At least six wins and a winning percentage of at least .500 are needed to officially be bowl-eligible, and 80 teams are needed to fill all of the bowls. Here's what will happen if there aren't enough eligible teams.
BOWL ELIGIBLE TEAMS UPDATED: DEC. 5 | 77/80 QUALIFIED
CONFERENCE TEAMS
American (8) Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Memphis, Navy, Temple, Tulsa, USF
ACC (9) Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech
Big Ten (8) Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin
Big 12 (7) Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia
C-USA (5) Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky
Independent (2) BYU, Notre Dame
MAC (7) Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
Mountain West (7) Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah State
Pac-12 (10) Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, Washington, Washington State
SEC (10) Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M
Sun Belt (4) Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State
One win away (3) -- Teams listed in APR order. APR Rating in parenthesis. Note that there are ties. There is currently no procedure for breaking those ties if it is necessary. Missouri has decided not to accept a bowl bid.
Nebraska (985) -- Season complete
San Jose State (975) -- Season complete
Minnesota (975) -- Season complete
Better luck next year (48)
Army, Ball State, Boston College, Buffalo, Colorado, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Fresno State, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Miami-Ohio, Missouri, New Mexico State, North Texas, Old Dominion, Oregon State, Purdue, Rice, Rutgers. SMU, South Alabama, South Carolina, Syracuse, Texas, Texas State, Troy, Tulane, UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, UNLV, UT San Antonio, UTEP, UCF, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, Wyoming
Charlotte (transitioning to FBS)
* Boston College and North Carolina each defeated two FCS teams, which means they needed seven total wins to become bowl eligible. Teams can only count one such win toward the six needed for eligibility. They cannot be eligible under the provision that allows teams that finish 5-7 to play in bowls.
