Top 4 Players to Watch in Tuesday's College Football Bowl Games

With the College Football Playoff and the rest of the New Year's Six bowl games approaching, college football's bowl schedule is starting to pick up the pace.

On Tuesday, eight teams will be in action, including Cal's top NFL prospect, Jared Goff, and LSU star running back Leonard Fournette against Texas Tech.

Along with Goff and Fournette, here are the names to watch for in Tuesday's bowl action, starting with the best player in what will be the first game of the day.

Jared Goff, California Golden Bears

In terms of quarterback prospects for the 2016 NFL draft, not many rank ahead of Cal QB Jared Goff.

During Cal's 7-5 season in the Pac-12 this year, Goff completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 4,252 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Only Memphis QB Paxton Lynch was drafted higher than Goff in ESPN NFL draft expert Todd McShay's first mock draft of the 2016 draft.

Goff is a gifted prospect at 6'4", 210 pounds. He can make any throw with precision and touch. His ability to fit a ton of throws into tight windows is part of the reason why he'll mostly like be selected within the top 10 picks in this upcoming draft.

Air Force has given up just 190.4 yards per game this season (23rd in the nation), so Tuesday could be a solid challenge for Goff in what will probably be his final game as a college player.

Marquise Williams, North Carolina Tar Heels

If it wasn't for an early-season slip-up against border rival South Carolina in the opening night of the college football season, North Carolina could have most likely been playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff against Clemson in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 5.

The 11-2 Tar Heels are still worth watching on Tuesday evening against the banged-up Baylor Bears.

Outside of Clemson QB and Heisman Trophy candidate Deshaun Watson, North Carolina QB Marquise Williams has been the best signal-caller all season long in the ACC.

Williams not only threw for a shade under 3,000 yards this season, he rushed for 867 yards and 11 touchdowns during the previous 13 games for North Carolina.

There's a legitimate chance of Williams being the best player on the field against an iffy Baylor defense, so points shouldn't be too hard to come by for UNC if Williams makes plays like this one:

Rashard Higgins, Colorado State Rams

Question: Who led college football in receiving yards and touchdowns last season?

No, it wasn't former Alabama and current Oakland Raiders wideout Amari Cooper.

It wasn't Kansas State's Tyler Lockett or West Virginia's Kevin White, either.

It was Colorado State wide receiver Rashard Higgins.

Higgins caught 96 passes for 1,750 yards and 17 touchdowns last season for the Rams. This season has been hampered by injuries for Higgins, but he's still on the verge of another 1,000-yard receiving season with eight touchdown catches.

Colorado State's opponent on Tuesday—the Nevada Wolf Pack—give up 206 passing yards per contest (42nd in the nation).

For the Rams to end 2015 on a high note, Higgins must be the go-to guy he was during last season's impressive run.

Leonard Fournette, LSU Tigers

Remember when Leonard Fournette had the Heisman Trophy all but wrapped up before LSU's meeting with Alabama in early November?

Despite just 31 yards on 19 carries in LSU's 30-16 loss to the Crimson Tide, Fournette had two games of more than 100 yards rushing in the final three weeks of the season, including 158 yards and a touchdown in the season finale against Texas A&M at home.

Fournette will get another shot at a Texas team on Tuesday night against Texas Tech; the nation's 126th-ranked rush defense.

If you thought what Fournette did to Auburn's defense back in September was merciless, the thought of Fournette running through one of the nation's worst defenses is downright scary.

Stats via ESPN.com

Michael Whitlow is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow Michael on Twitter: @MAWhitlow.