BEST/WORST: It's All About The Bowl Game Gifts

By Maddy Glab December 16, 2014

With bowl season and the holidays knocking at the door, that means one thing: bowl gifts. Most bowls hook the players up with the hottest gadgets on the market, but a few include some more...questionable gifts. This is my list of the best and worst bowl gifts of the 2014-15 season, and for authenticity's sake, I’ll try to think like a 20-year-old football player while making these picks.

Just for reference, here’s a list of what gifts each bowl presents to its participating teams.

To get you in the spirit of reading about bowl game gifts, watch Mizzou players go apeshit over finding out their bowl game gifts. This is hilarious.

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7nNY9S0iJw[/embed]

WORST:

- Raycom Media Camellia Bowl/Duck Commander Independence Bowl/AutoZone Liberty Bowl/Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl/Lockheed Armed Forces Bowl/Birmingham Bowl/GoDaddy Bowl: a football

Yes, a freaking football. What are you going to do with this football? Unless it’s signed by Walter Payton or someone of that caliber, I’m probably going to give it to my dog as a chew toy. If you play college football and made it to a bowl game, I’m sure your school doesn’t have a shortage of footballs. Save the leather and do better.

- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: winter gloves

Bye. Is this the snowball fight bowl? What about a never-ending mashed potato bar on the sidelines during the game? I mean, it’s the Potato Bowl, and the offensive and defensive linemen stay hungry. Snack time timeouts? I think that's a much better idea.

- Hawaii Bowl: a towel

Just save the extra money and buy an iPhone charger for a gift. I understand going along with the theme of the bowl based on its location, but who wants a towel for a bowl gift?

- Hyundai Sun Bowl: a hair dryer

WHAT THE %@!&??? I guess you could re-gift this and give it to a female in your family. But seriously, a hair dryer? Last time I checked, most football players don't blow-dry their hair.

BEST:

- Gift suite

A lot of bowls present teams with a gift suite, which is basically a room where players can choose from a slew of gifts adding up to a certain value amount. These suites feature things like Beats by Dre headphones and recliner chairs. Who doesn’t love options? Here's a video of Mizzou center Evan Boehm going through AT&T Cotton Bowl's gift suite. It's pretty funny.

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY2Oe9q_fZk[/embed]

- Bowl game backpack

Lots of bowls give out backpacks as gifts. I love this gift because what doesn’t say, “I’m cool” louder than a backpack with a huge logo of the bowl game stamped on it. Outside of looking cool, these are actually useful (unlike, say, a hair dryer).

- Watches

A number of bowls give out cool watches as part of their gift packages. Nothing says 'I’ve got swag' like a snazzy watch. Everybody loves nice looking watches - it’s a win-win situation here people.

- Gildan New Mexico Bowl: a phone charger and cord

Hopefully it’s an iPhone 5 charger. Nobody can go without too many iPhone chargers; I lose a charger at least once a month. I can picture it now, a player getting the charger and saying, ‘Yes! I needed this!’ ...it’s the little things in life, people.

- San Diego County Credit Union Poinsetta Bowl: $395 Best Buy gift card

National University Holiday Bowl: $445 Best Buy gift card

Russell Athletic Bowl/Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl: $447 Best Buy gift card

HELL YEAH. I’ll have your biggest TV for that price please. This one's like the gift suite, but even better. So many options.

- Quick Lane Bowl: custom-made Fathead for each player

If I’m a college football player, I can’t think of anything else I would want more than a Fathead of myself. It can go right next to the shrine of all the trophies the players have acquired in their homes.

- AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl: a belt buckle

I’m just going to take a wild guess here and say it’s a state of Texas belt buckle. In that case, this is a prized possession. A Texas belt buckle is something you put in a display case and put on your shelf to look at for years.