College football players opting out of bowl games has become a common ordeal as athletes try to stay healthy for the NFL Draft. But an entire team has decided to forgo its bowl appearance this year after losing too many players.
The Marshall Thundering Herd football team has notified officials that they will be backing out of the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl this season, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. DailyMail.com has reached out to the school to confirm this.
After winning the Sun Belt Conference championship, the 10-3 Thundering Herd will no longer be set to play the No.22 ranked Army Black Knights (11-2).
This news comes days after head coach Charles Huff decided to leave the team to take the job at Southern Mississippi.
Not only has the coach departed, but over 25 players from Marshall have decided to enter the transfer portal – with some of them following Huff.
Three of the team’s quarterbacks, Marshall’s leading rusher from the season prior, three of their top-seven leading receivers, and their star linebacker are among the names that are leaving the team.
Marshall University’s football team will be backing out of their Independence Bowl appearance
Coach Charles Huff departed the school for Southern Miss and over two dozen players have put their names into the transfer portal – including multiple offensive and defensive starters
The NCAA Transfer Portal officially opened this past Monday and will remain open until December 28.
Players need to leave their current schools with plenty of time in order to enroll in their new institutions in time for the spring semester.
More than 2,800 FBS scholarship players put their names into the portal last season, according to On3 Sports. Not all of those players found new schools, as some withdrew from the portal while others went pro.
Now, the NCAA is in the tough position of trying to find a new team to replace Marshall.
Teams are considered ‘bowl eligible’ when they reach a record of 6-6. But this season, all of the teams with that record had been assigned bowl berths.
Now, the NCAA has to determine its replacement through a ranking of NCAA Academic Progress Report scores of teams that went 5-7 this season.
After this story was initially published, college football insider Brett McMurphy reported that Louisiana Tech would replace Marshall.
Louisiana Tech, with a record of 5-7, is located in Ruston, LA and is the closest school to the city of Shreveport, LA – where the Independence Bowl is played.
