NFL Draft 2024: A Viewing Guide to NCAA Prospects Playing in Bowl Games

The beginning of the end of college football arrives Saturday as the first bowl games of the year kick off.

As a primer for football fans everywhere, we cross-referenced some of the best NFL draft prospects in the NCAA with every bowl game. This way, fans of the draft can plan for some of the most star-studded games of the next few weeks.

A few notes about our criteria:

• Each game score is built from ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper's rankings at each position. If Kiper ranked a player 10th, we gave that player's bowl game one point. A ninth-ranked player was worth two points, etc., until the top-ranked players, who were worth 10 points.
• For the sake of viewers who want to see a lot of participation, we gave an additional five points for each skill-position player and an additional 10 points for each quarterback.
• A number of players on Kiper's rankings have opted out of bowl games that don't have postseason implications. We listed those players but didn't count their ranking toward the overall score of the game.
• Other players have yet to declare their bowl game intentions. We listed them and counted them toward the game's score. But there's a very high likelihood that some (Marvin Harrison Jr. at Ohio State, for instance, as well as an enormous amount of players involved in the Orange Bowl) will opt out before their game rolls around.

With all that said, here are our prospect scores for each bowl game.

December 16

The first week and a half of bowl games is very light on high-level prospects, but some sleepers could emerge.

MYRTLE BEACH BOWL

11:00 a.m.: Georgia Southern vs. Ohio

Score: 0

CRICKET CELEBRATION BOWL

12:00 p.m.: Howard vs. Florida A&M

Score: 0

R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

2:15 p.m.: Louisiana vs. Jacksonville State

Score: 0

AVOCADOS FROM MEXICO CURE BOWL

3:30 p.m.: Miami (Ohio) vs. Appalachian State

Score: 0

ISLETA NEW MEXICO BOWL

5:45 p.m.: New Mexico State vs. Fresno State

Score: 0

STARCO BRANDS LA BOWL HOSTED BY GRONK

7:30 p.m.: UCLA vs. Boise State

UCLA: DE (7) Gabriel Murphy, OL (1) Laiatu Late (out)

Score: 4

RADIANCE TECHNOLOGIES INDEPENDENCE BOWL

9:15 p.m.: Cal vs. Texas Tech

Texas Tech: K (3) Austin McNamara

Score: 8

DECEMBER 18

FAMOUS TOASTERY BOWL

2:30 p.m.: Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion

Score: 0

DECEMBER 19

SCOOTER'S COFFEE FRISCO BOWL

9 p.m.: UTSA vs. Marshall

Score: 0

DECEMBER 21

ROOFCLAIM.COM BOCA RATON BOWL

8:00 p.m.: USF vs. Syracuse

Score: 0

DECEMBER 22

UNION HOME MORTAGE GASPARILLA BOWL

6:30 p.m.: Georgia Tech vs. UCF

Score: 0

DECEMBER 23

CAMELLIA BOWL

12:00 p.m.: Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois

Score: 0

76 BIRMINGHAM BOWL

12:00 p.m.: Duke vs. Troy

Duke: C (1) Graham Barton (out)

Troy: OL (8) Javon Solomon (out)

Score: 0

LOCKHEED MARTIN ARMED FORCES BOWL

3:30 p.m.: James Madison vs. Air Force

Score: 0

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL

3:30 p.m.: Georgia State vs. Utah State

Score: 0

68 VENTURES BOWL

7:00 p.m.: South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan

Score: 0

SRS DISTRIBUTION LAS VEGAS BOWL

7:30 p.m.: Utah vs. Northwestern

Utah: K (5) Jack Bouwmeester, S (7) Cole Bishop, G (10) Sataoa Laumea, OLB (5) Jonah Elliss (out, injured), FB (8) Brant Kuithe (out, injured)

Score: 10

EASYPOST HAWAI'I BOWL

10:30 p.m.: Coastal Carolina vs. San Jose State

Score: 0

DECEMBER 26

QUICK LANE BOWL

2:00 p.m.: Bowling Green vs. Minnesota

Minnesota: S (2) Tyler Nubin

Score: 9

SERVPRO FIRST RESPONDER BOWL

5:30 p.m.: Texas State vs. Rice

Score: 0

GUARANTEED RATE BOWL

9:00 p.m.: Kansas vs. UNLV

Kansas: G (9) Dominick Puni

UNLV: K (8) Jose Pizano

Score: 5

DECEMBER 27

Two days after Christmas, things start to heat up. While injuries and opt-outs hurt the first few games, there could be a significant amount of potential NFL talent on display.

