College bowl games and the last week of the NFL regular season are almost as much about who isn’t playing as who is.

Nearly 850 players have opted out of postseason college games, including many from the 12-team College Football Playoff.

The vast majority that didn’t suit up entered the transfer portal.

San Jose State receiver Nick Nash was a Biletnikoff Award finalist and college football’s receiving triple crown winner with 105 receptions for 1,382 yards and 16 touchdowns. The converted quarterback also connected for TDs on both passes he threw in 2024.

The Spartans dropped from 4.5- to 3.5-point favorites, according to covers.com, when it was announced in mid-December that Nash would opt out of the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. It proved to be an early gift for South Florida, which won 41-39 in five overtimes.

We’d all like to see the bowl teams at their best, especially those in the playoffs. But the combination of the portal, NIL bidding wars and prospects saving themselves for the NFL Draft makes that impossible.

And changing the transfer portal opening date as some suggest is problematic. Switching schools is a process that still requires getting into the destination college in time to start the new term in January.

There is a consolation prize. Open lineup spots mean opportunities for other guys. Fans and coaches get a look at potential starters for next season.

The NFL lineup scratches are different. Some teams’ stars are sitting because their playoff status is already set going into this week’s final regular-season games.

It’s simple, right? Don’t risk injury, rest up for the playoffs.

This especially makes sense for a player like Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has played on a gimpy ankle the past couple of weeks. Kansas City will likely sit some other starters against Denver today, too, since the two-time defending Super Bowl champions have clinched the AFC playoff bye and homefield advantage.

The Eagles clinched the NFC East last week. But things are complicated for them. Aren’t they always?

Saquon Barkley reached 2,005 rushing yards for the season with 167 in Philadelphia’s 41-7 thumping of Dallas that rendered today’s game against the Giants virtually meaningless since the Eagles are locked in as the NFC’s No. 2 seed.

Barkley is just the eighth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. He’s earned a break, right? Plus, why risk injury on the cusp of the postseason?

Here’s why some think he should play today: Barkley is in range of catching and passing Eric Dickerson’s single-season record of 2,105 rushing yards, set 40 years ago. Barkley ran for 176 yards on 17 carries in little more than three quarters when the Eagles beat the Giants in October. And the Giants are the hapless team Barkley escaped from as a free agent after the 2023 season.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni consulted with Barkley and other players and coaches before addressing the topic at a press conference Wednesday.

“We’re gonna rest some guys,” Sirianni said. “He’ll probably be somebody that rests.”

Barkley said he would have liked to take a shot at the record. But he has a well-deserved reputation as a team-first player.

“Glad I didn’t have to make that decision. Nick made it pretty easy on me and I’m at peace with it,” Barkley said Wednesday. “I’m down (with playing), but I don’t care for putting the team at risk. I’ve got bigger things in mind. … I want a banner up there. I think we all do.”

The Eagles offensive line starters would presumably also play if Barkley did. Philadelphia had its bye 14 weeks ago, during the fourth week of the season.

“Obviously everyone would want to get the record, but we want to win the playoff game,” four-time All-Pro tackle Lane Johnson said.

Baseball fans of a certain age might think about Roger Maris and his asterisk. If Barkley played today and broke the record, it would be in a 17-game regular season (and there’s talk the league will expand to 18 games soon). The NFL played a 16-game regular season when Dickerson got his 2,105 yards in 1984. The previous record-holder, O.J. Simpson, did it with 2,003 yards in a 14-game 1973 season.

By the way, the ’84 Rams went 10-6 and then lost to the Giants in a wild-card playoff game. The ’73 Bills went 9-5, but missed what was then an eight-team postseason field.