The Marshall Thundering Herd had to opt out of their bowl game this past December. Marshall was hit with a huge swath of transfers into the portal, 30 to be exact, so they couldn’t field a team to play in the game.
Despite that being out of their control, Marshall felt the heat on Friday as they were punished for not participating in the game.
The Sun Belt Conference fined the Thundering herd a whopping six figures for not participating in the 2024 Independence Bowl. Marshall will eat a $100,000 fine after the bowl game opt-out controversy.
The conference announced the fine in a release.
“The Sun Belt Conference is issuing a $100,000 institutional fine to Marshall University for opting out of its Saturday, Dec. 28, matchup with Army in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl,” they said.
The conference continued: “While the conference acknowledges the medical model and best practice guidance adhered to by Marshall, as well as their fundamental concern for the health and safety of the remaining eligible student-athletes to compete in a safe and viable manner, the nature and timing of this decision was detrimental to the Sun Belt Conference and its membership, to Army, the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, the American Athletic Conference and ESPN.”
Louisiana Tech had replaced the Thundering Herd in the Independence Bowl.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022