Bowl Game swag bags released

nope. it would be an NCAA violation I believe.

I'd choose free wings for life over all the other stuff.

Players are allowed all-you-can-eat wings on the field during timeouts, for the life of the bowl game only.  One waterboy has the water bottle, one has the waterbottle filled with bbq sauce.

Will Webb, executive director of Charlotte Collegiate Football, the nonprofit committee that operates the Belk Bowl and the ACC Dr Pepper Championship football game in Charlotte, relates an experience during last year’s player shopping trip. “I saw one young man carrying a high-end Cuisinart coffee maker and pink slippers to the checkout counter,” Webb said. “I asked him jokingly if those were for him. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘You have no idea how much this means to me. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever been able to buy my mom a Christmas present.’”

I bet Maryland and Marshall players are happy.

Cotton Bowl tickets for Oklahoma State students are also $150.  That seems ridiculously high for student tickets.

You must have internet autism. It appears that you lack the ability to understand that something on the internet which isn't interesting to you could be interesting to someone else.

Some of these rubes seem to believe this is the first time players have been given a swag bag.

The article also states that the respective schools and conferences can also provide gift suites up to $400 each.  Grand total could be up to $1350 in swag/gear for the athletes.  

"The NCAA allows each bowl to award up to $550 worth of gifts to 125 participants per school. Schools can, and usually do, buy additional packages that they can distribute to participants beyond that 125 limit. In addition, participants can receive awards worth up to $400 from the school and up to $400 from the conference for postseason play, covering both conference title games and any bowl game."

was over $3,000 in cash that was claimed to be missing.

Non-star athlete here. There is training table half the year, and an NCAA stipend for full scholarship athletes or meal plan. It's not guaranteed but I can tell you I never starved or skipped a meal, unlike the kids paying their own way who missed meals all the time to study and would always plead with the cafeteria to keep the dining hall open if they left the lab too late. Not to mention you have 80-some teammates who would gladly help you out. I'm sure some star athletes had days where they went hungry but it's because they screwed up somewhere with planning meal timing or blew their stipend on something else.