The No. 13 Longhorns face No. 18 Michigan, but roster uncertainty looms for the Wolverines amid coaching scandal fallout and potential player departures.
In a time when non-playoff bowl games feel meaningless to many fans and even players, the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl featuring No. 13 Texas and No. 18 Michigan is about as good as they get.
However, following the news of Sherrone Moore's firing and arrest, roster fallout in Ann Arbor seems likely. If that's the case, a formidable ranked Wolverine squad could look much different on New Year's Eve.
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Nowadays, players commit to playing for coaches rather than for a program. We're seeing it right now with Penn State after it fired James Franklin, and we've seen it in the past at Oklahoma when Lincoln Riley left to coach at USC, taking players like Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams with him.
While Moore's situation is much different from the two aforementioned, Michigan players built a connection with him, and now that connection is gone.
On Monday, during his Citrus Bowl media availability, Moore addressed the challenges of the NIL era and retaining talent.
"Those are just ongoing conversations that you have to have with kids. Just the state of college football now, you can’t ignore it," he said. "You ignore it, then all of a sudden you lose a whole team, and we can’t do that. So, retainment is a huge piece of what we have to do, and what we will do as we go forward."
And it just got a whole lot tougher for the Wolverines.
Now, as the college football world waits for the new Michigan coach to be announced, tampering season begins.
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class, was originally committed to LSU before a last-minute NIL deal from the Wolverines helped persuade him to stay in his home state.
With uncertainty looming over the program, former LSU safety Tyrann Mathieu saw an opportunity to pounce.
"Come home son @BryceUnderwoo16. We are waiting & will accept you with open arms. FOREVER LSU," he said on X.
Behind the scenes, coaches and their staff members are likely doing the same. Just ask Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.
“For sure, yes,” he said earlier in the season after being asked whether teams are using the speculation of him leaving for the NFL as an opportunity to tamper with his roster.
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The Longhorns won't be at full strength either after already losing key players to the transfer portal, and with impending NFL Draft decisions on the horizon. But it's probably safe to say Michigan's roster will be hit a lot harder than Texas'.
The Citrus Bowl storylines may have become more interesting, but the on-field product will take a massive hit following Moore's bombshell firing.