Why do college football players opt out of bowl games?

One of the most common occurrences in college football postseason in recent years has been bowl game opt-outs. This tradition has grown significantly in the last couple of years, with more players within the landscape choosing to skip the once-precious bowl games.

The trend started in the 2016 college football season when Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey and his LSU counterpart Leonard Fournette decided to opt out of their respective bowl games to prepare for the 2017 NFL draft.

Many players have since then followed in their footsteps. It is becoming quite hard for teams to have their top players available for bowl games, especially when they are not featured in the College Football Playoff.

Why do college football players opt out of bowl games?

Cotton Bowl Football

College football players mainly opt out of bowl games to prepare for the NFL Draft. Players who skip bowl games have a good chance of getting drafted and they forego the postseason matchup in order to avoid any sort of injuries that could ruin their draft chances. At this stage, it's safe to say the players have their sights on the professional stage, marking the end of their journey at the collegiate level.

Can transfer portal players play in bowl games?

Oklahoma v Texas

No rule in college football prevents players who have entered the transfer portal from appearing in bowl games despite signaling exit plans. They remain on their current program and their transfer is not officially completed until the end of the college football season.

However, transfer portal players hardly feature in bowl games for their current teams, mainly because of coaches’ discretion. Coaches in the landscape do not want to count on players who have mentally checked out when making their lineup for bowl games.

This has resulted in an increasing number of coaches and other stakeholders to call for the transfer portal to remain shut until the entire college football season is over.