UNLV football players took the practice field last week for their initial workout ahead of the Frisco Bowl and were greeted by Christmas music blasting through the loudspeakers.

It was a departure from the usual upbeat tracks that get players fired up.

Coach Dan Mullen joked that he knows the words to the holiday songs better than the music usually played when players are stretching and warming up. “This is something we have always done for the holidays,” he said of the music selection.

The scene captures a larger narrative in college football: Bowl games mean different things to different programs. Some teams eagerly embrace the extra game as a reward for a winning season.

Others are less enthusiastic — whether disappointed by an underwhelming season that landed them in a lesser bowl, or dealing with players who are opting out to enter the transfer portal for another university.

That divide is evident this year, with teams like Notre Dame, Iowa State, Kansas State, Florida State, Auburn, Central Florida, Temple and Rutgers opting out of bowl games entirely. Some programs were even fined by their conferences for declining bowl invitations.

Being bowl eligible is still a new feeling for UNLV.

When the Rebels played in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in 2023, it was the program’s first bowl berth in more than a decade. When they won the LA Bowl last season, it was their first bowl victory since 2000.

A win Tuesday at the Frisco Bowl in the Dallas area would mark the first time in program history UNLV has won bowl games in consecutive seasons.

That alone should provide motivation for players facing Ohio. But Mullen says it runs much deeper — this team is composed of players who love to compete.

No one has opted out, not even star quarterback Anthony Colandrea. The Mountain West’s Offensive Player of the Year has said he’ll stay with UNLV, even though he could explore the transfer portal for a lucrative NIL deal like other players skipping their bowl games.

“Our guys love playing ball,” Mullen said. “That’s what makes it fun for me to coach here. That’s why I love our guys, they’re fun to coach and to be around. And here at UNLV, we want guys that love football and want to play football. That’s why they came here, because they want to play football. So I don’t think it would cross their mind to not want to play. I don’t get that.”

This era of college football is unlike any other, with hundreds of players transferring to new programs in search of bigger NIL paydays. Some are cashing in for millions, others for tens of thousands of dollars. One player left UNLV last season for just $5,000. Many others have announced their intention to transfer and wound up without a team — or a scholarship.

That certainly affects how bowl games look and feel.

Previously, preparing for a bowl game resembled spring practice — a set number of workouts that only a handful of teams could take advantage of. It was an opportunity to develop players.

That’s not so much the case anymore, Mullen says. The longtime SEC coach, who landed at UNLV last year after a lengthy run in the powerhouse conference, has seen the shift firsthand.

“It’s a shame. It’s a tragedy because bowls are pretty special,” he said.

Some argue that the 12-team College Football Playoff will eventually expand and replace the bowl-game structure. But a reimagined playoff would likely only include power conference programs or conference champions — leaving no consistent path for lower-tier schools to earn an extra game.

Mullen pushes back against that vision, speaking passionately last week about why bowl games still matter. He advocates for all athletes getting a chance to have a memorable experience — and it’s downright refreshing.

“I do think education and guys getting degrees in college is still important,” Mullen preached.

He continued by mentioning a player he coached at Mississippi State seeing the ocean for the first time during a bowl trip.

“There’s a lot of different things that you get to experience at bowl games that have educational value, that have cultural value,” he said. “It’s a shame to not have the kids have those experiences.”

UNLV is a 4-point betting favorite against an Ohio program whose coach was fired Wednesday for violating “the terms of his employment agreement by engaging in serious professional misconduct,” the university said in a statement.

But once kickoff happens, Mullen knows anything can happen. It’s a matter of which team comes ready to play.

“That’s a really good football team,” Mullen said. “They have been to a bunch of bowl games, won a bunch of bowl games in a row because of the guys they built their program with. … (It’s) a very physical running team with athletes to make explosive plays.”