2025 College Football Bowl Eligibility Tracker: Week 9

Every college football program reached the halfway point of its 2025 regular season schedule, and 24 teams already punched their ticket to bowl eligibility. This is your guide to tracking which teams will reach the postseason through the end of the regular season.

College Football Bowl Eligibility Criteria

The future of the College Football Playoff is in question but when it comes to this year’s postseason, here’s a quick overview.

The final day of the 2025 regular season is on Nov. 29 with bowl games expected to be announced on Dec. 7. Bowl season begins Dec. 13 and ends Jan. 19. The postseason consists of 35 traditional bowl games, four CFP first round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games and one national championship game. That adds to up to 46 matchups with 82 FBS programs set to play beyond conference championship weekend.

To qualify for bowl eligibility, teams must win at least six games, and they can only count one win against FCS opponents. If there are too many bowl-eligible teams, some will be left out of postseason play.

If there are not enough bowl-eligible teams, the first two spots would go to Delaware and Missouri State, which are transitioning from the FCS, assuming they satisfy the bowl-eligibility criteria. After that, it will come down to Academic Progress Rate scores for teams one win away from bowl eligibility, which is why in some years you see teams with a 5-7 record competing in bowl games.

Before the countdown to bowl season even began, one program was already eliminated. Akron was ruled ineligible for postseason play in May due to a failing Academic Progress Rate score during the 2023-24 season.

Bowl Eligible Teams (24)

Fourteen programs became bowl eligible during Week 8 of the college football season including Alabama, Cincinnati, Georgia, Hawaii, Houston, James Madison, Missouri, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tulane, USF, Vanderbilt and Virginia.

The following programs secured at least six victories to become bowl eligible:

SEC (7) – Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Big Ten (3) – Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon
ACC (2) – Georgia Tech, Virginia
Big 12 (4) – BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Texas Tech
Pac-12 (0) – None
American (5) – Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Tulane, USF
Mountain West (2) – Hawaii, UNLV
Sun Belt (1) – James Madison
MAC (0) – None
Conference USA (0) – None
Independents (0) – None

Eliminated From Bowl Eligibility (1)

The following programs are no longer eligible to participate in a bowl game. This means they’ll fall short of the five-win mark or are ineligible for non-football reasons:

SEC – None
Big Ten – None
ACC – None
Big 12 – None
Pac-12 – None
American – None
Mountain West – None
Sun Belt – None
MAC – *Akron
Conference USA – None
Independents – None

One Win Away From Bowl Eligibility (28)

Twenty-six teams have an opportunity to become bowl eligible during Week 9. The following programs are one victory away from six wins to become bowl eligible:

SEC – LSU, Tennessee, Texas
Big Ten – Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, USC, Washington
ACC – Cal, Louisville, Miami, Pitt, SMU
Big 12 – Arizona State, Iowa State, TCU, Utah
Pac-12 – None
American – None
Mountain West – Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State
Sun Belt – Southern Miss, Troy
MAC – None
Conference USA – Western Kentucky
Independents – Notre Dame, UConn

One Win Away From Five Wins (26)

The following programs are one victory away from five wins to potentially play in a bowl if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams:

SEC – Mississippi State
Big Ten – Maryland
ACC – Duke, NC State, Wake Forest
Big 12 – Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, UCF
Pac-12 – None
American – East Carolina, Temple
Mountain West – New Mexico, Utah State
Sun Belt – Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Marshall, Old Dominion
MAC – Buffalo, Central Michigan, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
Conference USA – Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Louisiana Tech
Independents – None

FBS APR Rankings

If fewer than 82 teams become bowl eligible, it will come down to Academic Progress Rate scores for teams one win away from bowl eligibility. Here’s a look at the APR score rankings among teams still eligible for bowl game participation:

Ohio State
Alabama
Michigan/North Carolina
Clemson/Wake Forest
Cincinnati
Northwestern
Air Force/Minnesota
Iowa State/Wisconsin
Auburn/Florida State/Kansas State/Notre Dame
Missouri
Rice
Duke/NC State
Boise State/Boston College/Miami/Oklahoma State/Texas/Tulane/UCF
Ball State/Stanford
James Madison/Louisville/Utah
Arkansas/East Carolina/Virginia
Coastal Carolina/Florida/Indiana/Iowa
Liberty/Texas Tech
Army/Ole Miss/West Virginia
Georgia/Kentucky/Mississippi State/Nevada/Old Dominion/UNLV/Vanderbilt/Western Kentucky
Rutgers/Washington
Eastern Michigan
Nebraska/USC/Virginia Tech/Wyoming
Fresno State/Oklahoma/South Carolina
Baylor/Pitt
Arizona State/Toledo
Kansas/Purdue/Troy
Cal/Illinois/Sam Houston State
**Delaware
Arizona/Bowling Green/Georgia State/Georgia Tech/Temple
Appalachian State/Michigan State
UCLA
San Diego State
Northern Illinois/Oregon State
Navy/South Alabama/Tennessee/Washington State
TCU
Maryland/UTSA
Colorado/Marshall/USF
SMU/Texas State
Miami (OH)/Middle Tennessee
Colorado State/Georgia Southern/Memphis/Syracuse
Ohio
Texas A&M
FIU/Kennesaw State
BYU/New Mexico State
Louisiana
North Texas
LSU/UTEP
New Mexico
Kent State/San Jose State
Arkansas State/UConn/Western Michigan
FAU/Hawaii/Penn State
Oregon/UAB/UMass
Central Michigan
Tulsa
Houston
Utah State
Southern Miss
Buffalo
Jacksonville State
Louisiana-Monroe
Louisiana Tech
Charlotte
**Missouri State

*Akron is ineligible for postseason play due to a failing APR score during the 2023-24 season.
**Delaware and Missouri State would get a bowl bid if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams and if they satisfy bowl eligibility criteria.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikbuchinger/2025/10/20/2025-college-football-bowl-eligibility-tracker-week-9/