Many college football bowl games are ruined. Some are almost unwatchable.
Because of the explosion of players opting out of bowl games to protect their bodies for the NFL draft, teams are often far different from the ones that got them to the bowl games.
There’s no better example than the Gators, who went to the Las Vegas Bowl without their quarterback Anthony Richardson, their best defensive player, outside linebacker Ventrell Miller, their consensus All-American guard O’Cyrus Torrance and a handful of other regulars.
The Gators weren’t that good with those players. Without them, they stunk up the joint, losing 30-3 to Oregon State.
Unless a player’s team is in the CFP, dozens of players are signing with agents and flocking to workout facilities designed to prepare them for the Scouting Combine. I’m not blaming the players. The lure of pro dollars is too much for them to ignore. Even a 4th-or-5th round draft pick will immediately pocket between $500,000 and a million bucks. Some players might stay because of money their make in the NIL program, but most of those dollars are used for highly-regarded transfers or 5-star recruits.
Did I mention these teams are also losing players through the transfer portal?
