To play in a bowl game or not to play in a bowl game?

That is the question confronting college football players who are looking ahead to the NFL Draft next spring.

No two decisions are exactly the same as individuals try to balance the threat of injury and/or a sub-par performance hurting their draft status with loyalty to their school and their team.

LSU junior running back Derrius Guice, who’s projected to be a high first-round draft choice if he enters the 2018 draft, has been slowed by knee and leg injuries, though he still had a 1,000-yard season thanks to a strong finish.

A flare-up or the emergence of a new injury could adversely affect Guice’s draft status, though he has said he won’t make a decision on next season until after the Tigers play Notre Dame on Jan. 1 in the Citrus Bowl.

Guice emphasized his plan for the bowl game in a tweet: “Im (sic) loyal to my team! Not missing a game I’m fully capable of playing in”

Tigers coach Ed Orgeron obviously was excited by Guice’s decision.

“That’s who he is. Derrius loves football,” Orgeron said. “He wants to finish strong.”

But Guice might not be done. In another social media posting he said, “actually my chances are higher staying than leaving.”

Stay tuned.

One of Guice’s teammates — junior outside linebacker Arden Key — is in a similar situation. He too is projected to be a high first-round pick despite an injury-plagued season. Key missed the first two games and then got off to a slow start because of off-season shoulder surgery. He missed the last two games of the regular season because of a knee injury, then had surgery on a broken little finger after the season.

He wasn’t able to have a strong finish like Guice had, and therefore he would have more to prove to scouts than Guice would if he were to enter the draft.

Key doesn’t have the same control over his bowl decision that Guice had over his because the injuries have forced Key to miss the start of LSU’s bowl preparations. Orgeron said he’s questionable for the game.

The prospect of skipping a bowl game became a thing last year primarily because LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey chose not to play in their team’s bowls.

Fournette had been battling ankle injuries all season and didn’t want to risk aggravating the injury and hurting his ability to impress scouts at the NFL Combine and other pre-draft workouts. So he skipped the Tigers’ Citrus Bowl game.

McCaffery wanted to get a head-start on his NFL preparations and bypassed the Cardinal’s Sun Bowl game.

Their decisions triggered fears that a Pandora’s Box had been opened, that it would suddenly become common place for top NFL prospects, especially those whose teams are in relatively insignificant bowl games, and especially those who aren’t fully healthy, would start skipping bowl games to focus on NFL draft preparations.

Such decisions would negatively impact their teams’ ability to win their bowl games as well as the attractiveness of the bowl game itself.

But the decisions by Fournette and McCaffrey didn’t open the floodgates, though a few players are following their lead.

Oregon running back Royce Freeman sat out the Ducks’ bowl game, drawing the ire of ESPN commentators Kirk Herbstreit and Mack Brown.

At least two Texas players — safety DeShon Elliott and tackle Connor Williams — are skipping the Longhorns’ game against Missouri in the Texas Bowl to prepare for the draft. Florida State safety Derwin James is skipping the Seminoles’ game against Southern Mississippi in the Independence Bowl for the same reason.

Fournette and McCaffery’s decisions apparently didn’t have an adverse effect on anyone.

LSU crushed Louisville without Fournette and Stanford defeated North Carolina without McCaffrey. Fournette was drafted No. 4 overall by Jacksonville and McCaffrey was selected four picks later by Carolina, and both have had successful rookie seasons for teams in the thick of the NFL playoff race.