USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg previews the two upcoming College Football Playoff matchups and explains why Oklahoma was awarded the final spot. USA TODAY Sports
Corrections/clarifications: A previous version of this story had an incorrect team in the New Mexico Bowl.
Forty bowl games in little more than three weeks, beginning on Dec. 15 and continuing through the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 7, and then quiet, lonely solitude for eight months. Welcome to the postseason.
USA TODAY Sports will help you make the most of the embers of this season by compiling a helpful list: Each bowl game ranked in order of intrigue, culminating with the to-be-determined matchup in the championship game.