The Pop-Tarts Bowl cracked the code on keeping bowl season relevant

The College Football Playoff expanding has done a ton of damage to how bowl season in college football is viewed. Between players opting out of games to avoid injury ahead of the NFL Draft and players sitting out as they plan to enter the Transfer Portal, many have viewed these games as glorified scrimmages. The truth is that while Bowl games have gotten stale, the ones that continue to innovate remain just as popular.

Before the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the game was both the Camping World Bowl and the Cheez-It Bowl, but hardly anyone can name memorable moments from either iterations. The Cheez-It's Bowl came close to cracking the code with their gimmicks, but the way the Pop-Tarts Bowl has made itself an event has surpassed anyone's expectations.

Sure the game itself draws the crowd in, but the Pop-Tarts Bowl has made itself a spectacle to the point where it doesn't matter which teams play in the game. While you had fans in the stands sporting BYU and Georgia Tech gear, there were also fans donning their own Pop-Tarts costumes and apparel.

The gimmicks themself have become just as much of an event, and this year's Pop-Tarts Bowl Ring of Honor, celebrating the two mascots eaten by the previous winners, was a hilarious touch.

A "meaningless game" was able to draw a massive crowd further proving that fans care about bowl games if it's the right game.

The game has it all, from the trophy being a functional toaster to mascots on the field celebrating with the players on the field. In a world where everyone takes some of these games too seriously, the Pop-Tarts Bowl is the opposite, as everyone acknowledges that it's a specticle which makes it so much more enjoyable than a regular game.

What other event could end with a Pop-Tarts mascot being dropped into a giant toaster and becoming an edible pastry for the players to eat?

As fans continue to rally around the chaotic nature of the Pop-Tarts Bowl, other Bowl Games and corporate sponsors are going to start looking at the event as the blueprint. Over the next several years, we're going to start seeing games mirror the fun of this game, and it may lead to a far more enjoyable bowl season in college football.