Current:Home > BackCollege football bowl eligibility picture. Who's in? Who's out? Who's still alive-LoTradeCoin
College football bowl eligibility picture. Who's in? Who's out? Who's still alive
View Date:2024-12-23 20:03:25
Much of the debate about the postseason in college football is focused on the teams fighting to reach the College Football Playoff. But that is not the only drama in the final weeks of the season.
There are also the races at the bottom of the bowl picture as teams fight to extend their seasons. And that plays out with teams fighting to gain the necessary six wins to become eligible.
It's a complex puzzle to sort out through the first 12 weeks. However, what was once fuzzy throughout the season has become clearer entering the final games for most of the teams hoping to become bowl-eligible.
MISERY INDEX:Jordan Travis' injury sinks Florida State's season, creates College Football Playoff chaos
WEEK 12 GRADES:Auburn shells out big-time bucks to get its butt kicked
How many available bowl spots are remaining?
The are 41 bowl games this postseason, which does not include the College Football Playoff championship game. That means 82 teams in the Bowl Subdivision must finish with six or more wins to fill all the spots.
Here's the current situation involving the 130 teams eligible to play in the postseason.
► 67 teams have at least six wins.
► 39 teams cannot reach six wins.
► That leaves 24 teams capable of grabbing one of the 15 remaining spots.
The games that will decide who is bowl-eligible
In an interesting wrinkle to things, none of the 24 teams still capable of earning a bowl game play each other. That means there are two dozen matchups on the Week 13 schedule will play a role in what postseason picture looks like.
Tuesday, Nov. 21
Eastern Michigan (5-6) at Buffalo, ESPN2, 7:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, Nov. 23
Mississippi at Mississippi State (5-6), ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Nov. 24
Nebraska (5-6) vs. Iowa, CBS, noon ET
TCU (5-6) at Oklahoma, Fox, noon ET
Toledo at Central Michigan (5-6), ESPNU, noon ET
Utah State (5-6) at New Mexico, CBSSN, 3:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, Nov. 25
Houston at Central Florida (5-6), FS1, noon ET
Navy* (5-5) at SMU, ESPN2, noon ET
Northern Illinois (5-6) at Kent State, noon ET
Florida Atlantic at Rice (5-6), 1 p.m. ET
Georgia State at Old Dominion (5-6), 2 p.m. ET
Wake Forest at Syracuse (5-6), CW, 2 p.m. ET
Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette (5-6), 3 p.m. ET
Arkansas State at Marshall (5-6), 3:30 p.m. ET
Brigham Young (5-6) at Oklahoma State, ABC, 3::30 p.m. ET
Illinois (5-6) at Northwestern, Big Ten, 3:30 p.m. ET
Virginia Tech (5-6) at Virginia, ACC, 3:30 p.m. ET
Wisconsin at Minnesota (5-6), FS1, 3:30 p.m. ET
Washington State (5-6) at Washington, Fox, 4 p.m. ET
Florida State at Florida (5-6), ESPN, 7 p.m. ET
Charlotte at South Florida (5-6), ESPNU, 7:30 p.m. ET
Clemson at South Carolina (5-6), SEC, 7:30 p.m. ET
California (5-6) at UCLA, ESPN, 10:30 p.m. ET
Colorado State (5-6) at Hawaii, 11 p.m. ET
* Navy will play Army on Dec. 9. That game comes six days after the bowl matchups are set, so they must win Saturday to be included on the bowl schedule.
What happens if there are not enough six-win teams for all the bowls?
Given that several teams are playing ranked opponents and others are big underdogs, it seems likely that there will be vacant spots to fill.
NCAA rules state that teams during the transition process from the Championship Subdivision to the Bowl Subdivision can fill available openings if they win six games. James Madison and Jacksonville State have 10 and eight victories, respectively, and will be next in line should there be enough losses among the five-wins team this weekend.
What about if there are more spots to fill after James Madison and Jacksonville State are added? Available spots will be allocated to five-win teams based on the APR scores reported for the 2021-22 academic year.
