The team spent a lot more time together than usual.
It's obvious, but I've seen this explicitly mentioned by the players and coaches in several interviews.
It used to be that bowl games merely gave you the opportunity to practice some more. This season went longer than ever and included several weeks where schoolwork was not a consideration and the team was on the road.
I wonder if there's a long-term benefit for the teams that survived the longest to build their culture in ways the other schools did not have the opportunity to. Our season was 4-6 weeks longer than some other schools. Given that culture has been considered a huge plus for us, we (and OSU, of course) could reap future benefits from this extra bonding and learning time.