Holden Staes remembers traveling to Tennessee on one of his first recruiting visits when he was in eighth grade. He didn’t give the Vols strong consideration coming out of high school, but he’s now taking a hard look at Tennessee after adding his name to the NCAA transfer portal on Monday.
The sophomore tight end from Notre Dame came away impressed after taking another look at the Vols this weekend on his first official visit. He said Tennessee’s campus looked “a lot different” from what he saw when he visited the Vols several years ago, and he’s excited about his opportunity in their offense after spending the past two years with the Fighting Irish.
The rest of the New Year’s Six matchups all provided intriguing showdowns among teams that were in the mix for the College Football Playoff in late November. However, the transfer portal and opt outs add an unpredictable element to bowl games when it comes to which college football stars will be in action. Now it seems as if these postseason matchups are more of a preview for how a team may look going into next year.
The Golden Gophers are the only 5-7 team in a bowl game this season because there were not enough eligible teams to fill all 82 slots. Minnesota also lost its starting quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to the transfer portal. This is back-to-back appearances in the Quick Lane Bowl for Bowling Green, which defeated Georgia Tech in late September.
