**Bowl Season Dilemma: More Eligible Teams Than Slots Available**

The race to secure a spot in the college football bowl games is heating up with just one week remaining in the regular season. Currently, there are 77 bowl-eligible teams vying for 82 available spots. This week, two critical matchups feature 5-5 teams: Virginia against Virginia Tech and Eastern Michigan versus Western Michigan. These games will certainly push the number of bowl-eligible teams to at least 79.

However, the situation could get even more crowded. Another 12 teams, each sitting on five wins, need just one more victory this week to qualify for bowl eligibility. This scenario could lead to a pool of anywhere from 79 to 91 teams competing for the 82 available bowl spots. If more than 82 teams achieve six wins, some teams are bound to be disappointed as spots will run out.

Determining which teams will be left out is no simple task. Each conference has its own primary and secondary bowl tie-ins, and ESPN holds significant influence over the selection for its ESPN-owned bowls, particularly affecting Group of Five teams. Additionally, annual negotiations and strategic moves between bowls and conferences add another layer of complexity to the selection process.

Turning our attention to the College Football Playoff (CFP) projections, the top four seeds and conference champions currently include Oregon from the Big Ten, Georgia from the SEC, Miami from the ACC, and Arizona State from the Big 12. Completing the 12-team playoff field are Boise State (Mountain West champion) and at-large teams Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, SMU, and Notre Dame.

If the situation arises where the bowl system falls short of eligible six-win teams, it may have to rely on teams with 5-7 records to fill the remaining slots. The selection of these teams would be determined by their Academic Progress Rate (APR), adding yet another twist to an already intricate process.