

The 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl is just hours away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. 

• What’s all this, then? Think of the GoDaddy-Dot-Com Bowl as a refreshing, tangy sorbet to cleanse your palate between the grim Saturday horror of the BBVA Compass Bowl, the January existence of which will never, ever stop upsetting us on a cellular level, and the Monday cavalcade of competent football and title game pageantry.

• Where will this game be played? Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium, home of the fledgling South Alabama Jaguars and the Senior Bowl.

• When is it on television? Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Sunday, January 8. The game will be televised on ESPN.

• Whom does it feature? Current conference tie-ins include the Sun Belt and MAC.

• What about this year? The promise of real entertainment looms in Mobile, with conference champs Northern Illinois (10-3) and Arkansas State (10-2) in town.

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Quarterback Ryan Aplin and the Arkansas State Red Wolves are the real deal, having lost only to BCS-conference foes Illinois and Virginia Tech. (US PRESSWIRE)

Northern Illinois (10-3) vs. Arkansas State (10-2)

Jan. 8, 8 p.m ET (ESPN)

CLICK HERE FOR MORE BOWL PREVIEWS 

Reason to watch: Pointy point points! The Huskies and Red Wolves field, respectively, the No. 13 and No. 26 scoring offenses in the FBS, and have scored a combined average of more than 70 points per game this season.

NIU shot its way through the vast majority of the MAC, coming up short only once in conference play, a 48-41 loss to Central Michigan way back in Week 5. The Huskies clocked out with fewer than 40 points on the scoreboard on just four occasions this season, and avoid playing defense whenever possible, allowing an average of 31 points. (If you’re not a MAC partisan and are wondering why this team sounds familiar: It was on the winning end of that fiery 63-60 Tuesday night game with Toledo that put MACtion on the map for casual college football fans.)

You may know Arkansas State as The Team With The Guy From The Blind Side (The Coach, Not The Player), but Hugh Freeze is off in Oxford now trying to reanimate Ole Miss Football. He did a yeoman’s job of work before departing Jonesboro — the only reason the Red Wolves recorded any losses at all this season is a nonconference schedule that included Illinois and Virginia Tech — but will be replaced on the sidelines this weekend by interim skipper David Gunn. Gunn plans to stay on as part of the new staff of the team you’ll now know as That Team Gus Malzahn Left Auburn For.

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