Marshall opts out of bowl game after dozens of players enter transfer portal: report

The NCAA is reportedly looking for a replacement in the Independence Bowl.

The Army Black Knights won’t be affected much – they’re pretty much focused on their big game against Navy later Saturday.

However, it looks like they will have a new opponent in the competition on December 28.

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A general view of a Marshall Thundering Herd helmet during national team practice for the Reese’s Senior Bowl on January 31, 2024 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. (Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Yahoo Sports reports that Marshall, among over 25 players hitting the transfer portal, will opt out of the game.

There are no other 6-6 teams left (six wins automatically qualify teams for a bowl game), so the NCAA is currently working to find a replacement through an Academic Progress Score ranking among 5-7 teams.

Marshall, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, went 10-3 this season and 7-1 against conference opponents.

A general view of the main bleachers during the first quarter of the college football game between the Appalachian State Mountaineers and the Marshall Thundering Herd on September 19, 2020 at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, WV. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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The portal opened earlier this week and already 29 members of the Thundering Herd are looking elsewhere to play in 2025. This comes after head coach Charles Huff left for the same job at Southern Mississippi and hired Tony Gibson to replace him.

The Independence Bowl would have been Marshall’s 21st bowl game, having played in one in each of the last seven seasons, and 19 of those have come since 1997.

Marshall Thundering Herd head coach Charles Huff talks to his players during the game against the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 21, 2024 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH. (Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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The Thundering Herd have lost four of their last five bowl games after winning their previous seven. Their last win came in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl against UConn. They lost, 35-17, in last year’s Frisco Bowl to UTSA.

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