Georgia, TCU, Tulane lead winners and losers from college football bowl season

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.

This also works in reverse: Ugly bowl showings can linger, too. Take Clemson, which came within one win of the College Football Playoff but flopped in an Orange Bowl matchup against Tennessee, or the Wolverines, who for the second year in a row failed to advance out of the semifinals.

With just one game left before the offseason, the Bulldogs, Frogs, Tigers and others lead the list of bowl season's biggest winners and losers:

Winners

Georgia and TCU

Well, yeah. Both teams earned shootout wins in what was arguably the most memorable night in Bowl Subdivision postseason history. In coming back to score a late win against Ohio State, the Bulldogs showed the ability to go pass-for-pass with one of the top offenses in the country. By handling Michigan, the Horned Frogs disproved the misguided idea that they lacked the physicality to compete in the playoff environment. It would be very unsurprising to see the championship game follow a similar script in terms of explosive plays and overall offensive production.

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Tulane

The Green Wave's memorable 46-45 Cotton Bowl win against Southern California completes the greatest turnaround in FBS history: from two wins in 2021 to 12-2 one year later. There's also the matter of a historic postseason comeback from down 15 points with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Tulane scored the game-winning touchdown pass with nine seconds left to shock the Trojans, who lost despite getting 462 yards and five touchdowns from quarterback Caleb Williams. The Green Wave maximized limited offensive possessions — USC had the ball for just under 40 minutes — by running for 304 yards and averaging 10.4 yards per play.

Penn State

Topping Utah in the Rose Bowl sets up Penn State to become one of the most hyped teams of the upcoming offseason. While the 35-21 win marked the final game for quarterback Sean Clifford, who threw for 279 yards in one of his best performances on the season, the Nittany Lions could have even higher expectations in 2023 behind his successor, rising sophomore Drew Allar, a five-star recruit.

Florida State

Another group set for an optimistic offseason are the Seminoles, who moved to 10-3 in coach Mike Norvell's third season with a 35-32 Cheez-It Bowl win against Oklahoma. FSU became the latest to torch the Sooners' defense, racking up 587 yards behind another banner game from quarterback Jordan Travis, who will feature prominently in the preseason Heisman Trophy conversation after throwing for a career-high 418 yards. The 10-win finish is the program's first since 2016 and strongly suggests that FSU is ready to take the next step and truly challenge Clemson for ACC supremacy.

Tennessee

Playing in place of an injured Hendon Hooker and without star wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, who opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL draft, backup quarterback Joe Milton connected on 19 of 28 attempts for 251 yards and three scores without an interception as the Volunteers put together a very impressive 31-14 win against Clemson. Give credit to the defense, which had a hit-or-miss regular season but did an outstanding job against a barrage of plays: Tennessee faced 101 snaps overall and gave up just 4.8 yards per play while holding the Tigers to just one touchdown on four trips inside the red zone.

Troy

The only postseason matchup of two conference champions saw Troy's defense deliver another gem in keying an 18-12 win against Texas-San Antonio in the Cure Bowl. And the defense was needed: UTSA held the Trojans to just 153 yards, including 40 rushing on 42 carries, but was stymied by a season-high five turnovers. Troy ended the year on a 10-game winning streak under rookie coach Jon Sumrall.

Losers

Michigan

Rival Ohio State also lost in the playoff semifinals. So why does Michigan's 51-45 loss to TCU feel so much worse? Maybe it's because of the obvious confidence the Wolverines brought into the Fiesta Bowl, which rubbed the Horned Frogs the wrong way. Maybe it's because of the defensive collapse or the run of errors that helped TCU build what was ultimately an insurmountable lead. For the second year in a row, the Wolverines were able to put together an outstanding regular season before collapsing in the playoff.

Florida

A season that once held a little bit of promise — the Gators were 4-2 at the midway point with a win against Utah and competitive losses to Kentucky and Tennessee — cratered down the stretch, leaving Billy Napier as the first Florida coach to post a losing record in his first season since 1979. The low point might've been the 30-3 loss to Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl, which saw the Beavers hold the Gators to 1.2 yards per carry and off the scoreboard until a meaningless field goal with under a minute left.

Clemson

All eyes will be on rising sophomore quarterback Cade Klubnik and his offseason development following an ugly line against the Volunteers: 30 completions in 54 for 320 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. After he played so well in the ACC championship game against North Carolina, this showing in the Orange Bowl reinforces the need for Klubnik to take a big step forward this offseason in order for the Tigers to make another playoff run in 2023. But there are other issues, including an unimpressive receiver corps in need of a reboot and the projected loss of several key defenders, most along the defensive front. By beating Tennessee, Clemson could've staked a claim for one of the top spots in most way-too-early Top 25 rankings. Instead, look for a heavy dose of cynicism about the Tigers' chances of winning next year's national championship.

The Big 12

TCU has helped overshadow what has otherwise been a postseason flop from the Big 12, which went an FBS-worst 2-6 in bowl play. Oklahoma limped into the offseason with a last-minute loss to Florida State. There was Baylor's 30-15 dud against Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl; the Bears failed to convert a single third-down attempt and gave up 276 yards rushing while averaging 1.6 yards per carry. Oklahoma State managed just 10 first downs in losing 24-17 to Wisconsin in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Quinn Ewers threw for 369 yards but it wasn't enough for Texas in a 27-20 loss to Washington in the Alamo Bowl. Kansas made a furious comeback against Arkansas but couldn't seal the deal in overtime, losing 55-53 in a wacky and wild Liberty Bowl. And conference champion Kansas State had some early success before getting swamped by Alabama in a 45-20 Sugar Bowl defeat. The only Big 12 team other than TCU to score a bowl win was Texas Tech, which topped Mississippi 42-25 in the Texas Bowl.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football bowl game winners, losers: Georgia, TCU, Tulane shine