
Wins against non-Division I teams do not count toward the number of wins.

Teams that are bowl eligible will usually either play in one of the bowl games that its conference is affiliated with based on conference tie-ins or the team will be chosen from the pool of remaining bowl eligible teams to fill one of the at-large positions. For the 2016–17 bowl season, 25% of the bowl participants (20 teams) did not have a winning record.Ĭurrent regulations have also adjusted the criteria to allow a team to include one win against teams at the lower FCS level. As a result, the NCAA has steadily reduced the criteria for bowl eligibility, allowing teams with a non-winning (6–6) record in 2010, further reducing to allow teams with outright losing records (5–7) to be invited by 2012.

When a team achieves this state, it is described as " bowl-eligible".įor nearly a century, bowl games were the purview of only the very best teams, but a steady proliferation of new bowl games required 70 participating teams by the 2010–11 bowl season, then 80 participating teams by the 2015–16 bowl season. The 2003 Navy Midshipmen football team leaving the field after their seventh win of the season, assuring them bowl eligibility.īowl eligibility in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level is the standard through which teams become available for selection to participate in postseason bowl games.
