North Carolina vs. Stanford, Sun Bowl 2016: Cardinal wiithstand Tar Heels comeback

Over the last few weeks, North Carolina QB Mitch Trubisky has become the hottest NFL prospect. Our Dan Kader had Trubisky going No. 4 overall in his latest mock, ahead of Clemson’s Deshaun Watson. But on the postseason stage in the Sun Bowl, Trubisky both shined and struggled in the 35-33 loss to Stanford.

Trubisky’s day was a mixed bag for nearly 60 minutes. He went 23-of-39 with three turnovers.

Mitch Trubisky has been rocketing up draft boards lately as a talented draft-eligible quarterback, but at the next level he’ll have to learn a thing or two about ball security.

When QBs take matters into their own hands to scramble, they’ve got to account for all the defenders on the field, whether they’re wearing referee stripes or not.

Some of college football’s highest-profile running backs have announced they won’t play in bowl games this winter before leaving school and entering the NFL draft.

LSU junior Leonard Fournette said on Dec. 16 he’d skip the Dec. 31 Citrus Bowl against Louisville. Stanford junior Christian McCaffrey said three days later he’d follow suit and not play in the Dec. 30 Sun Bowl against North Carolina. A day after that, Baylor’s Shock Linwood, a senior, said he’d skip the Cactus Bowl against Boise State.

Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and LSU’s Leonard Fournette, star running backs who’ve been injured at times this year, have chosen not to play in their teams’ bowl games this year in order to focus on the NFL draft. And oh, the hollering began!

Fournette’s choice to skip the Citrus Bowl against Louisville went over pretty well. Most people were aware he’d dealt with a bum ankle all year and had missed multiple games. Based on the reaction to McCaffrey sitting out the Sun Bowl against UNC, though, I don’t think most East Coasters realized he’s been hurt, too. He was hurt against Washington State, out against Notre Dame, and limited against Colorado.

Stanford and North Carolina play in the Sun Bowl on Friday, a day before New Year’s Eve. It’s a pretty good-looking bowl game between two distinctly good but not great times that seem to match up about evenly. The Cardinal are slim favorites in Las Vegas, while the S&P+ projection model sees almost a dead-even tossup.

The game’s big subplot is that it’s Stanford’s first since star running back Christian McCaffrey announced he’d turn pro after his junior year. McCaffrey isn’t playing in the Sun Bowl as he embarks on his draft preparation, which is controversial in some circles. Sophomore Bryce Love should see a lot of work in McCaffrey’s absence, and he’ll probably do well. UNC’s run defense isn’t good, and Love averages 7.4 yards per carry –- more than a yard better than McCaffrey, even.

The Cardinal were expected to compete for the Pac-12 title in 2016, but after starting the year off with a 3-0 SU and ATS record the team went just 1-3 SU and ATS over its next four games. Stanford averaged just 11 points per game over that four-game stretch. The team bounced back with a 5-0 SU and 3-2 ATS run to end the season, averaging a much healthier 39.6 points down the stretch.

The Cardinal will be without their top offensive weapon in the Sun Bowl as Christian McCaffrey has decided to skip the game in order to stay healthy for the 2017 NFL draft.

Both sides are right. Bowls are a cynical money-making exercise, an excuse for ESPN inventory, and an outdated way for all the wrong people to maintain some semblance of control over college football. They’re also happy, bonus football.

We are at both extremes in 2016. We once again had 80 bowl bids to give out and fewer than 80 bowl-eligible teams, a sure sign of bloat and excess. We’re also loaded with perhaps more interesting bowl matchups than we’ve ever seen.

Some of college football’s highest-profile running backs have announced, in rapid succession, that they won’t play in bowl games this winter before leaving school and entering the NFL draft.

LSU junior Leonard Fournette said on Dec. 16 he’d skip the Tigers’ Citrus Bowl against Louisville. Stanford junior Christian McCaffrey said three days later he’d follow suit and not play in the Cardinal’s Sun Bowl against North Carolina. A day after that, Baylor’s Shock Linwood, a senior, said he’d skip the Cactus Bowl against Boise State to focus on his draft prep, too. To some degree, we might be watching this become a trend.

Bowl games are good. There are too many of them. Both things are true.

We’re holding steady at 41 on this year’s schedule, counting the National Championship, and again have multiple 5-7 teams that made it in because we ran out of 6-6 teams (Mississippi State and North Texas this time).

The hot topic Monday was Christian McCaffrey announcing he would forgo Stanford’s Sun Bowl tilt in order to prepare for the NFL Draft. The reason why is obvious: he doesn’t want to risk injury in an exhibition game. McCaffrey joined LSU running back Leonard Fournette as prominent players to choose this path this season. Another marquee player, Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett, announced he would suit up in his team’s bowl game.

Former South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore is behind them 100 percent.

Like everyone else, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has shared an opinion on the decisions by running backs Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey to skip their team’s middling bowl games and begin NFL draft prep early. It started like this:

McCaffrey’s skipping the Sun Bowl, one of the Pac-12’s lowest bowl bids, and Fournette’s skipping the Citrus, a bowl so second-tier, Steve Spurrier once mocked Tennessee for repeatedly playing in it. Elliott doesn’t view that as an excuse:

As bowl season rolls around in college football, draft-eligible juniors have to make a pretty big decision: to stay for their senior season or declare for the NFL draft.

With that decision comes another, apparently: whether or not to play in your team’s bowl game.

We have already seen the last of running back Christian McCaffrey in a Stanford uniform. Almost two weeks after declaring for the 2017 NFL Draft, the junior announced that he would not play in the Sun Bowl against North Carolina on Dec. 30.

For two full seasons, McCaffrey dazzled us as a record-setting running back at Stanford with all-purpose marks that will last a long time. Wednesday, he announced that this season will be his last in a letter to Stanford fans.

All wagers at -110 odds unless otherwise noted. Visit Odds Shark for updated lines throughout each game week.

College football bowl games are a different beast for bettors. Sure, the typical handicapping elements apply. Offense and defense matter. But there are some key elements at play that don’t apply as much during the regular season.

College football’s bowl season is upon us. A full schedule is here.

There are 40 bowl games spread from Dec. 17 to Jan. 2, with the National Championship on Jan. 9. Unless you’re watching on multiple monitors and are really committed, you won’t catch all of them. (If that is your plan, more power to you.)

Also, head over here for the fully updated bowl season calendar as it fills in, from the New Orleans Bowl through the Rose Bowl. We’ll also add picks, scores, and more to that calendar over time.

The Sun Bowl is one of the longest-running bowl games in college football history, dating all the way back to 1935, the same year that the Orange and Sugar Bowl began operation. Those two New Year’s Six bowls, though, have left the Sun Bowl in their wake in terms of prestige and history — but that doesn’t mean the 2016 Sun Bowl won’t be fun.