Bowl eligibility count at 72 with plenty of teams in hunt

Updated Nov. 21, 2021 12:06 p.m. ET

Associated Press

These aren't exactly the stakes Florida and Florida State had in mind for their end-of-the-season rivalry game.

The Gators and Seminoles both enter Saturday's clash at 5-6, meaning the winner becomes bowl eligible. That's one of four games next weekend pitting two five-win teams against each other. The others are Maryland-Rutgers, Charlotte-Old Dominion and Florida Atlantic-Middle Tennessee.

There's enough space for 82 FBS teams to play in bowls this season. Right now 72 teams already have secured bowl eligibility. The winners of the four games listed above will bring the total to 76, and there are plenty of other teams that also are a victory away from bowl eligibility. In years when there haven't been enough six-win teams to fill all the spots, teams with losing records have been allowed to play.

Here's this week's schedule for the teams on the bowl eligibility bubble:

Tuesday

Ball State (5-6) vs. Buffalo

Thursday

San Jose State (5-6) vs. Fresno State

Friday

South Alabama (5-6) vs. Coastal Carolina

TCU (5-6) at Iowa State

Saturday

California (4-6) at UCLA

Charlotte (5-6) at Old Dominion (5-6)

Florida Atlantic (5-6) vs. Middle Tennessee (5-6)

Florida State (5-6) at Florida (5-6)

LSU (5-6) vs. Texas A&M

Maryland (5-6) at Rutgers (5-6)

Memphis (5-6) vs. Tulane

North Texas (5-6) vs. Texas-San Antonio

Southern California (4-6) vs. BYU

Syracuse (5-6) vs. Pittsburgh

Troy (5-6) at Georgia State

Tulsa (5-6) at SMU

Virginia Tech (5-6) at Virginia

West Virginia (5-6) at Kansas

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The following 72 teams are already bowl eligible:

Air Force

Alabama

Alabama-Birmingham

Appalachian State

Arizona State

Arkansas

Army

Auburn

Baylor

Boise State

Boston College

BYU

Central Florida

Central Michigan

Cincinnati

Clemson

Coastal Carolina

East Carolina

Eastern Michigan

Fresno State

Georgia

Georgia State

Houston

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas State

Kent State

Kentucky

Liberty

Louisiana-Lafayette

Louisville

Marshall

Miami

Miami, Ohio

Michigan

Michigan State

Minnesota

Mississippi

Mississippi State

Missouri

North Carolina State

Nevada

North Carolina

Northern Illinois

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

San Diego State

SMU

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas-El Paso

Texas-San Antonio

Texas Tech

Toledo

UCLA

Utah

Utah State

Virginia

Wake Forest

Washington State

Western Kentucky

Western Michigan

Wisconsin

Wyoming

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