From Spuddy Buddy to Gronk: Ranking the best mascots of 2023 college football bowl season

College football season is almost over, but the best part is just beginning with a full slate of bowl games.

While college bowl season is known for its high-octane action, thrilling wins, unforeseen heroics, spectacular plays, and miraculous upsets, it also brings some of the craziest marketing ploys known to man.

Just last year, Cheez-It, the cheesy cracker snack, put together a themed hotel room to promote the Cheez-It Bowl. We've seen all manner of wacky, unthinkable tools to draw attention to the lesser known bowl games. Yet throughout the years, one method has remained the same: using an insane mascot that makes fans everywhere think, "Whose bright idea was that?"

In the past, we've seen a walking potato.

A seductive jar of mayonnaise.

Even a T-shirt with eyes.

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This year is no different. There is a plethora of off-the-wall mascots that are bound to make 2023 an unforgettable bowl season once again.

Here are the best:

Ranking the best college football bowl game mascots of 2023

1) The unnamed, edible Pop-Tart mascot: The Pop-Tarts Bowl

It has no name, yet all eyes are on it. One quick Google search of "Bowl game mascot" will net you hundreds of results, all talking about how awesome the Pop-Tarts bowl mascot is.

And it's hard to say otherwise.

Never before have people been able to eat a mascot. This is ground-breaking mascot technology. Obviously, there are tons of questions that come from such a statement. Does the mascot want to be eaten? What flavor of Pop-Tart will the mascot be? How will they keep the sweat from the person in the costume away from where the victors will take bites?

Regardless of those details, any time a mascot can not only appear in the background of the post-game interviews, but also be an integral part of the winner's celebrations, it's a great mascot.

2) Spuddy Buddy: The Idaho Potato Bowl

While we have seen the walking potato before, it's hard to ignore the sheer jubilation when this spud is on screen. Even the football players themselves can't get enough of this guy. When the Wyoming Cowboys won the Potato Bowl in 2021, they all danced around Spuddy Buddy. They had just won the biggest game of their season and the mascot got all the attention. That's how you know you've created an ingenious marketing scheme.

3) Tony the Tiger: the Sun Bowl

Why is Tony the Tiger sponsoring a bowl game in 2023? Not Kellogg's. Not Frosted Flakes. Those would make too much sense, but specifically, Tony the Tiger? I know this isn't his first year sponsoring the Sun Bowl. I get that he wants kids to be active while starting their day with sugary cereal, but why does he get a bowl game named after him? It begs the question, are the cannibal squares from Cinnamon Toast Crunch going to show up?

Look at his smug face, peeking over the Sun Bowl title on that logo. It's unsettling.

The actual mascot itself is much better.

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Its smile is much warmer, and although the costume appears to be looking upwards into the sky at all times, it's still very solid. As long as we get a "THEY'RE GRRRRRRREAT!" multiple times during the game, I'm sure most people will be satisfied.

4) Ched-Z/Prince Chedward: The Citrus Bowl

Cheez-It has become one of the best at creating mascots for their bowl games. While one has not yet been announced for the 2023 Citrus Bowl, rumor has it that Ched-Z could make a return.

How can you dislike that?

A giant diamond with sunglasses. Regardless of who Cheez-It picks for their mascot in 2023, it's bound to be one of the best of the season. The only issue is that we've seen both of these mascots before, and while both were spectacular, it's hard to up their antics from their previous appearances. Therefore, they stay at number four.

5) Rob Gronkowski: The LA Bowl

As much as everyone loves Rob Gronkowski, this seems like a cop-out. Among the sea of incredible, unique bowl game mascots, the LA Bowl opted to play it safe once again. After Jimmy Kimmel had played host to the game for the past two years, Gronkowski will take over the position after he and the LA Bowl reached a deal in October this year.

Of course, there is a chance Gronk could exceed expectations and bring an actual mascot into the fold, just like Kimmy did with the renowned, vomiting "Jimmy Camel" in 2022.

Such a mascot has not been revealed thus far for 2023 though. Gronkowski says he has "big things" planned for the game, but as far as we know, he is the face of the game this year, meaning he's at the bottom of the list.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2023 College Bowl games feature several unforgettable mascots