There's a simple solution to USC players opting out of Alamo Bowl

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You are surely aware by now of all the USC football players not playing in the Alamo Bowl against TCU. The list is long, and it is becoming a familiar story for the Trojans. The obvious reason for these opt-outs is hardy unique to USC; any team not playing a playoff game or a bowl with unique stature will generally have a ton of players opt out.

12-team playoff era

With 12 teams now in the CFP, the sense of disappointment attached to not making a playoff game is even greater than ever. The bowls have to adjust to remain relevant in the college football landscape. TV numbers are still good, but rivers of player opt-outs will not be good for the product on a long-term basis.

4-team playoff era

With the four-team playoff, there were still the non-playoff New Year’s Six bowls for teams to play in. USC played in one, the 2023 Cotton Bowl against Tulane. The Trojans’ stars did play in that game. Being in an NY6 game was still a relatively big deal, but now the calculus has changed.

Air out of the balloon

Seeing at least 10 USC starters opt out of the Alamo Bowl is not surprising, but it nevertheless makes the game a much less compelling event. Sure, younger guys will get a look as they start to prepare for 2026, but bowls should be less about next year and more about completing the current season with a championship.

Early 1980s

If you are old enough to have remembered the early 1980s, you know what bowls used to feel like. Younger fans not alive back then need to know this: There were fewer than 20 bowl games in the early 1980s. Therefore, the teams which did qualify for a bowl felt they were really special. They would exult when winning and hoisting the bowl trophy.

This is not just for the Rose Bowl or Sugar Bowl, either.

1982 Bluebonnet Bowl

The Bluebonnet Bowl was a good bowl in its time, usually producing a matchup between teams outside the top 15 but within the top 25. It was a December bowl not part of the elite New Year’s Day lineup. Yet, it felt like a massive event for the teams which played in it. Check the end of this video of the 1982 Bluebonnet Bowl between Arkansas and Florida. The players on the winning team lifted their coach on their shoulders and gave him a victory ride. This was how big bowls — most bowls — used to be back then. College football needs to find a way to bring back this kind of passion.

Matchups

Mark Rogers, the host of The Voice of College Football, had a really good idea for sprucing up the bowls. Rather than have conference tie-ins, bowls should try to create fun and unique matchups every year. Mark made the point that Michigan and LSU barely if ever play each other. The bowls should therefore strive to have that and other matchups which rarely occur, if at all. Fans get an instant attraction, and maybe the players do, too.

Teams which just missed the playoff should play each other

Imagine Vanderbilt playing BYU in a bowl game instead of Iowa. Vandy-Iowa isn’t a terrible matchup, but Vanderbilt-BYU would be an even better bowl game. Had Notre Dame not opted out, ND-Vandy in a bowl would have been spectacular.

The obvious solution

The best way to prevent player opt-outs for bowl games is throw an NIL bag onto the table. Winning teams get 2 million dollars and losing teams get 1 million. It’s an easy way to attract players to bowl games.

NIL contracts and bowls

NIL contracts don’t seem to lock down players for bowl games. This would certainly seem to be an area where college football should make an adjustment. NIL should go beyond the regular season and include the postseason.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: College football, not USC, has to address bowl opt-out problem

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