Could it ever happen: A couple of 5-7 teams in bowl games? How about, for example, Vanderbilt and Nebraska facing each other with 5-7 records in a bowl game next month?
With 80 Football Bowl Subdivision teams needed to fill the 41 postseason games – the two teams in the College Football Championship play twice — a couple of five-win teams couple be needed to complete the field.
ESPN published a report this week about the confusion over how 5-7 teams with high Academic Progress Report (APR) ratings can factor into the postseason equation. Keith Martin, the NCAA’s managing director, told ESPN that the final tiebreaker (Bylaw 18.7.2.1.4) indicates that if 5-7 teams are needed, the top five teams in the FBS with the best APR would be selected. The top five teams – Wisconsin, Northwestern, Duke, Michigan and Stanford – are already bowl eligible. According to ESPN, bowl and conference sources said their understanding of the rule is that it’s supposed to rank a pecking order of the available 5-7 teams by APR.
Nebraska (5-6) and Vanderbilt (4-7) are two of the 13 teams that could finish 5-7. The Cornhuskers were tied for sixth nationally with an APR score of 985 while Vanderbilt was ninth at 983 in the data for 2013-14 that was released in May. Nebraska has a home game on Nov. 27 against No. 5 Iowa. Vanderbilt hosts Texas A&M this Saturday and travels to Tennessee next week to end the regular season.
Utah State, 5-5, is another possibility with games remaining at home against Nevada and BYU. The Aggies were tied for sixth with Nebraska with their APR score.
Reports always surface of the NCAA penalizing programs with low APRs. Why not reward those programs who make the grade that are good but not quite good enough to become bowl eligible with less than six wins? Make it so that if a program ranked in the APR top 25 with five wins earns one more victory for its collective work in the classroom.
Take it one step further and establish the Academic Bowl with two 5-7 teams playing each other in the postseason because of their top 25 APR scores. While the quality of football is questionable, it could be a good showcase on television of two programs with high academic standards, reminding us what college athletics is all about.
Chances are that will not happen because two 5-7 teams in a bowl will be difficult to draw television viewers and ticket buyers despite the novelty of such a matchup.
It would be viewed as a gimmick rather than a serious attempt of competition. But don’t be surprised to see at least one 5-7 team with a high APR make it to the postseason especially if the amount of bowls remains at a high number.
Many of these 5-7, high APR teams will not be reluctant of accepting an invitation, despite a sub-.500 record, because of the academic angle. If Vanderbilt reaches 5-7 its athletic director David Williams told The Tennessean: “Yes! Absolutely, yes!” when asked if the Commodores would accept a bowl invitation.
Williams, who recently observed the Commodores win their second consecutive SEC home game, said the bid would be a sign of the progress made under second-year coach Derek Mason. He meant the progress on the field, although the reason why the Commodores would play in a bowl is because of their performance completing the necessary schoolwork each semester.
If the formula of a top-25 APR ranking matched with at least five victories was instituted to become bowl eligible then No. 12 APR team Rutgers (4-7) would still have a chance. Three teams at No. 18 — Indiana (5-6), Virginia Tech (5-6) and Washington (5-6) – would still be thinking of the postseason in earnest, even with a loss at the end of the regular season.
The same goes for No. 23 teams Kansas State (4-6) and Missouri (5-6) and 25th-rated teams Minnesota (5-6) and San Jose State (5-6).
These teams could strive for five wins and become bowl eligible without a valid criticism from others for doing so because, let’s face it, they completing their academic requirements each semester. With so many bowl games – 38 to be exact that aren’t affiliated with the College Football Playoff – the level of quality teams is watered down anyway when you get past the top 20 bowls. Why not throw a couple of 5-7 teams with Top 25 APR scores into the mix to highlight the value of a program ensuring that their players complete their necessary schoolwork each semester?
Rewarding academic performance is never a bad move.
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