Florida's Mason Halter, Anthony Harrell academically ineligible for Citrus Bowl

Florida's Mason Halter and Anthony Harrell are academically ineligible for the Gators' trip to Orlando for the 2016 Citrus Bowl, as Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel reported Sunday. Florida confirmed both players would not be available for the game shortly after Thompson's report.

Halter, a graduate transfer from Fordham, has started in every game for the Gators this fall, making 12 starts at right tackle and one at left tackle against Vanderbilt in relief of an injured David Sharpe. Halter has also seen time inside at guard, as Florida has shuffled its line around in hopes of finding cohesive lineups. While he's done yeoman's work, Halter has also been significantly outclassed against premier pass-rushers — he was notably ineffective against Alabama in Florida's SEC Championship game defeat — and he likely yields the spot at right tackle to the hulking Fred Johnson, a freshman who has the potential to be far better at that spot in the future.

Other options for Florida might be the return of Sharpe to right tackle, which he held down in 2014 as a freshman, and the move of either freshman Martez Ivey or Johnson to left tackle, or moving Ivey to right tackle. Ivey has played inside at left guard almost exclusively for Florida, though his future is likely outside, and Florida could have been using bowl practices to prep him for that move — but it's far more likely that he will stay inside, where Florida has been thinner in 2015, as a means of helping keep multiple freshmen safely redshirted.

Harrell is a reserve linebacker who transferred from Georgia Tech in the spring and has played sparingly in every game for the Gators, largely on special teams. He's recorded three tackles in the 2015 season.

Halter graduated from Fordham with an economics degree, while Harrell graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in business administration, and made the Dean's List while at the school.