MILITARY BOWL PRESENTED BY GOBOWLING.COM

2:00 p.m.: Virginia Tech vs. Tulane

Tulane: QB (7) Michael Pratt

Score: 14

DUKE'S MAYO BOWL

5:30 p.m.: North Carolina vs. West Virginia

North Carolina vs. West Virginia

North Carolina: FB (1) Bryson Nesbit (out), QB (2) Drake Maye (out), Off-ball LB (6) Cedric Gray (out)

West Virginia: C (3) Zach Frazier (out, injured)

Score: 0

DIRECTV HOLIDAY BOWL

8:00 p.m.: Louisville vs. USC

USC: S (9) Calen Bullock, QB (1) Caleb Williams (out), RB (5) MarShawn Lloyd (out)

Score: 2

TAXACT TEXAS BOWL

9:00 p.m.: Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State

Texas A&M: Off-ball LB (1) Edgerrin Cooper (out), DT (7) McKinnley Jackson (out)

Score: 0

DECEMBER 28

WASABI FENWAY BOWL

11:00 a.m.: SMU vs. Boston College

Boston College: G (8) Christian Mahogany

Score: 3

BAD BOYS MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL

2:15 p.m.: Rutgers vs. Miami

Miami: G (5) Javion Cohen, C (5) Matt Lee, S (1) Kamren Kinchens (out), DT (3) Leonard Taylor III (out), S (5) James Williams (out)

Score: 12

POP-TARTS BOWL

5:45 p.m.: NC State vs. Kansas State

NC State: OLB (6) Payton Wilson, C (9) Dylan McMahon

Kansas State: G (4) Cooper Beebe, FB (2) Ben Sinnott (out)

Score: 14

VALERO ALAMO BOWL

9:15 p.m.: Arizona vs. Oklahoma

Arizona: OT (6) Jordan Morgan (out)

Oklahoma: OT (7) Tyler Guyton (out)

Score: 0

DECEMBER 29

TAXSLAYER GATOR BOWL

12:00 p.m.: Clemson vs. Kentucky

Clemson: Off-ball LB (2) Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (out), CB (2) Nate Wiggins (out), DT (10) Ruke Orhorhoro (out)

Kentucky: C (10) Eli Cox, RB (10) Ray Davis

Score: 2

TONY THE TIGER BOWL

2:00 p.m.: Oregon State vs. Notre Dame

Oregon State: G (6) Joshua Gray, OT (3) Taliese Fuaga (out)

Notre Dame: RB (3) Audric Estime, S (8) Xavier Watts, K (10) Spencer Shrader, OT (2) Joe Alt (out), TE (6) Mitchell Evans (out, injured), Off-ball LB (10) Marist Liufau (out)

Score: 22

AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL

3:30 p.m.: Memphis vs. Iowa State

Iowa State: CB (8) T.J. Tampa

Score: 3

GOODYEAR COTTON BOWL CLASSIC

8:00 p.m.: Missouri vs. Ohio State

Missouri: DE (4) Darius Robinson, OT (10) Javon Foster (8)

Ohio State: WR (1) Marvin Harrison Jr., DE (2) JT Tuimoloau, TE (3) Cade Stover, DT (6) Tyleik Williams, CB (7) Denzel Burke, G (7) Donovan Jackson, WR (8) Emeka Egbuka, Off-ball LB (8) Tommy Eichenberg, DE (10) Jack Sawyer, S (10) Josh Proctor

