Five reasons to watch the Holiday Bowl

Okay, listen, we get it. Most likely, you think bowl season starts on New Year's Eve. Maybe slightly earlier depending on when your team is playing. But regardless of whether or not you're aware of them, the bowls have already started, and there's plenty of college football action to get you through to the main event around New Year's.

Two cold-weather teams make their way to San Diego to do battle in what might be the last postseason game ever played at Qualcomm Stadium (sorry, Charger fans!).

The lows in the high-40s may seem like spring weather to both the Golden Gophers and Cougars, and the action on the field could get hot with these two teams working to finish their seasons strong.
Here are five reasons to watch the Holiday Bowl.

Holiday Bowl
Minnesota (8-4, Big Ten) vs. Washington State (8-4, Pacific-12)
Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Time: Tuesday, Dec. 27, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Channel: ESPN

• Gabe Marks. Meet the most interesting man in college football. You might not find a more unintentionally funny man in an interview than the kid from Venice, Calif. Aside from his deadpan delivery, he’s also a heck of a football player. He leads the Cougars with 867 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. Look for him to make an impact in Holiday Bowl
• Luke Falk. Feeding Marks the ball is one of the Pac-12’s best quarterbacks. Falk threw for 4,204 yards with 37 touchdowns, completing 71 percent of his passes. He will face a big test against a physical Minnesota defense that has only allowed quarterbacks to complete 56 percent of their passes. However, if Falk can stay composed and get help from his offensive line, he can torch the Golden Gophers with a big game.
• Minnesota suspensions. Documents were leaked going into disturbing detail about a sexual assault allegation that happened in September. As a result, 10 Minnesota players were suspended for the Holiday Bowl. The Golden Gopher players were actually threatening a boycott, which has since been rescinded after the documents were made available to the public. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how these suspensions affect the team. Has anyone turned on one another? Is the distraction going to deter from the game?
• Rodney Smith. One player Minnesota hopes it can lean on is its star running back in Rodney Smith. Smith has been a terror on offense, gaining 1,271 yards and finding the end zone 15 times. The shifty running back can cause a lot of problems for Washington State if he’s able to control the tempo of the game and keep the Cougar offense off the field. If he’s having a good day, there will be fewer opportunities for Falk and Marks to do their damage.
• Pointing out soft Southern Californians vs. weather-hardened Washington State and Minnesota fans. Take it from a former San Diegan, we have it easy. Most of the time San Diego doesn’t dip below 70 degrees, making it a perfect destination for fun and sun. But man, during those winter days when the temperatures drop to 50 degrees, you would think there was a blizzard coming from how many layers we put on. I imagine Minnesota fans who are facing 10-degree weather in Minneapolis and Washington State fans escaping the same will greet the Golden State weather with short sleeves while Californians will be bundled up like they're going on an arctic expedition. Enjoy laughing at their plight. They will enjoy laughing at yours come January and February.