No. 23 NC State and Maryland are playing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl this year. The Wolfpack, viewed as the ACC’s dark contender to start the season, started the year with a 5-1 record before injuries derailed the season and ended it 3-3. Maryland opened the season with six wins in its first eight games but lost three of its last four, with the only win being a 37-0 win over Rutgers to end the regular season.
How to Watch NC State vs. Maryland (College Football 2022)
WATCH LIVE - NCAA FOOTBALL BOWLS
What time does the game start? – Friday game starts at 12pm EST
Information about the live stream: ESPN | noose | Direct TV | fuboTV… Fans who don’t have cable can also stream the coverage via a la carte streaming services like DirecTV and fuboTV. DirecTV and fuboTV both offer free trials.
Further coverage of the Associated Press
Also read: NC State vs. Maryland: How to watch the Duke's Mayo Bowl online, live stream info, game time, TV channels | 30th of December
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In times of college football’s exit, the best NFL prospects for Alabama and Kansas State are opting for the Sugar Bowl.
Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young and edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. have high first-round draft grades and could have minimized the risk of injury by sitting out Saturday’s game at the Superdome.
For Kansas State, standout players including running back Deuce Vaughn and defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah are also risking their draft stock.
They say that they carefully weighed the competing factors and gained the benefits of gambling.
“I love this program,” Young said. “I see how hard we work as a group, how much we put into it and how much that means to us – how much it means to me. And it was easy.
“As a leader, it was important to me to make sure we were done this year,” Young added. “Since there are no opt-outs in either team, I think that speaks volumes for both programs.”
This season, like every other season, opt-outs have been a common theme in games not tied into the four-team college football playoffs, which this year are the Fiesta and Peach Bowls.
Tennessee will miss top receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman and linebacker Jeremy Banks in Friday night’s Orange Bowl against Clemson, who will be without top defensive end Myles Murphy.
Kentucky will play the Music City Bowl without quarterback Will Levis and running back Chris Rodriguez. Texas was without 1,580-yard rusher Bijan Robinson in Thursday night’s Alamo Bowl against Washington. LSU will play the Citrus Bowl without edge rusher BJ Ojulari and receiver Kayshon Boutte.
All of these players turned their attention to NFL draft preparations rather than expose themselves to injury in a recent college game.
Anudike-Uzomah said he and Vaughn never considered missing the Sugar Bowl, arguably Kansas State’s most iconic postseason game in a decade.
“We’ve worked so hard for this team, why should we just leave, honestly? Just finish,” said Anudike-Uzomah. “It really took us three years, me and Deuce. And it’s just a dream come true.
“Growing up, I always considered Alabama to be the best program in college football history. So it’s a dream come true and an honor to play her honestly,” added Anudike-Uzomah. “I won’t lie; I never thought I’d end up in the Sugar Bowl.”
Anderson, along with other pros on Alabama’s defense like linebacker Henry To’oto’o and safety Jordan Battle, essentially said that if they signed off, they would have felt like hypocrites.
All season they had been preaching the importance of living the “Alabama Standard”. Shortly after defeating Auburn, seniors and other draft-eligible leaders made a pact that they would go to a bowl game together.
“If you want to walk the right path and be legendary, you want people to remember you by doing something good, that’s how you do it,” Anderson said. He said he felt he was “showing the right thing” to younger players from Alabama.
In other words, the collegiate team fielding as many NFL calibers as they possibly can year after year encourages an anti-opt-out culture. It has impressed younger Alabama players like second defenseman Kool-Aid McKinstry.
Anderson’s decision to play “gave me even more confidence in the guy than I already knew about him,” McKinstry said. “I have a feeling that I will make the same decision,” should he end up facing a similar decision.
Young hasn’t signed up for the next NFL draft yet, but is widely expected to. He watched the Sugar Bowl a year ago when Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral was helped off the field after suffering an ankle injury.
After finishing seventh in voting for the 2021 Heisman Trophy, which Young won that season, Corral was widely viewed as a second-round NFL prospect. Carolina selected him 94th overall at the end of the third round.
“Everything that happens happens for a reason,” Young said, noting that his belief in God also influenced his decision to play. “I know what happened (to Corral). I understand what happened. But again, I walk by faith.”