We’ve made it to the final week of the college football regular season, which means bowl season is almost here. This year’s slate will feature 34 non-CFP bowl matchups, in addition to the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff, meaning there is room for 80 teams in the postseason. While several teams are still fighting for a place in the playoff, just getting to a bowl game is a major accomplishment for many programs.
To be deemed bowl eligible, a team must have at least six wins or finish with a record of .500 or better. Entering the final week of the season, 72 teams have already met that threshold and are bowl eligible which leaves eight spots still up for grabs. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the teams currently sitting at five wins who will be playing for bowl eligibility in Week 14.
American
- Army, at UTSA (6-5)
- Rice, vs USF (8-3)
- Temple, at North Texas (10-1)
ACC
- Florida State, at Florida (3-8)
Big 12
- Baylor, vs Houston (8-3)
- Kansas, vs Utah (9-2)
- Kansas State, vs Colorado (3-8)
- UCF, at BYU (10-1)
Big Ten
- Penn State, at Rutgers (5-6)
- Rutgers, vs Penn State (5-6)
MAC
- Buffalo, vs Ohio (7-4)
Pac-(1)2
- Washington State, vs Oregon State (2-9)
SEC
- Auburn, vs Alabama (9-2)
- Kentucky, at Louisville (7-4)
- Mississippi State, vs Ole Miss (10-1)
Sun Belt
- Appalachian State, vs Arkansas State (5-6)
- Arkansas State, vs Appalachian State (5-6)
- Georgia Southern, at Marshall (5-6)
- Louisiana, vs UL Monroe (3-8)
- Marshall, vs Georgia Southern (5-6)
- Texas State, vs South Alabama (4-7)
Six of these teams face each, guaranteeing that at least three more will become bowl eligible this weekend. If more than eight of these teams win in Week 14 and the total number of eligible teams exceeds the 80 available spots, some programs from smaller conferences could be left out. Or we could see an additional bowl game magically appear to accommodate all the teams, which is something that has happened in the past.
On the other hand, if fewer than 80 teams reach eligibility, the first spots would go to Missouri State and Delaware, both of which are transitioning from FCS to FBS. Missouri State has already reached six wins, while Delaware sits at 5-6 with a remaining game against UTEP. After those two, any remaining openings would be filled by 5-7 teams with the best Academic Progress Rates.
Bowl game matchups will be announced throughout the day on December 7th, and bowl season will kick off on December 13th with the LA Bowl and run through January 2nd.