The Fiesta Bowl was ridiculously loaded with NFL talent

It turns out those stories predicting the Fiesta Bowl had a lot of potential future NFL player were onto something. 

NFL Scouting Combine invitations published Thursday included 14 players from Ohio State and 10 from Notre Dame. 

For perspective, that is seven more than were part of the national championship game between Alabama and Clemson. 

The Fiesta Bowl topped the Cotton Bowl by eight, the Orange Bowl by nine, the Rose and Sugar Bowls by 14 and the Peach Bowl by 16. 

Of course some of the NFL prospects from the teams in those games are still in school, but the cupboards aren't exactly bare in Columbus or South Bend, either. 

In alphabetical order, the Ohio State players to be invited to the Combine are cornerback Eli Apple, safety Vonn Bell, defensive end Joey Bosa, offensive tackle Taylor Decker, running back Ezekiel Elliott, quarterback Cardale Jones, linebacker Darron Lee, receiver Jalin Marshall, receiver Braxton Miller, linebacker Joshua Perry, safety Tyvis Powell, receiver Michael Thomas, tight end Nick Vannett and defensive tackle Adolphus Washington. 

Representing Notre Dame will be receivers Chris Brown and Will Fuller, defensive linemen Sheldon Day and Romeo Okwara, offensive linemen Nick Martin and Ronnie Stanley, running back C.J. Prosise, linebacker Jaylon Smith and defensive backs Elijah Shumate and KeiVarae Russell.

More than half of the players from the Fiesta Bowl now going to the Combine had eligibility left: Apple, Bell, Bosa, Elliott, Jones, Lee, Marshall, Powell, Thomas, Fuller, Stanley, Prosise, Smith and Russell.