BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 15: The LSU Tigers celebrate the win against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Tiger Stadium on November 15, 2025 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Kristen Youngl/University Images via Getty Images)
University Images via Getty Images
Two more regular season weeks remain for college football programs to make their case for bowl eligibility with plenty of spots available. There’s still plenty to play for down the stretch with 63 programs already punching their ticket to bowl eligibility. This is your guide to tracking which teams will reach the postseason through the end of the regular season.
College Football Bowl Eligibility Criteria:
The future of the College Football Playoff is in question but when it comes to this year’s postseason, here’s a quick overview.
The final day of the 2025 regular season is on Nov. 29 with bowl games expected to be announced on Dec. 7. Bowl season begins Dec. 13 and ends Jan. 19. The postseason consists of 35 traditional bowl games, four CFP first round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games and one national championship game. That adds to up to 46 matchups with 82 FBS programs set to play beyond conference championship weekend.
To qualify for bowl eligibility, teams must win at least six games, and they can only count one win against FCS opponents. If there are too many bowl-eligible teams, some will be left out of postseason play.
If there are not enough bowl-eligible teams, the first two spots would go to Delaware and Missouri State, which are transitioning from the FCS, assuming they satisfy the bowl-eligibility criteria. After that, it will come down to Academic Progress Rate scores for teams one win away from bowl eligibility, which is why in some years you see teams with a 5-7 record competing in bowl games.
Before the countdown to bowl season even began, one program was already eliminated. Akron was ruled ineligible for postseason play in May due to a failing Academic Progress Rate score during the 2023-24 season.
College Football Bowl Eligible Teams (63)
Four teams became bowl eligible after Week 12 of the college football season including Central Michigan, LSU, Toledo and Western Michigan. Here’s the full list of teams that secured at least six victories and are bowl eligible:
**Missouri State reached six wins but will only get a bowl bid if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams.
- SEC (10) – Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
- Big Ten (10) – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, USC, Washington
- ACC (8) – Cal, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Pitt, SMU, Virginia, Wake Forest
- Big 12 (9) – Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah
- Pac-12 (0) – None
- American (6) – East Carolina, Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Tulane, USF
- Mountain West (6) – Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV
- Sun Belt (5) – Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Troy
- MAC (4) – Central Michigan, Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
- Conference USA (3) – Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Western Kentucky
- Independents (2) – Notre Dame, UConn
One Win Away From Bowl Eligibility (24)
Nine teams moved to one win away from bowl eligibility after Week 12 including Clemson, FIU, Florida State, Georgia Southern, Kansas State, Kentucky, Marshall, UTSA and Washington State. All 24 five-win teams have an opportunity to become bowl eligible during the Week 13 slate. Here’s the full list of programs that are one victory away from six wins:
**Delaware is one win away from bowl eligibility but would only get a bowl bid if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams.
- SEC – Kentucky, Mississippi State
- Big Ten – Northwestern, Rutgers
- ACC – Clemson, Duke, Florida State, NC State
- Big 12 – Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State
- Pac-12 – Washington State
- American – Army, Rice, Temple, UTSA
- Mountain West – Utah State
- Sun Belt – Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Marshall
- MAC – Buffalo, Miami (OH)
- Conference USA – FIU, Louisiana Tech
- Independents – None
One Win Away From Five Wins (16)
Four teams moved to one win away from five victories after Week 12 including Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Penn State and Texas State. The following programs are one victory away from five wins to potentially play in a bowl if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams:
*Akron is one win away from five wins but is ineligible for postseason play due to a failing APR score during the 2023-24 season.
- SEC – Auburn
- Big Ten – Maryland, Penn State
- ACC – North Carolina
- Big 12 – UCF, West Virginia
- Pac-12 – None
- American – FAU
- Mountain West – Wyoming
- Sun Belt – Appalachian State, Louisiana, Texas State
- MAC – Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State
- Conference USA – Liberty
- Independents – None
Eliminated From Bowl Eligibility (14)
Three teams were eliminated from bowl eligibility after Week 12 including Arkansas, Colorado State and UTEP. The following programs are no longer eligible to participate in a bowl game, meaning they’ll fall short of the five-win mark or are ineligible for non-football reasons:
- SEC – Arkansas
- Big Ten – Purdue
- ACC – Boston College
- Big 12 – Oklahoma State
- Pac-12 – Oregon State
- American – Charlotte
- Mountain West – Colorado State, Nevada
- Sun Belt – Georgia State
- MAC – *Akron, UMass
- Conference USA – Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston State, UTEP
- Independents – None
FBS APR Rankings
If fewer than 82 teams become bowl eligible, it will come down to Academic Progress Rate scores for teams one win away from bowl eligibility. Here’s a look at the APR score rankings for every FBS program.
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Michigan/North Carolina
- Clemson/Wake Forest
- Cincinnati
- Northwestern
- Air Force/Minnesota
- Iowa State/Wisconsin
- Auburn/Florida State/Kansas State/Notre Dame
- Missouri
- Rice
- Duke/NC State
- Boise State/Boston College/Miami/Oklahoma State/Texas/Tulane/UCF
- Ball State/Stanford
- James Madison/Louisville/Utah
- Arkansas/East Carolina/Virginia
- Coastal Carolina/Florida/Indiana/Iowa
- Liberty/Texas Tech
- Army/Ole Miss/West Virginia
- Georgia/Kentucky/Mississippi State/Nevada/Old Dominion/UNLV/Vanderbilt/Western Kentucky
- Rutgers/Washington
- Eastern Michigan
- Nebraska/USC/Virginia Tech/Wyoming
- Fresno State/Oklahoma/South Carolina
- Baylor/Pitt
- Arizona State/Toledo
- Kansas/Purdue/Troy
- Cal/Illinois/Sam Houston State
- **Delaware
- Arizona/Bowling Green/Georgia State/Georgia Tech/Temple
- Appalachian State/Michigan State
- UCLA
- San Diego State
- Northern Illinois/Oregon State
- Navy/South Alabama/Tennessee/Washington State
- TCU
- Maryland/UTSA
- Colorado/Marshall/USF
- SMU/Texas State
- Miami (OH)/Middle Tennessee
- Colorado State/Georgia Southern/Memphis/Syracuse
- Ohio
- Texas A&M
- FIU/Kennesaw State
- BYU/New Mexico State
- Louisiana
- North Texas
- LSU/UTEP
- New Mexico
- Kent State/San Jose State
- Arkansas State/UConn/Western Michigan
- FAU/Hawaii/Penn State
- Oregon/UAB/UMass
- Central Michigan
- Tulsa
- Houston
- Utah State
- Southern Miss
- Buffalo
- Jacksonville State
- Louisiana-Monroe
- Louisiana Tech
- Charlotte
- **Missouri State
*Akron is ineligible for postseason play due to a failing APR score during the 2023-24 season.
**Delaware and Missouri State would get a bowl bid if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams and if they satisfy bowl eligibility criteria.
