Texas A&M Unable to Play in Gator Bowl
The #23 Texas A&M Aggies will not be playing in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Eve against Wake Forest because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the program.
As Dellenger reports, the Taxslayer Gator Bowl is hoping to fill the Aggies slot with another school, but it's only possible if another team were to back out of a Bowl they are already scheduled to play in.
UPDATE: Dellenger is now reporting a team that has already played a Bowl game, or a 5-7 team can replace Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl.
The leader in the clubhouse currently is Rutgers (5-7), though Illinois (5-7) and Marshall (7-6), who lost to Louisiana on Saturday 36-21, have made it known they would like to be the Aggies replacement.
The latest omicron variant outbreak of COVID-19 has led to an abundance of canceled college basketball games, and created extra hurdles for college football programs preparing for Bowl play.
As of now, LSU is scheduled to play the final Bowl game (Texas Bowl on January 4th versus Kansas State) before the College Football Playoff National Championship.
The 6-6 Tigers will be without a substantial number of scholarship players for the contest.
Currently, there have been no reported outbreaks of COVID-19 in either the LSU or Kansas State program.
However, college administrators are concerned about the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak as players return home for the Christmas holiday and return to campus to practice to prepare for a Bowl game.
Would they move the dates of the CFB Playoff semi-finals or the CFB Playoff National Championship?
If it means getting the game played, one would think, but the CFB Playoff committee isn't ruling out crowning a National Champion via forfeit.
My guess is, if it comes to it, they'll make sure the game is played, even if it means one team is at a severe disadvantage in terms of the number of active staff and players.