Remember when opt-outs ruined bowl games? That just doesn’t happen anymore, at least not like it used to.

Christian McCaffrey And Leonard Fournette were the first high-profile players to skip their bowl games to ensure a healthy pre-NFL draft process. Such opt-outs have occurred more frequently since 2017. In fact, future first-round draft picks were expected to miss bowl games.

No one in the Big Blue Nation expected this Will Levis to play in the 2022 Music City Bowl. Kenny Pickett decided to miss a New Year’s Six game after leading Pitt to an ACC championship. It became such a norm that before placing a bet during bowl season, one had to research who was attending the game. This year’s research produced a surprising result.

Top quarterbacks play in bowl games

Shedeur Sanders And Cam Ward will spend the next four months lobbying to be the first pick in next year’s NFL Draft. This weekend they will be playing in bowl games.

Why?

Even if it is not publicly announced, it certainly has no financial impact on the players participating in these games. The assumption is that if you don’t play you won’t get any money. In the case of Colorado, Deion Sanders secured the Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter would play in the Alamo Bowl by insuring them.

“We happen to have two players who will probably be the first two picks in the NFL Draft. I think we all know who these two are and they have received, I believe, the highest (disability) insurance coverage ever covered in college football. It far surpasses anyone who has ever played the game of college football. So we’re happy and excited,” Sanders said.

Although Jalen MilroeAlthough the case is different, it is still notable that he will play for Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl. He was considered a Heisman candidate at the start of the season, but his star has faded, and some of that may be due to the fallout from his Rose Bowl game last year against Michigan. On New Year’s Eve he gets the chance to take revenge on the Wolverines.

The transfer portal causes absences

Just because the sport’s biggest stars are playing doesn’t mean the teams are competing at full strength. The transfer portal is to blame for this bowl opt-out wave.

The Washington State Cougars will be a shell of their former selves when they take the field as 17.5-point underdogs against Syracuse in the Holiday Bowl. The Cougars lost their head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and running backs coach. Star quarterback John Mateer follows his offensive coordinator to Oklahoma. He will be one of about two dozen Wazzu players unavailable for the game.

NIL appears to have made postseason participation easier, but the transfer portal is decimating rosters even more worryingly.