6 Win Team Shortage, JMU is Bowling, What’s APR?

Bowl Spots

There are 41 total Bowl Games with 82 spots available. Yes, certain conferences have tie-ins to certain bowls, but 82 is the number that matters. Teams can play in bowls not associated with their conference to make everything work. They just need 82 teams that have 6+ wins.

If all the favorites win this week (because that always happens) there will be 79 teams with 6+ wins that are bowl eligible.

So there would be 3 “open” spots.

This Means JMU is Fine.

After all the bowls are filled, best to worst, then we fill those 3 left over spots. First up are teams that are in year 2 of an FCS to FBS transition (moving up a division) that have 6+ wins. Normally these teams are barred from playing in the postseason until their 3rd FBS season, but if there is a shortage of 6+ win teams, they get a pass.

JMU and Jax State would be teams 80 and 81. 

They wouldn’t have a shot at a NY6 spot, (because that would be “filled” before these schools are even considered) but they do get the extra game, the extra money, and the extra practices. 

1 Spot Left – Putting the “Student” in Student Athlete

The last spot goes to the 5-7 team with the highest APR in the previous season. APR is the Academic Progress Rate. 

Simply, APR is: out of all scholarship athletes in all sports, how many stayed “academically eligible” (didn’t fail classes) all year (the previous year).

A school doesn’t need to be a “good school” to have a good APR, and good grades don’t matter. JUST DON’T FAIL. 

The top 3 APR schools this year are Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Alabama. But that’s irrelevant; they all already have 6+ wins. 

The highest APR among the (projected) 5-7 teams: Minnesota – tied for 8th in APR.

Minnesota is Team 82.

And now, all the bowl games are filled in this scenario. (The one where every single favorite wins in week 13).

What if we Need More Than One

A reasonable amount of chaos could result in 4+ 5-7 teams participating in bowl games this year. The list of APR schools in order that may be 5-7 at the end of the year are as follows.

Minnesota
Wake Forest
Rice
Mississippi State
UCF
South Carolina

South Carolina would need a lot of chaos to make a bowl at 5-7, but it is possible. I think fans would prefer it if they just beat Clemson on Saturday to move to 6-6.

Want more Walk On Fan? Check out our piece last week about some early SEC coaching moves. 

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This article was written by Cole Tollison and edited by Hayden Breene