Is the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot edible? Explaining mascot, flavors for college football bowl game

It's one of the greatest bowl game mascots in college football — and it's edible.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot is back, and perhaps tastier than ever.

No. 16 Miami and No. 18 Iowa State will play for the opportunity to take a bite out of this year's edible Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot, when the teams square off at 3:30 pm. ET on Saturday, Dec. 28 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida in the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl.

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This year's Pop-Tarts Bowl will feature three edible mascots on the sidelines with their flavors consisting of Frosted Wild Berry, Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae and Frosted Cinnamon Roll. The latter of the three was picked by fans in a mystery flavor contest.

Last year's edible Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot went viral and became one of the biggest memes all over social media as Kansas State beat NC State and received the majestic, gooey, life-sized lookalike edible mascot out of the toaster. So with the stakes higher this year with three flavors, the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot surely will be an internet sensation once again.

Here's what you need to know about the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot, including whether it is edible and which Pop-Tarts flavors there are to choose:

Is the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot edible?

Yes. To perhaps to great surprise, the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot is edible.

To make it "edible," the actual physical mascot that will roam the sidelines throughout the game gets put into a life-sized toaster — as if an actual Pop-Tart were unwrapped and put into a toaster to heat up. Once the mascot is fully descended into the toaster, an edible mascot is pushed out of the toaster for the winning team's enjoyment.

As noted by NBC Sports' Nicole Auerbach, the edible Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot is is made by a local bakery in the Orlando area. The postgame ceremony of the winning team devouring the edible mascot will either air on ABC or be streamed live on ESPN+, depending how long the game goes and if there is remaining time in the TV window.

Here's a look at what it looked like last year when Kansas State won the Pop-Tarts Bowl:

What are the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot flavors 2024?

The three flavors for the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl are Frosted Wild Berry, Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae and Frosted Cinnamon Roll. It is the first time that there will be multiple flavors for the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot, after it was only Frosted Strawberry last year.

Of the three flavors, Frosted Cinnamon Roll was voted by fans and announced as the "mystery flavor" for this year's bowl on NBC's "TODAY Show" on Dec. 4. According to a press release, the options in the mystery flavor fan poll were all previously discontinued Pop-Tarts that were fan-favorite flavors. On top of being picked as one of the three mascots for the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the winning mystery flavor also has headed back to the store shelves.

"We're always listening to our fans and are very happy to deliver one thing they're truly hungry for: the return of Frosted Cinnamon Roll," Pop-Tarts senior director of marketing Heidi Ray said in a statement on Dec. 4. "We know Pop-Tarts fans love to debate our flavors and were blown away by the level of engagement and speculation over the last two weeks, including correct guesses for Frosted Cinnamon Roll! To everyone who has flooded our comments and customer service to bring back this fan-favorite flavor, we're proud to say, in the words of Frosted Strawberry, 'Dreams really do come true'."

How is the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot flavor chosen?

The Most Valuable Player from the winning team will get to choose the flavor of the edible Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot.

Who is competing in the Pop-Tarts Bowl?

• 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl matchup: No. 19 Iowa State vs. No. 16 Miami

No. 19 Iowa State and No. 16 Miami will compete in the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl in a Big 12 vs. ACC battle.

Pop-Tarts Bowl start time

• Date: Saturday, Dec. 28

• Time: 3:30 p.m. ET

• Location: Camping World Stadium (Orlando, Florida)

The 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl between Iowa State and Miami will take place at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 28 from Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pop-Tarts Bowl 2024: Is mascot edible? Explaining mascot, flavors