Mike Gundy takes a question from the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl trophy. (AP)

The 2013 Heart of Dallas 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 Matt Dollinger’s game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? All this is the Heart of Dallas Bowl, neé TicketCity Bowl, one of the youngest games in postseason college football. The heart in Heart of Dallas is an actual mission statement: “Demonstrating Heart of Dallas’ commitment to its home city, net profits from the inaugural event will benefit charities serving the homeless population in Dallas.”

• Where will this game be played? The Cotton Bowl in Dallas. But it’s not the Cotton Bowl. The Cotton Bowl is now played in Cowboys Stadium, and yes, we’re almost through with this line of questioning, as we are about out of available citrus fruits.

• When is it on television? Coverage begins at noon ET on ESPNU, with streaming on WatchESPN. Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb and Kaylee Hartungwill relay the action.

• Whom does it feature? The Big Ten versus either Conference USA or the Big 12.

• What about this year? An odd coupling of Purdue (6-6) and Oklahoma State (7-5).

• Does the bowl have a social media presence? It does, and it needs your help!

Ok, quick vote: #HODBowl or #HeartofDallasBowl? We’re fine either way, just want to nail it down today.

— Heart of Dallas (@weheartdallas) December 31, 2012

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Here we see Dri Archer running away from Buffalo’s defense. This happened a lot on Wednesday night. (AP)

• Kent State 23, Buffalo 7. It is expected, in major college football, that there will be punches and that those punches need to be rolled with, with all speed. Accidents happen. Injuries crop up. But we can’t really fault Buffalo for dropping a game in which four of its starters got knocked out, particularly when one of those was star running back Branden Oliver. Oliver missed the second half with what was announced as only a “leg injury”; strong safety Issac Baugh, wide receiver Fred Lee and defensive end Steven Means were also out by the end of the evening.

Also not helpful for Buffalo: Kent State running back Dri Archer. The junior edged out teammate Trayion Durham, 127 rushing yards to 112, our favorite being a 57-yard second-quarter scramble that included an ice-cold spin move to break a tackle. [BOX | RECAP]

• Daily inspiration. Disappointed in last night’s game? Understandable. But understand that better things lie ahead:

Heady move starting #MACtion with Kent State-Buffalo. Weeded out the flybys. For those with patience, it’ll be rewarded

— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) September 20, 2012

BYU and Boise State kick off at 9 p.m. ET. Join us, won’t you?

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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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Houston and Penn State were both hoping for better bowl fates than the TicketCity. (AP)

The 2011 TicketCity Bowl is just a day away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an Xs and Os breakdown, check out Andy Staples’ game preview.)

• Still? Yup. Despite the goofy name, confusing location and utterly ridiculous placement on the calendar, the TicketCity Bowl persists in existing for a second consecutive year.

• TicketCity? According to them: “TicketCity provides passionate fans the ultimate live event experience through personalized customer service to buy and sell tickets.”

• Bet it’s pretty easy to secure tickets for this game, amirite? A little too easy.

• Where will this game be played? The Cotton Bowl.

• But this is not the Cotton Bowl? And we’re back once again to the Champs Sports Conundrum! No, it’s not the Cotton Bowl. The Cotton Bowl is played in Cowboys Stadium now, and inexplicably has not changed its name to the Jerry Jones Classic.

• When is it on television? Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on Monday, January 2. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

• Whom does it feature? In the august one-year history of the TicketCity Bowl , “traditional” conference tie-ins are the Big Ten and Conference USA.

• What about this year? 12-1 Houston will make a relatively short hop to meet 9-3 Penn State.

• Houston was a bad conference championship game away from a BCS bowl. How mad are the Cougars right now? About as mad as Penn State is to be relegated to the TicketCity Bowl at 9-3, I’d imagine.

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