New NCAA proposal would change how sub-.500 bowl teams are selected

[ASFN Admin]

While the general public might not spend the most time thinking about under .500 teams and bowl game participation, the NCAA football oversight committee has continued to review and revise its policy surrounding 5-7 team bowl game qualification.

Currently, if a 5-7 team needs to be tabbed for a bowl game, schools with the highest Academic Progress Rates (APR) are selected in descending order. This takes the decision-making out of the conference's hands with the pre-approved rule.

However, that might change soon, as an alternate proposal is under review that would give the power back to the conferences in these scenarios.

A minor tweak to bowl selections here. If there aren't enough bowl-eligible teams, conferences can choose among their 5-7 teams to fill a spot, rather than it falling to all 5-7 teams in order of APR.

Still needs final approval. https://t.co/XXdNcbT5ZU

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) May 8, 2026

The proposed change would allow conferences to select which 5-7 teams they want to participate in a given bowl game, provided that their APR score is 930 or above over a multiyear (four-year) range.

The proposal can become official in June after the Division I Cabinet meeting.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Bowl selection for teams with losing records could soon change

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