ESPN College Football

Important editorial note: This is NOT written by Bruce Feldman; he'll be undergoing back surgery early this week, so in his stead, ESPN The Magazine senior writer Ryan McGee -- who often has written on college football, including this piece -- and ESPN The Magazine editor Ryan Hockensmith -- who helps oversee the college football department -- are offering their thoughts on the just-announced bowl pairings. Enjoy, and feel free to leave well-wishes for Bruce in the Conversation section.

Ryan McGee goes inside the world of bowl selections

For a glimpse into the wild, wacky, what-the-deuce world of bowl team selections, you needn't look any further than the ACC. On Sunday afternoon, a six-pack of bowl selection committees with ACC tie-ins sat down in six cities and proceeded to have a WWE-style bunkhouse stampede to decide who got whom. And like pro wrestling, few left the cage without at least getting their feelings hurt.

I talked to two ACC-affiliated bowl officials Sunday night. One described the afternoon's cross-bowl talks as "more tense than my divorce proceedings." Another said of the day: "I've had more fun passing kidney stones."

How did it all go down? Stick with me here; it's worth it. But you might want to have some Tylenol on hand.

To keep reading Ryan McGee's timeline of how Clemson fell from Jonathan Dwyer's TD run all the way to the Music City Bowl (it's a good tale), you must be an ESPN Insider.