The beauty of the bowl season resides in the matchups. It's when a grinding Big Ten team meets a speedy SEC team or when an upstart makes a case for belonging in a BCS game.

It turns paper dragons into mortals and gives life to imagined matchups.

Intrigue hits home Saturday when Ohio plays Troy in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at the Superdome at 8 p.m.

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Tammy Nunez, The Times-Picayune