Welcome to the who-knows world of college football bowl games. Flip a coin. Toss a dart. Spin the wheel.

This is the land of transfer portal nausea. Results shredding opt-outs. NIL dreams trumping those of the Gatorade variety. A roster one day, a smudged set of nearly illegible re-writes the next.

The Holiday Bowl lured in Heisman Trophy eyeballs with USC’s Caleb Williams a season ago, until it didn’t. The bowl had another QB of note this lap in Washington State’s John Mateer, until it didn’t.

The bowl sells its history, its points, its tough-to-top weather. That’s what it has to do, right? Keep the lantern lit, even when the night creeps over the horizon and college football maims lineups before your eyes.

The Holiday Bowl has become an admirable winner among a losing-by-the-minute bunch. Most games cannot claim the sun-splashed backdrop, the swaying palm trees and the undeniable resume.

So, the game that began in 1978 and helped cement the legends of Barry Sanders, Ty Detmer and Dez Bryant again endeavored to spin gold out of embers.

It spun well in a 52-35 shootout Friday at Snapdragon Stadium.

The Holiday Bowl, still and always, hides surprises up its jersey sleeves.

Washington State backup quarterback Zevi Eckhaus, in the wings behind Mateer, had one touchdown pass this season. He had one in a bowl with 1:22 to play in the first quarter on a 66-yard strike to Kyle Williams.

Syracuse had a two-point conversion flipped on replay moments before the following kickoff. The Cougars blocked a Syracuse punt, which was recovered on the bounce for a score by Mater Dei High School’s Josh Meredith.

It was 21-14 … with three quarters to play.

That coin flipping and dart tossing? The opening line favored Syracuse by 5 1/2 points. The estimation skyrocketed to 19 once the transfer portal reared its sizable head.

Washington State led by seven as the second quarter arrived, of course.

The over-under in Vegas at kickoff was 58 points. Thirty-five of those were chewed up in the first 15 minutes, of course. The 35 points was fourth most in any D-I game’s opening quarter this season.

Two minutes and seven seconds later, it was 21-21 on Syracuse slinger Kyle McCord’s 18-yard toss to Oronde Gadsen II.

College football’s modern mantra this time of year comes down to this from Washington State interim coach Pete Kaligis, who owns that title because Jake Dickert, the man who coached the team all season, smelled a brighter paycheck in a wealthier conference with Wake Forest.

Kaligis summed things up: “We are who we are, we have what we have.”

Those who cover Washington State said the number of players in the portal, only slightly less tricky to pinpoint than the number of teams MLB hurler Rich Hill played on, could top 30.

A season ago, an even two dozen had moved on for the same reason at USC and Louisville. Welcome to bowls sponsored by Rolaids.

Today’s sales pitch to stay and play signals a complete strategic reset.

“I think NIL is really the forefront of everything,” Syracuse coach Fran Brown said. “So as long as you have a good NIL plan, you’re consistent, you continuously … love the players, they understand and know that you love them, I don’t think you’ll have too many worries.

“There are going to be a lot of places that offer a whole bunch of money. I think there’s a lot of kids that are looking for relationships. The relationships mean more because long-term they’ll make more, right?

“You may have a kid that has an opportunity to make $200,000. Once you’re able to explain to them that 200 won’t mean as much as your signing bonus may be, the relationship you’ll have, and you already knowing and understanding that you’ll have a job. The 200 won’t mean as much as getting a degree from Syracuse, which is what you’re going to college to really do.”

In some cases, that works. In the growing amount of cases, it’s naive hope-clutching. So you cross your fingers, then try to peddle as much of the good-ol’ days as kids can stomach.

Meanwhile, the Holiday Bowl keeps delivering points. And points. And points.

To start the second quarter, McCord strung together a 28-yard pass and 17-yarder to Gadsen and Darrell Gill Jr., respectively, before capping a 94-yard drive that made it 28-21.

With half the second quarter to go.

When halftime arrived, 56 points had been scored as Syracuse pushed in front 35-21. McCord was on pace to throw for 436 yards and six touchdowns. Allen was on pace for 202 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

Did the SkyShow fireworks go off prematurely?

Just when you thought the Holiday Bowl had lost its legs after two missed third-quarter field goals and nearly 13 minutes without a point, it remembered who it was in the bowl universe.

Eckhaus, the other quarterback, the backup quarterback, hit Carlos Hernandez for a 42-yard score to make it 35-28 with 2:06 left in the quarter.

McCord, who passed Deshaun Watson (Clemson, 2016) to become the ACC’s leading single-season passer in San Diego, stood at 270 yards. Eckhaus, the other guy, the barely-used guy, had 262.

Then McCord, apparently sensing someone on his heels, uncorked a 45-yard score to Pena on the following drive as the scoreboard bulged to 42-28.

A field goal later, it was 45-28. Then it was 52-28. The offenses continued to rage into the night. The scoreboard operator consulted a doctor about carpal tunnel syndrome.

There’s still some magic in that old Holiday Bowl.

Even these days.