BYU football: Cougars have two paths to bowl eligibility

BYU football still has two ways to make a bowl game this year: Either win out or lose just one game and hope for some help.

Let’s talk BYU football’s bowl eligibility.

Not something you’d usually talk about when you’re 1-6.

It may be premature to talk bowl games, but If BYU football wants to make that uphill climb toward earning a 14th game it has to start this weekend against ECU.

And the Cougars have very little room for error if they want that extra game. With the position the Cougars are in, they only have two paths two bowl eligibility.

Let’s take a look at both.

Path One: Win Out

This is the simplest and surest way to qualify for a bowl game.

If the Cougars win their final six games, they’ll become bowl eligible. According to NCAA rules, any team with at least 6 wins against FBS teams and a .500 record or better are bowl eligible.

The Cougars would be 7-6 and meet both criteria, having six FBS wins (plus Portland State) and a .538 win percentage.

It’s a tall task, but if BYU football runs the table they’re automatically in.

Path Two: Win Five, Get Some Help

Thanks to the ever-increasing number of bowl games, it’s becoming more frequent that there aren’t enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all the available slots.

This year there will be 39 bowl games, not including the Championship game. That means 78 of the 130 FBS teams will play reach postseason play.

Next: Detmer On The Hot Seat?

In 2012, the NCAA approved the current process to fill any slots remaining if there aren’t enough bowl-eligible teams.

The system chooses teams in this order:

1. Any team that finishes 6-6 with one of those wins coming against an FCS team.
2. Any team that finishes 6-6 with two of those wins coming against an FCS team.
3. Any team that finishes 6-7 with one of their losses coming in a conference championship game.
4. Any team that finishes 6-7 after playing 13 game regular-season schedule.
5. Any team in the two-year process of transitioning from FCS to FBS and has at least a 6-6 record.
6. Any team with a 5-7 record  and an APR in the top five.

If the Cougars win 5 out of their last 6 and finish 6-7, they’d fall into that fourth tier of slot-fillers. It’s not unthinkable that there would still be openings when it comes to BYU’s tier.

Last year, Hawaii got a bowl birth with a 6-7 regular-season record, just like the Cougars would. In fact, the last two years have seen multiple 5-7 teams make bowl games. If BYU loses one more game, it’s time to start hoping that a lot of teams finish 5-7.

Although it would be much simpler for the Cougars to just win out.