38 bowls x 2 equals 76 spots for bowl games including the 4 opening round playoff games. plus 4 more playoff teams get byes equals 80 spots total.
80 Spot available:
Bowl Eligible teams by conference as of this post:
American - 7
ACC - 11
Big 10 - 11
Big 12 - 9
CUSA - 5 (Delaware and Missouri St do not qualify as they are in transition to FBS)
MAC - 5
MWC - 7
PAC - 0
SEC - 10
Independent - 2
SBC - 7 ( only has 5 right now but will include the GA South vs. Marshall and A State vs. APP as plus 2)
Total 74 have 6 wins as of this post including those two SBC Matchups.
5-6 teams with still a shot(11 total) Only 6 spots available:
Rice needs to beat USF -6 pm
Army (needs to beat UTSA-2:30 pm and/or Navy-12/13- 2 pm)
K State needs to beat Colorado - 11 am
UCF needs to beat BYU - 12 pm
Baylor needs to beat Houston - 11 am
Wash. St needs to beat Oregon State - 5:30 pm
Kentucky needs to beat Louisville - 11 am
Auburn needs to beat Alabama - 6:30 pm
Florida St needs to beat Florida - 3:30 pm
Texas St needs to beat South Alabama - 2 pm
Louisiana needs to beat ULM - 2 pm
Feel free to correct anything as I did this fast! LOL. Guess there is still a possibility of us even with a win getting left out, but I like our chances with these match ups.
SBC would hopefully leave TX St out to Dry before they would us.
What’s really interesting to me is the playoff picture.
Big 10 3 teams with 2 losses or less
Sec 6 teams with 2 losses or less
Big 12 3 teams
ACC 2 teams (will be 1 after conf champ)
That’s 13 teams with 2 losses or less. Plus a ND win tonight makes 14 and a g5 team in.
So possibly 11 spots for 14 teams with 2 losses or less…. Who gets shafted? Vandy, Oklahoma, big 12 teams….. gonna be interesting.
I can see
ACC champ 1 big 12 champ 2 g5 3 ND 4
Big 10 gets 3 and sec gets 5. If bama loses in conf champ to uga, bama 3 losses out??? Leaves uga, tx am, ole miss, Okl, and vandy.
Just heard herbstreet on the bama game broadcast say. If smu loses(down 24-7 to cal) Duke 7-5(6-2) would get into the ACC championship game against Virginia. Just imagine a 8-5 Duke team getting in the playoff!!! The SEC and big 10 would lose their minds.
If Duke wins the ACC, then the Dukes of JMU should be in if they win the SBC Conference Championship, and either Tulane/UNT should be in also. Meaning 2 G5 schools make it in. Also Missouri St. is in, but not sure about Delaware, because they had a new rule that said if there isn’t enough Bowl Eligible teams in FBS, then the schools that are transitioning and have enough wins will make it in.
Just not sure if it will be 82 or 80 schools, they haven’t announced the replacement for the Bahama’s Bowl.
I think we will be in one of 4 bowls, Independence, New Orleans, Mobile, or Boca Raton (I think that is the one ESPN had us going to last week).
At this point with a 6-6 record and the way the season went, just thankful we are in the 80 teams that are in a bowl game out of 136. Now lets me one of the 40 that win a bowl game. Its time for Des to win one. We can’t be choosy and play the card we were delt.
Predictor: ESPN (Mark Schlabach)
Prediction: Louisiana vs. Western Kentucky
Our Take: Schlabach agrees with Bonagura that there will be at least 2 of the Big 12 teams in the Playoffs, so the Sun Belt will have to fill their spot. But Schlabach has a much better idea: having a Louisiana team in the game. His prediction is that the Sun Belt would send the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns to Shreveport. It would be their first time back since the 2022 matchup against Houston. He suggests that Western Kentucky would get the nod from C-USA…but imagine what could actually happen if it was a Sun Belt vs Conference USA matchup as he predicts…we could actually see one of the greatest bowls of all time.
Who We Think Will Play in the 2025 Independence Bowl
Look, both ESPN predictions think the Big 12 won’t fulfill their obligation to the Independence Bowl. If that happens, and the Sun Belt is in their place, there’s only one answer: they must send the Ragin’ Cajuns. Then, Conference USA has to do the right thing, and send Louisiana Tech back. Creating the greatest matchup of ALL TIME…UL-Lafayette versus Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl.
However…we don’t agree with the ESPN idea that the Big 12 won’t have enough teams. It really looks like there will just be one Big 12 team in the College Football Playoffs, and that will probably be Texas Tech. That means the Big 12 can fill their spot.
With the Big 12 having enough teams, it’s likely that Kansas State will be their representative. We also still believe that Louisiana Tech owes it to the Independence Bowl to return, and that its in the best interest of the bowl to have Tech back. So that paints us into a particular scenario…Kansas State versus Louisiana Tech in the Indy Bowl. Just like Athlon Sports suggested.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
2:00, ESPN
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA
Bowl Affiliations: AAC, Big 12, Former Pac-12
Last Season: Army 27, Louisiana Tech 6 Projection: Louisiana vs Utah State
