A bowl game is already off the schedule for the 2021 postseason.

This year’s Redbox Bowl, which was set to feature teams from the Big Ten and Pac-12, has been canceled, sources told The Action Network. That drops the number of bowl games this year to 41, not including the College Football Playoff championship.

The Redbox Bowl featured the sixth team from the Pac-12 and the seventh team from the Big Ten, and Brett McMurphy reported that it would likely will create a domino effect impacting the smaller Group of Five conference bowls, sources said. The reason is the Big Ten and Pac-12 are “expected to figure how to keep their leagues ‘whole,’ and not lose those bowl bids,” an industry source said.

By trying to replace the Redbox Bowl bids, the Big Ten and Pac-12 likely would approach ESPN — which owns 16 bowl games — and work a deal to guarantee a Big Ten vs. Pac-12 matchup in an ESPN bowl, a source said.

By doing so, though, it would displace current conference bowl tie-ins — meaning two Group of Five conferences would receive one fewer bowl bid than contractually guaranteed if there are 82 bowl-eligible teams to fill all 41 bowls.

The Redbox Bowl hopes to return next season, a source said.