Bowl games are ripe for overreaction. The final impression teams leave before heading into hibernation contribute to narratives about teams and conferences that last until proven otherwise, exerting a heavy influence on preseason polls.
Several teams are set to see this benefit, including Penn State, Washington, Notre Dame and, of course, Georgia and TCU.
The final pair standing for the 2022 season will meet Monday night in Inglewood, California, to decide the national championship. The Bulldogs will enter the game as prohibitive favorites, which is nothing new for TCU; the Horned Frogs were touchdown underdogs against Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl, and we saw how that turned out.