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NCAA approves plan to eliminate bowl eligibility requirements for 2020 season
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The NCAA has approved the plan to eliminate bowl eligibility requirements for the 2020 season because of the unique circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Brett McMurphy of Stadium reported the news on Wednesday.
In a typical year, the standards for bowl eligibility are pretty cut and dry. Finish the season at .500 or better (6-6), and you can participate in the postseason. If there aren’t enough teams hitting that mark, 5-7 squads are eligible based on the Academic Progress Rate.
However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no win requirements to play in a bowl game this year. So, technically, all 127 teams competing are bowl eligible, even those who haven’t started the season.
Good news: all 127 FBS teams playing this fall are immediately bowl eligible as NCAA officially approves no win requirements to play in a bowl, sources told @Stadium. Bad news: only 78 teams are needed to fill 39 bowls this year
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 14, 2020
However, it also means that a typically-qualified Group of 5 squad could be robbed of a postseason appearance for the allure of a Power 5 squad. That likely won’t happen often, as many bowl games have contracts with specific conferences, but it could be an issue for some bowl games.
Already, one bowl game with B1G ties has decided to cancel its game. The Redbox Bowl made the announcement earlier this year.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB