The best experiences of bowl season

— -- Do the scores of bowl games matter? Heck yes, they do.

Will the winners of those games clean out a spot in the football offices to display their new bowl trophy, no matter how gaudy? Heck yes, they will.

Will the losers of those games still wear their logoed watches and use their loss as fuel for 2015? Um, yeah.

But perhaps the best parts of the bowl experience, for both the winners and losers in games both small and large, are the activities and stuff that come with the bid. From celebrity handshakes to swanky dinners to, yes, swag, all 39 contests of the college football postseason come with their own signature experiences. Just what exactly are we talking about? See for yourself, as we break down the best of the 2014-15 bowl season.

Best Joey Chestnut Flash Mob: Outback Bowl team meal

If you're a steakhouse chain and you're going to host the pregame meal, you better go big. Outback Steakhouse did just that. On Dec. 26, the Auburn Tigers and Wisconsin Badgers devoured a metric ton of food. The final scorecard: 750 pounds of steak, 900 pounds of ribs, 750 pounds of chicken, 1,200 pounds of cheesecake and 1,600 shrimp. Sources tell me two members of the wait staff might also have been accidentally eaten.

Best Oklahoma Drill: Tennessee

How do you keep your players from getting hurt during a pre-TaxSlayer Bowl beach party? Wrap them inside giant plastic bubbles. When they finally played the game, running back Jalen Hurd ran like he was still encased and untouchable.

Best ESPN Interview-Turned-Confessional Booth: Rashaan Evans, Alabama

When reporter Kaylee Hartung asked the Crimson Tide running back to share his favorite aspect of being in New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl, he was very honest. Judging by the reaction from his teammates, he was perhaps a little too honest. Next year, he might find Nick Saban has requested Hartung's hotel curfew be a little earlier than everyone else's.

Best Quote About A Teammate: Mario Edwards Jr., Florida State

When the Seminoles defensive end was asked about facing off against teammate Roderick Johnson, FSU's wunderkind freshman left tackle, Edwards explained, "If he gets his hands on you, you can pretty much cancel Christmas."

Best Use Of Someone Else's Locker: Sam Ficken, Penn State

When the Nittany Lions moved into their Yankee Stadium locker room for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, the once-maligned PSU kicker realized he was using the locker of one Mr. Derek Jeter. On Dec. 27, he kicked the extra point that defeated Boston College in overtime, the last play of his college career. It was not unlike Jeter's career-ender, a game-winning hit against the Baltimore Orioles almost exactly three months earlier. That night, the Penn State Twitter account tweeted "RE97PECT."

Best Game Practice Run: Payton Poulin, FSU

Poulin, 19, is a Florida State freshman stricken with schizencephaly, a cerebral palsy-like condition that forces him to require assistance to conduct everyday tasks and keeps him largely confined to a wheelchair. As his story spread throughout Tallahassee, he befriended the team and became a mainstay at practice, and fellow FSU fans helped Poulin and his family make the trip to Pasadena for the College Football Playoff semifinals. On Tuesday, he ditched that chair and, surrounded by his beloved Seminoles, ended their practice in Carson, California, by walking from midfield to the end zone. See the emotion-charged moment here.

Best Pregame Presser: AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Old Elvis vs. Young Elvis

During their pre-Liberty Bowl press conference, the head coaches of Texas A&M and West Virginia were asked a set of "Memphis questions," which naturally included an Elvis query, specifically if they preferred young "Hound Dog" Elvis or older "American Trilogy" Elvis.

"I wasn't around for young Elvis," Kevin Sumlin said. "So I guess it's going to have to be old Elvis."

"That's the jumpsuit Elvis," explained Liberty Bowl executive director Harold Graeter.

"Yeah, the Evel Knievel-looking Elvis," Sumlin said. "That's the one I know."

Holgorsen admitted he didn't know much about The King but was planning to stick around a few extra days to see Memphis and visit Graceland. Which begs the question ... the Liberty Bowl doesn't have a Graceland visit on the teams' schedule?!

Best Non-Human Bowl Prognosticator: VIZIO Fiesta Bowl, Hadiah the Sumatran Tiger

Hadiah, a resident of the Phoenix Zoo, picks the winners of the Arizona-based bowl games by deciding which team logo-marked, meat-filled box she will eat from. Much like the SEC, she entered the 2014 postseason with a peerless résumé. But last Tuesday, she predicted Arizona would defeat Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl and followed it up with another near-miss when her pick, Washington, fell in a thriller to Oklahoma State. Even with those losses, her three-year record stands at 4-2. I'm told my boss, Chad Millman, is now trying to secure a Ron Burgundy-style zoo interview for his Behind The Bets podcast.

Best Scary Moment Behind The Wheel: Belk Bowl's Talladega Nights

Every year, the Belk Bowl takes both teams to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for some 160 mph laps around the track with the Richard Petty Driving Experience. This year, they put Georgia's Mark Richt and Louisville's Bobby Petrino on the track at the same time ... and then threw in a surprise third car to simulate a real race. "I wasn't ready for that," Richt-y Bobby admitted. "That third car came running through there in between us, three-wide, and I was like, 'Wait, this might not be the best idea.'"

Second Best Scary Moment Behind The Wheel: Fiesta Bowl Parade

Hey, Jimmy, remember that time you were driving a float in the Fiesta Bowl Parade, and the Phoenix Suns Gorilla hit the windshield like an errant grasshopper?

Best Huge Bowl Trophy That Isn't From A Huge Bowl: Hawai'i Bowl

It's a big metal football morphing into a pineapple. I mean, c'mon.

Best Re-creation Of The "Star Wars" Cantina Scene: Outback Bowl

Honestly, it's kind of cruel to march a giant walking coconut shrimp and even larger human Bloomin' Onion around in front of a stadium full of people still hungover from New Year's Eve.

Best Bowl Gift: A Big Thing Of You

The Sport Business Journal estimates bowl games spent at least $5.4 million on gifts for their participants, including gift suite visits (think really nice, electronic shopping sprees) and the usual haul of watches, sunglasses, backpacks and enough Best Buy gift cards to fill all those backpacks a few times over. But the most unique bowl gift came via the Quick Lane Bowl, which called on fellow Detroit resident Fathead to provide every player from Rutgers and North Carolina with wall hangings of ... themselves. I'm told that even the Rutgers Fatheads rushed for 100 yards against the Tar Heels.

Almost The Best Bowl Gifts

The honorable mentions include some tried and true items, such as aloha shirts from the Hawai'i Bowl and hair dryers from the Hyundai Sun Bowl. The new Raycom Media Camellia Bowl gave out emblazoned pylons. But the crown jewel of bowl swag is still the belt buckle from the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl. With Arkansas and Texas in the game, there were two rosters of kids who will actually wear them.

Best Use Of Bowl Gift Package: Sam Carter, TCU

The majority of bowl games include visits to children's hospitals as part of their weekly schedule. The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl arranged to have members of the Ole Miss team visit Atlanta's Scottish Rite Children's Hospital and for 18 TCU Horned Frogs to accompany head coach Gary Patterson to Egleston Children's Hospital. Carter, a senior safety, was so moved by the experience that he gave away his entire bowl gift stash, including a Visa gift card, Chick-fil-A gift card, football, watch and Apple TV receiver. Who knew Santa Claus actually wore purple and white?