The holiday season brings with it the usual assortment of college bowl games, from the classic Rose, Orange and Sugar, all the way to the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl and, my favorite, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Each contest involves the migration across the country of hordes of players, coaches, alumni boosters, band members, mascots—and, of course, cheerleaders. Remarkably, recent science suggests that if this final group weren't included, it would probably alter the quality of play.

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