Best food celebrations from 2023 bowl season

The 2023 bowl season means the return of celebratory food showers, ranging from mayo dumps to an edible Pop-Tarts mascot.

With the transfer portal and conference realignment hindering some college football traditions, there's nothing like a food bath for the winner of a bowl to reaffirm fans' love of the sport.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl is the newest member of unique food celebrations, as the winner takes a bite out of an edible mascot. It replaces the Cheez-It Bowl, in which the winning coach received a Cheez-It bath.

Here's a look at the most notable food celebrations during the 2023 bowl season.

Duke's Mayo Bowl: West Virginia Mountaineers 30, North Carolina Tar Heels 10

The Duke's Mayo Bowl kicked off the seasonal trend with several bits inspired by the condiment.

In the end, West Virginia defeated the Tar Heels30-10, but the box score might have been overshadowed by the game's intriguing scenes, including Mountaineers' coach Neal Brown's victory mayo bath.

"I feel cold. I feel wet. But I feel like a winner," Brown said after getting doused in Duke's mayo.

The two mayo dumpers, Derek and Levi, successfully completed the mayo combine, earning a chance to drop 4.5 gallons of mayo on the winning head coach. The combine included different activities, such as mayo hands and a mayo squat.

Fans on both sides of the matchup also indulged in the bowl game's titular treat.

DIRECTV Holiday Bowl: USC Trojans 42, No. 15 Louisville Cardinals 28

Lincoln Riley's résumé includes four Big 12 championships, a Big 12 Coach of the Year award and now an eggnog bath.

The DIRECTV Holiday Bowl has been played 44 times, but eggnog on the winning coach, described on the bowl's social media page as"nog on the noggin," is a new tradition. The Trojans came out on top behind a strong performance by Miller Moss, who threw for 371 yards and six touchdowns, a USC bowl game record.

Riley had the holiday classic dumped on him to celebrate the big win.