Bowl opt-outs for Texas A&M football begin rolling in, starting with huge contributor

Texas A&M football is staring down the barrel of a pretty exciting bowl matchup with the USC Trojans. The Aggies will meet Lincoln Riley's squad in Las Vegas deep in the night later this month.

As is par for the course nowadays, though, the Aggies will likely face their fair share of bowl opt-outs. It's understandable in this day and age of college football, but fans still don't like it— and, in many cases, still hope to retain some key players for the exhibition.

This will only be exacerbated by the expanded playoff. Whereas teams may have had more of a case to get their stars to play in the Rose Bowl, for example, now that the most prestigious game outside of the 12-team field is the Citrus Bowl, it will be significantly tougher of a sell.

The Aggies just got news of their first such opt-out.

Star DE for Texas A&M football Nic Scourton opting out of Las Vegas Bowl vs. USC

Earlier today, it was reported by Matt Zenitz of 247Sports that DE Nic Scourton, a transfer into Texas A&M from Purdue, would be opting out of the Aggies' bowl game. There was some hope that Scourton, after a disappointing end to the season perhaps precipitated by a minor injury, would try to put on a show in the bowl to boost his draft stock.

He's still more than likely a first-round selection, though, and will attempt to make his case at pro day and the combine instead. While this is understandable, and somewhat expected, it's still a bummer to miss such a big contributor.

Best of luck, Nic!