It was just four months ago that TCU seemed like a lock for the Big 12 title and Oregon seemed destined to repeat as Pac-12 champion (or at least win the North). They were two teams who were popular picks for the College Football Playoff, and looked to have realistic shots at a national title if everyone stayed healthy and a few balls fell their way.

Then TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin injured his right ankle and Oregon quarterback Vernon Adams broke his right index finger.

And the Horned Frogs’ pass defense became a sieve and their two-point conversion against Oklahoma State failed. And Oregon almost beat Michigan State, forgot to show up against Utah and stumbled at the finish line against Washington State.

And so neither team made the playoff, but ...

“For us this is a playoff game," TCU coach Gary Patterson said of the Valero Alamo Bowl, in which the teams will face off Jan. 2 in San Antonio, Texas.

Patterson’s sentiment is right -- this game delivers a playoff-worthy matchup, one of the most evenly paired and exciting of the bowl season.

Both teams will be eager to prove how great they can be when healthy. And for both TCU and Oregon, that mostly involves their quarterbacks.

Patterson said that Boykin would be 100 percent by the bowl game, and though Adams has been healthy for the recent chunk of the season, every practice he gets with this group is another step they get back from the injury that took away from the Ducks in September.

With Boykin healthy and Adams fitting even better within the scheme, it’s likely this game will provide plenty of highlight-reel plays and could live up to a "playoff-level" billing. Both teams rank in the top 15 nationally in offensive touchdowns scored, yards per play and plays of 20-plus yards.

Add to that the fact that neither of these teams fields a top-50 defense -- the Horned Frogs have given up 397 yards per game this season while the Ducks have been worse, giving up 480 -- and you’ve got a game that is going to rack up a lot of yardage and scores.

No, it’s not where either team thought it would be when 2016 rolled around. But it’s a good opportunity for both to make a statement about where it could’ve been had a few more things just gone their way.

“We always try to talk about ending the season on an exclamation point instead of a period,” Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said.

On Jan. 2, one team's season will be closer to what it thought it could be! And the other's will be just a little bit shy of the playoff potential both these teams had.