Bowl Eligibility Question

[79 Bull]

For you statisticians....

Last year there were 56 bowl slots and 117 1A teams.  How many bowl eligible teams were there?  What teams were bowl eligible that did not get an invite?

How about the same questions for 2003?

[Greg Auman]

this isn't official, but my recollection is that only two teams were bowl eligible last year and didn't play in bowls, but remember that clemson and south carolina penalized themselves with no postseason play after the brawl at their game ...

greg

[Bobcat99]

I'm pretty sure Akron was the only bowl-eligible team left in the cold last year.

[Matt]

we just need to win 3 more games and let the chips fall where they may

[goodknightfl]

clemson and USC locked themselves out of bowls for the fight they had.. Akron was the only team bowl eligible who got locked out.

[Guest]

2003: 61 Bowl eligibile teams -- 56 slots

Teams that did not make a bowl game:

Northern Illinois 10-2 (MAC)

Connecticut 9-3 (Ind)

Marshall 8-4 (MAC)

Toledo 8-4 (MAC)

Air Force 7-5 (MWC)

2004: 59 Bowl eligibile teams -- 56 slots

Teams that did not make a bowl game:

Clemson 6-5 (ACC)*

Akron 6-5 (MAC)

South Carolina 6-5 (SEC)*

* As noted by Greg, Clemson and South Carolina removed themselves from bowl consideration after an on-field fight towards the end of their game.

---

Note: The term "bowl eligible" is not defined in NCAA rules, and is only used by the media.  The official definition is as follows:

30.9.2 Contest Status. [i-A] A contest shall be certified only if it serves the purpose of providing a national contest between deserving winning teams. A “deserving winning team†shall be defined as one that has won a minimum of six games against Division I-A opponents and that has more wins than losses.  Tie games do not count in determining a team’s won-lost record. Further, when forfeiture of a regular-season football victory is required by the Committee on Infractions, a conference or self-imposed by an institution as a result of a violation of NCAA rules, neither of the competing institutions may count that contest in satisfying the definition of a “deserving winning team.†(Revised: 10/18/89, 10/12/93, 4/20/99)

30.9.2.1 Exceptionâ€â€Division I-AA Opponent. [i-A] Each year, a Division I-A institution may count one victory against a Division I-AA opponent toward the six-win minimum, provided the Division I-AA opponent has averaged 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of grants-in-aid per year in Division I-AA football over a rolling two-year period. (Adopted: 10/28/97 effective 8/1/98, Revised: 4/28/05)

b30.9.2.1.1 Waiver. [i-A] The Football Issues Committee may approve a waiver of the 90 percent requirement to permit a Division I-A institution to count a victory against a Division I-AA opponent in the sport of football toward meeting the six-victory requirement when a unique or catastrophic situation affects the Division I-AA institution’s ability to average 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of grants-in-aid per year in Division I-AA football over a rolling two-year period. (Adopted: 8/11/98, Revised: 4/28/05)

30.9.2.2 Waiver for Conference Champion. [i-A] The Management Council, by a two-thirds majority of its members present and voting, or a committee designated by the Management Council, may approve a waiver of the six-victory requirement to enable a conference champion to participate in a bowl game when the conference champion is scheduled contractually to participate in the game. (Adopted: 1/12/93, Revised: 10/28/97)

Source: http://www.ncaa.org/library/membership/division_i_manual/2005-06/2005-06_d1_manual.pdf

[BULLfreak]

lets see the the bowls leave us out in the cold again

[PingBull]

lets see if we can win 6 games first

[79 Bull]

A “deserving winning team†shall be defined as one that has won a minimum of six games against Division I-A opponents and that has more wins than losses.

Does that mean with the 12 game schedule, you must have 7 wins to be eligible.  If that is the case, I don't think there will be enough teams to fill all the slots next year.

[Guest]

Does that mean with the 12 game schedule, you must have 7 wins to be eligible.  If that is the case, I don't think there will be enough teams to fill all the slots next year.

That is technically correct, based on reading that rule.

However, there used to be a rule that a bowl would have to take any I-A team with more wins than losses over a 6-6 I-A team, regardless of conference affiliation.  While I could not locate that rule, I believe this is still the case.

For 2005, there are already 15 bowl-eligible teams (i.e those with 6 wins), and another 22 with 5 wins.