Every unpaid intern, I mean, “student athlete” that plays for a top-dollar BCS school loves bowl season. Sure, there’s the chance to earn postseason glory in a one-off December football game named after middle-tier restaurants and such, but every player knows the real prize is in the gifts these athletes receive during bowl week. When your team is playing in a bowl sponsored by the Outback Steakhouse, guess what your gift is? All of the Bloomin’ Onions you can cram into your belly.

When the Tigers and Hawkeyes met for their free meal, they got their money’s worth.

The official ‘box score’ of the @outbackbowl welcome dinner! That’s a lot of food. #gorge @cbs2iowa pic.twitter.com/uEAXBZ06ZW

— Jared Aarons (@jaredaarons) December 27, 2013

 

So, what’s the damage?

• Over 5,000 total pounds of food
• 750 pounds of sirloin steak, served with 40 gallons of “Diablo Sauce”
• 750 pounds of chicken and 900 pounds of ribs
• 160 Bloomin’ Onions, over 80 gallons of BBQ sauce, and 1,200 pounds of cheesecake.

Mother of God. Hopefully these two teams’ offensive linemen wake up from their diabetic comas in time for the noon kickoff on New Year’s Day.