This college football season has been defined by the conversation regarding the Group of Five (G5) schools and their inclusion in the College Football Playoff (CFP); a subsection of the overall discussion of G5 schools is the importance of bowl games, NIL, and the transfer portal.
UTSA, an American Athletic Conference (AAC) member and part of the University of Texas system, has been bombarded by opt-outs, injuries, and NIL opportunities regarding their student-athletes prior to their bowl game matchup against the FIU Panthers.
Jeff Traylor said today that he'll be without roughly 10-20 players next week for the bowl game due to injuries, and more frustratingly, NIL grabs and the Transfer Portal. MUST LISTEN. It's the most important story in college football that isn't going away. @kens5 #BirdsUp pic.twitter.com/iXN3ZguDkb
— Vinnie Vinzetta (@VVinzetta) December 17, 2025
Bowl games have been a staple of college football since the early 1900s, and now, they’re getting closer and closer to getting treated as exhibition showcases. Players are constantly looking for the next best thing, as they are entitled to do, but nothing is guaranteed in the transfer portal, and sometimes looking towards greener pastures doesn’t result in the best outcome for both the team and the student.
There is no clear solution in sight regarding bowl games and their decreasing importance
Some in the football space have stated that putting bowl games at the start of the season would result in higher stakes and marquee matchups filled with star players without the threat of bowl games being used as leverage by student-athletes.
If bowl games are going to attempt to survive they need to be played in August/September.
— Chris Hassel (@Hassel_Chris) December 8, 2025
The effect of such a shift is up in the air, and while it’s an idea that is gaining more steam, especially surrounding fan circles, there’s no indication that it’ll happen anytime soon.
One thing’s for certain, and it’s that while NIL has led to some positive developments for student-athlete compensation, it has also put mid-major programs in a tough position, which has led to them not fielding some of their best players by the time bowl season kicks off.
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