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Sure, you probably thought the college football season ended on Jan. 9 when Alabama beat LSU for the national championship, but you would be mistaken: The annual East-West Shrine Game is Saturday from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg with the West opening as a 1.5-point favorite on Bovada’s NCAA football odds.

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Being perfectly honest, the result doesn’t much matter. What this is all about is a job interview for prospective NFL players. The top players generally avoid this game so they can stage their own personal workouts for NFL teams. But there are 246 former East-West Shrine Game players on current NFL rosters. The game, featuring only seniors, has been played every January following the college football season since 1925 and is the oldest standing NCAA all-star game. There are 20 players from non-FBS schools on the rosters this year. More of the bigger-name seniors pass this game up for the Senior Bowl.

The East has won the past three Shrine Games, including 25-8 last season in Orlando. Some of the bigger names playing this year are Florida QB John Brantley, Michigan State WR B.J. Cunningham(both East), Northwestern QB Dan Persa, Arkansas WR Jarius Wright and Michigan WR Junior Hemingway (all on West).

Probably the most scrutiny will be on Brantley, a former top recruit who never came close to living up to expectations. But he probably never had a chance at Florida considering he had to follow in Tim Tebow’s shoes. Brantley was 15-9 as a starter at UF with 30 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Wright is probably the top pro prospect on either roster. He caught 66 balls for 1,117 yards and 12 TDs for the Razorbacks this year.

Former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress coaches the West team this year, while former Georgia Tech, San Diego Chargers and Detroit Lions head coach Bobby Ross leads the East.

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