Score: 71

DECEMBER 30

CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL

12: p.m.: Ole Miss vs. Penn State

Ole Miss: FB (4) JJ Pegues, TE (9) Caden Prieskorn

Penn State: OT (1) Olu Fashanu, DE (3) Adisa Isaac, TE (7) Tyler Warren, CB (9) Kalen King, OLB (4) Chop Robinson (out), TE (5) Theo Johnson (out)

Score: 38

TRANSPERFECT MUSIC CITY BOWL

2:00 p.m.: Auburn vs. Maryland

Auburn: S (4) Jaylin Simpson, FB (7) Rivaldo Fairweather

Score: 11

CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL

4:00 p.m.: Georgia vs. Florida State

Georgia: TE (1) Brock Bowers, C (2) Sedrick Van Pran, S (3) Javon Bullard, CB (4) Kamari Lassiter, Off-ball LB (5) Smael Mondon, OT (5) Amarius Mims, S (6) Tykee Smith, WR (10) Ladd McConkey (62)

Florida State: DE (1) Jared Verse, RB (2) Trey Benson, FB (3) Jaheim Bell, WR (4) Keon Coleman, DT (5) Braden Fiske, QB (9) Jordan Travis (62)

Score: 124

BARSTOOL SPORTS ARIZONA BOWL

4:30 p.m.: Toledo vs. Wyoming

Toledo: CB (6) Quinyon Mitchell

Wyoming: K (9) John Hoyland

Score: 7

JANUARY 1

College football rings in the New Year with by far the biggest prospect day of the bowl season. The highlight, of course, is the evening's CFP semifinal doubleheader. NFL draft fans will have a lot of options to choose from on New Year's Day.

RELIAQUEST BOWL

12:00 p.m.: Wisconsin vs. LSU

Wisconsin: C (7) Tanor Bortolini, RB (7) Braelon Allen (out)

LSU: WR (3) Malik Nabers, QB (3) Jayden Daniels, WR (6) Brian Thomas Jr., DT (9) Mekhi Wingo (out, injured),

Score: 45

VRBO FIESTA BOWL

1:00 p.m.: Liberty vs. Oregon

Oregon: QB (6) Bo Nix, DE (6) Brandon Dorlus, C (4) Jackson Powers-Johnson (out), RB (8) Bucky Irving (out)

Score: 20

CHEEZ-IT CITRUS BOWL

1:00 p.m.: Iowa vs. Tennessee

Iowa: K (1) Tory Taylor, TE (4) Luke Lachey, FB (10) Hayden Large, CB (1) Cooper DeJean (out, injured), TE (8) Erick All (out, injured)

Tennessee: QB (10) Joe Milton III

Score: 34

ROSE BOWL (CFP SEMIFINAL)

5:00 p.m.: Alabama vs. Michigan

Alabama: OLB (2) Dallas Turner, CB (3) Kool-Aid McKinstry, OLB (3) Chris Braswell, Off-ball LB (3) Deontae Lawson, K (4) Will Reichard, OT (4) JC Latham, CB (5) Terrion Arnold, DE (8) Justin Eboigbe

Michigan: G (2) Zak Zinter, DT (4) Kris Jenkins, RB (4) Blake Corum, QB (4) J.J. McCarthy, C (6) Drake Nugent, Off-ball LB (7) Junior Colson, RB (9) Donovan Edwards, OLB (10) Jaylen Harrell, TE (10) AJ Barner

Score: 124

ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL (CFP Semifinal)

8:45 p.m.: Texas vs. Washington

Texas: TE (2) Ja'Tavion Sanders, DT (2) T'Vondre Sweat, Off-ball LB (4) Jaylan Ford, WR (5) Xavier Worthy, WR (7) Adonai Mitchell, DT (8) Byron Murphy II, RB (1) Jonathon Brooks (out, injured)

Washington: G (1) Troy Fautanu, WR (2) Rome Odunze, QB (5) Michael Penix Jr., RB (6) Dillon Johnson, OLB (7) Bralen Trice

Score: 107