According to college football rumors circulating on Saturday morning, we could be about to witness the most eye-opening opt-out of the 2024 bowl season. After seeing a staggering number of players enter the transfer portal, the Marshall Thundering Herd is reportedly considering abandoning its place in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.
What is the latest rumor? Why is Marshall considering this action? Most importantly, who will replace the Thundering Herd?
College Football Rumors: Who Replaces Marshall in the Independence Bowl?
Rumors from media outlet Sidelines surfaced on Saturday morning, suggesting that Marshall may be forced to drop out of the Independence Bowl. If the Thundering Herd can’t play against the Army Black Knights on Dec. 28, our understanding is that the Cincinnati Bearcats would replace the reigning Sun Belt Conference champion in the bowl matchup in Shreveport, LA.
🚨Breaking🚨
Rumors swirling from very strong AD sources that the Herd will be dropping out of their Bowl Game against Army! This comes after the Herd has had 25+ transfers and has lost many on the coaching staff. Player safety was the main concern. Marshall will pay the fine. pic.twitter.com/O6zFWjpHpi— Sidelines – Marshall (@SSN_Herd) December 14, 2024
The situation is as bizarre as it sounds. Marshall won the Sun Belt title at the third time of asking this fall, beating the favored Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in convincing fashion.
However, head coach Charles Huff wasn’t extended by the program, and with his contract expired, the highly-regarded head coach was allowed to leave the Thundering Herd, becoming the Southern Miss Golden Eagles head coach.
An exodus of players followed Huff out of Huntington. Over 25 players have either entered the transfer portal or declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, decimating their roster to the point that player safety has become an issue for the team ahead of their Independence Bowl date with the new AAC champion Black Knights.
It’s worth noting that, at this point, these are just college football rumors, and no official statement has been issued by the program. However, the mere prospect of the Thundering Herd dropping out of their bowl game will send fans scrabbling to find out who will take their place in the Independence Bowl.
Under the NCAA’s bowl eligibility rules, Cincinnati would be the team to step up to the plate. All teams that reached the magic six wins required to gain bowl eligibility this season qualified for the postseason. There were no 6-6 teams that had wins against an FCS team that discounted them from eligibility.
The next rung down on the bowl eligibility ladder is teams who played 13 games but ended the season with a 6-7 record. After that, it is teams who were in their second year of reclassification from the FCS to FBS level. There were no teams that met either of those eligibility issues in the 2024 college football season.
So, it falls to the fourth article of eligibility criteria:
“Teams with at least 5 wins and no more than 7 losses, in order of their Academic Progress Rates (APRs).”
Cincinnati is the sixth-ranked program in the country for Academic Progress Rate, as revealed by the NCAA earlier this season. There are four programs ahead of them (the Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Clemson Tigers) who are already bowl eligible. The Northwestern Wildcats (tied third for APR) only have four wins in 2024.
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As such, if Marshall were to drop out of the Independence Bowl, it would be Cincinnati who will face Army on Dec. 28.
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