Here are the schools with the highest APR scores that have already achieved five wins or could reach five wins this season.
Minnesota — 992
Wake Forest (must beat Syracuse to get five wins) — 992
Rice — 987
Mississippi State — 985
Central Florida — 984
South Carolina — 983
Michigan State (must beat Penn State to get five wins) — 982
Ball State (must beat Miami (Ohio) to get five wins) — 980
What teams are bowl-eligible or already out?
Note: A team out cannot reach five wins and qualify by APR.
American Athletic:
In: Tulane, SMU, Texas-San Antonio, Memphis.
Out: Charlotte, Temple, Tulsa, East Carolina.
ACC
In: Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina State, North Carolina, Clemson, Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.),
Out: Pittsburgh, Virginia.
Big 12
In: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa State, Texas Tech.
Out: Baylor, Cincinnati.
Big Ten
In: Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State, Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, Wisconsin.
Out: Indiana, Purdue.
Conference USA
In: Liberty, New Mexico State, Western Kentucky.
Out: Louisiana Tech, Texas-El Paso.
Independents
In: Notre Dame.
Out: Army (has two FCS wins), Connecticut, Massachusetts.
Mid-American
In: Toledo, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Bowling Green.
Out: Akron, Buffalo, Kent State.
Mountain West
In: UNLV, Air Force, Fresno State, Wyoming, Boise State, San Jose State
Out: Hawaii, Nevada, San Diego State.
Pac-12
In: Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Oregon State, Southern California, UCLA, Utah.
Out: Arizona State, Colorado, Stanford.
SEC
In: Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Auburn, Kentucky.
Out: Vanderbilt.
Sun Belt
In: Troy, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, South Alabama, Texas State.
Out: Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Mississippi.
veryGood! (7772)
Related
- Bluesky has added 1 million users since the US election as people seek alternatives to X
- Taylor Swift's Mom Andrea Swift Wears Sweet Tribute to Travis Kelce at Chiefs Game
- Donald Trump misgenders reggaeton star Nicky Jam at rally: 'She's hot'
- JoJo opens up about support from Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift during record label battle
- Amtrak service disrupted after fire near tracks in New York City
- Alabama freshman receiver Ryan Williams helps Crimson Tide roll past Wisconsin
- Emmys 2024: See All the Celebrity Red Carpet Fashion
- South Dakota-Portland State football game called off due to illness within Vikings program
- Jessica Simpson’s Sister Ashlee Simpson Addresses Eric Johnson Breakup Speculation
- Taylor Swift rocks Chiefs T-shirt dress at Bengals game to support Travis Kelce
Ranking
- How Leonardo DiCaprio Celebrated His 50th Birthday
- Five reasons Dolphins' future looks grim if Tua Tagovailoa leaves picture after concussion
- 'The Life of Chuck' wins Toronto Film Festival audience award. Is Oscar next?
- 2024 Emmys: You Need to Learn Why Jean Smart Doesn't Want You Standing Next to a Blender
- My Little Pony finally hits the Toy Hall of Fame, alongside Phase 10 and Transformers
- Hosts Dan Levy and Eugene Levy Are Father-Son Goals on 2024 Emmys Carpet
- 'Miss our families': Astronauts left behind by Starliner share updates from the ISS
- 2024 Emmy winners and presenters couldn't keep their paws off political cat jokes
Recommendation
-
Reese Witherspoon's Daughter Ava Phillippe Introduces Adorable New Family Member
-
3 dead, 2 injured in Arizona tractor-trailer crash
-
River otter attacks child at Washington marina, issue with infestation was known
-
Hailey Bieber's Dad Stephen Baldwin Describes Her and Justin Bieber's Baby Boy Jack
-
Statue of the late US Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, is unveiled in his native Alabama
-
'The Bear' star Liza Colón-Zayas takes home historic Emmys win, urges Latinas to 'keep believing'
-
D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai arrives at the Emmys with powerful statement honoring missing Indigenous women
-
A.J. Brown injury update: Eagles WR out for 'Monday Night Football' matchup vs. Falcons