2025 bowl eligibility: Here's who needs to get a 6th win in the final week of the season to make a bowl game

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Over 20 teams will be playing for a postseason berth in the final week of the 2025 college football regular season.

Entering Week 14, 72 teams have already reached the six-win threshold for bowl eligibility as independent teams Notre Dame and UConn each have nine wins. With 35 bowl games in addition to the 12-team College Football Playoff, there are 82 playoff and bowl berths available.

There will be a minimum of 75 bowl-eligible teams as there are three games in Week 14 that pit 5-6 teams against each other. That means seven other teams with five wins need to get a victory on either Friday or Saturday to ensure that no 5-7 team is needed to fill out the postseason.

Here's a quick look at who is on the bowl bubble in each conference.

Already bowl eligible (7): North Texas, Tulane, Navy, South Florida, East Carolina, Memphis, UTSA

  • Army (at UTSA)

  • Temple (at North Texas)

  • Rice (at South Florida)

Army is 5-5 with its game vs. Navy remaining on Dec. 13, but needs to beat UTSA to get to a bowl game since bowl selections will happen the week before the game. UTSA is unbeatable at home against conference opponents, so the Black Knights have their work cut out for them. Both Temple and Rice are big road underdogs.

Already bowl-eligible (11): Virginia, Pitt, SMU, Georgia Tech, Miami, Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, Louisville, Cal, NC State

  • Florida State (vs. Florida)

The Seminoles are bringing back coach Mike Norvell for 2026 and have a chance for a 13th game against their in-state rival. 

Already bowl-eligible (8): Texas Tech, BYU, Arizona State, Houston, Arizona, Cincinnati, Iowa State, TCU

  • Kansas State (vs. Colorado)

  • Baylor (vs. Houston)

  • Kansas (vs. Utah)

  • UCF (at BYU)

Kansas State is a big favorite over Colorado. Everyone else has a steep hill to climb to get to a sixth win. Baylor would seem to be the second-most likely team to make a bowl game and UCF is a massive long shot.

Already bowl-eligible (12): Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, USC, Washington, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Minnesota, Illinois

  • Penn State (at Rutgers)

  • Rutgers (vs. Penn State)

Hey, this one’s easy to figure out. The Big Ten is guaranteed to have 13 bowl-eligible teams this year.

Already bowl-eligible (5): Kennesaw State, Western Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Florida International, Louisiana Tech

Missouri State is bowl eligible with seven wins but is in its first year at the top level of college football. Per NCAA rules, the Bears are ineligible for the postseason, but they’ve petitioned the NCAA to go to a bowl game. Delaware is 5-6 and hosts UTEP on Saturday. The Blue Hens will have six wins with a victory, but they are also in their first year of FBS football.

Already bowl eligible (5): Western Michigan, Ohio, Toledo, Central Michigan, Miami

  • Buffalo (vs. Ohio)

The Bulls are home underdogs against the Bobcats in their bid to get to the postseason.

Already bowl eligible (7): San Diego State, Boise State, New Mexico, UNLV, Fresno State, Hawaii, Utah State

Like the ACC, there is no bowl eligibility to play for in the Mountain West.

  • Washington State (vs. Oregon State)

The Cougars are 5-6 ahead of their second game of the season against the Beavers.

Already bowl eligible (10): Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, LSU, Missouri

  • Kentucky (vs. Louisville)

  • Auburn (vs. Alabama)

  • Mississippi State (vs. Ole Miss)

Can any of the three road underdogs pull an upset in the final week of the season? Auburn and Mississippi State can really throw a wrench into their rivals’ postseason prospects with victories.

Already bowl eligible (5): James Madison, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Troy, Coastal Carolina

  • Georgia Southern (at Marshall)

  • Marshall (vs. Georgia Southern)

  • App State (vs. Arkansas State)

  • Louisiana (vs. Louisiana-Monroe)

  • Arkansas State (at App State)

  • Texas State (vs. South Alabama)

This is the conference with the most to play for in the final week of the season. We’re guaranteed to have at least seven bowl-eligible teams in the Sun Belt and could have as many as 10 based on how games go.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos