11-13-2005, 11:00 AM
In order to be Bowl eligible this year, a team must have over a .500 winning percentage. Here is a breakdown of conferences and the teams with over a .500 winning percentage so far.
ACC--8
Big 12--7
Big East--4
Big 10--7
CUSA--4
Independents--2
MWC--3
PAC 10--5
SEC--6
Sun Belt--1
WAC--4
MAC--5
I believe there are 58 Bowl slots. Not counting the MAC, there are 51 teams so far with over a .500 winning percentage. I see CUSA and the MWC as likely to gain 1 more Bowl eligible team each. If that happens and otherwise things remain the same, there would be a total of 53 Bowl eligible teams (not counting the MAC) with 3 slots remaining open.
If that's the way things end up, the Conferences most likely to fill these 3 extra slots would be the MAC and the WAC. Notice that the summary given above already lists the WAC with 4 Bowl eligible teams. Hawaii will not be Bowl eligible this year so the Conference most likely to fill this slot will be the WAC.
So, even if all 4 of these WAC teams receive Bowl invites, that still would leave 3 Bowl slots open. The Sun Belt might also gain a Bowl eligible team and if so could well receive an invitation to the New Orleans Bowl. If that happened, there would still be 2 Bowl slots open.
My conclusion--the MAC still has a good shot of receiving at least 3 Bowl bids. One additional reason to believe this is that the Bowls most likely not to fill their contracted slots are in the Eastern part of the country.
ACC--8
Big 12--7
Big East--4
Big 10--7
CUSA--4
Independents--2
MWC--3
PAC 10--5
SEC--6
Sun Belt--1
WAC--4
MAC--5
I believe there are 58 Bowl slots. Not counting the MAC, there are 51 teams so far with over a .500 winning percentage. I see CUSA and the MWC as likely to gain 1 more Bowl eligible team each. If that happens and otherwise things remain the same, there would be a total of 53 Bowl eligible teams (not counting the MAC) with 3 slots remaining open.
If that's the way things end up, the Conferences most likely to fill these 3 extra slots would be the MAC and the WAC. Notice that the summary given above already lists the WAC with 4 Bowl eligible teams. Hawaii will not be Bowl eligible this year so the Conference most likely to fill this slot will be the WAC.
So, even if all 4 of these WAC teams receive Bowl invites, that still would leave 3 Bowl slots open. The Sun Belt might also gain a Bowl eligible team and if so could well receive an invitation to the New Orleans Bowl. If that happened, there would still be 2 Bowl slots open.
My conclusion--the MAC still has a good shot of receiving at least 3 Bowl bids. One additional reason to believe this is that the Bowls most likely not to fill their contracted slots are in the Eastern part of the country.