In arguably the best pre-Christmas bowl matchup, two Group of Five upstarts, Temple and Toledo, battle in the Boca Raton Bowl for late-season pride. The usually under-the-radar football programs surged into the spotlight early this year and fell just short of conference titles down the stretch.
Toledo broke through first, knocking off SEC dark-horse Arkansas on the road and holding onto an undefeated record until late in the season. Meanwhile, Temple turned heads in the Northeastern corridor by kicking the season off with a victory over Penn State and even fell just short of derailing Notre Dame at home.