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2025 College Football Bowl Eligibility Tracker: Week 14

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Eight bowl spots are available heading into the final week of the college football regular season from Tuesday through Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Seventy-two programs already punched their ticket to bowl eligibility with a full slate upcoming. The College Football Bowl Eligibility Tracker is your guide to following 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 34 traditional bowl games, four CFP first round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games and one national championship game. That adds to up to 45 matchups with 80 FBS programs set to play beyond conference championship weekend, not including the Army-Navy Game.

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.

College Football Bowl Eligible Teams (72)

Nine teams became bowl eligible during Week 13 including Clemson, Duke, FIU, Louisiana Tech, Miami (OH), NC State, Northwestern, Utah State and UTSA.

Three spots will be locked up in Week 14 no matter what with games featuring five-win programs including Penn State vs. Rutgers, Arkansas State vs. Appalachian State and Georgia Southern vs. Marshall. Also, Missouri State will get a bowl bid if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams, and Delaware would be in the same position if it wins this weekend.

Here’s the full list of programs that secured at least six victories and are bowl eligible:

  • SEC (10) – Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
  • Big Ten (11) – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, USC, Washington
  • ACC (11) – Cal, Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, NC State, Pitt, SMU, Virginia, Wake Forest
  • Big 12 (9) – Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech, Utah
  • Pac-12 (0) – None
  • American (7) – East Carolina, Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Tulane, USF, UTSA
  • Mountain West (7) – Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah State
  • Sun Belt (5) – Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Troy
  • MAC (5) – Central Michigan, Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo, Western Michigan
  • Conference USA (5) – FIU, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky
  • Independents (2) – Notre Dame, UConn

One Win Away From Bowl Eligibility (21)

Six teams moved to one win away from bowl eligibility during Week 13 including Appalachian State, Auburn, Louisiana, Penn State, Texas State and UCF. All 21 five-win teams below have an opportunity to become bowl eligible during the Week 14 slate. Here’s the full list of programs that are one victory away from six wins:

  • SEC – Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi State
  • Big Ten – Penn State, Rutgers
  • ACC – Florida State
  • Big 12 – Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, UCF
  • Pac-12 – Washington State
  • American – Army, Rice, Temple
  • Mountain West – None
  • Sun Belt – Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana, Marshall, Texas State
  • MAC – Buffalo
  • Conference USA – None
  • Independents – None

One Win Away From Five Wins (16)

Six teams moved to one win away from five victories during Week 13 including New Mexico State, South Alabama, South Carolina, Stanford, Tulsa and Wisconsin. All 16 four-win programs are one victory away from five wins to potentially play in a bowl if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams:

  • SEC – Auburn, South Carolina
  • Big Ten – Maryland, Wisconsin
  • ACC – North Carolina, Stanford
  • Big 12 – West Virginia
  • Pac-12 – None
  • American – FAU, Tulsa
  • Mountain West – Wyoming
  • Sun Belt – South Alabama
  • MAC – Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State
  • Conference USA – Liberty, New Mexico State
  • Independents – None

Eliminated From Bowl Eligibility (26)

Twelve teams were eliminated from bowl eligibility after Week 13 including Air Force, Bowling Green, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana-Monroe, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, San Jose State, Syracuse, UAB, UCLA and Virginia Tech. The following programs are no longer eligible to participate in a bowl game, meaning they’ll fall short of the five-win mark or are ineligible for non-football reasons:

  • SEC – Arkansas, Florida
  • Big Ten – Michigan State, Purdue, UCLA
  • ACC – Boston College, Syracuse, Virginia Tech
  • Big 12 – Colorado, Oklahoma State
  • Pac-12 – Oregon State
  • American – Charlotte, UAB
  • Mountain West – Air Force, Colorado State, Nevada, San Jose State
  • Sun Belt – Georgia State, Louisiana-Monroe
  • MAC – *Akron, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, UMass
  • Conference USA – Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston State, UTEP
  • Independents – None

FBS APR Rankings

If fewer than 80 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 for every FBS program.

  • 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/2025/11/23/2025-college-football-bowl-eligibility-tracker-week-14/