The Atlantic ranked all 131 FBS teams after the Dec. 3 conference championships. Vanderbilt was ranked #84, ahead of 8-4 Eastern Michigan and six teams with 6 wins. … All of those teams have bowl games coming up.
84 bowl slots are available and 85 teams were “bowl eligible” which generally means a team has six wins with no more than one of those versus non-FBS teams.
(Army was left out despite winning its sixth game on Dec. 10. Will the Army-Navy fane be moved up a week next year? Doubtful.)
Vanderbilt COULD have won a sixth game had it scheduled a relative patsy for one of those bye weeks because the ‘Dores had played AT Hawaii.
But we did not do so.
New Mexico State was allowed to seek a game for Dec. 3 because an earlier game had been cancelled. Vanderbilt might have jumped in there. But we did not do so.
Instead, NMS played a second FCS team and got ITS sixth win. The NCAA waiver let the Aggies count both of those wins toward bowl eligibility. Hmmm.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... alparaiso/
New Mexico State’s FBS wins were versus Hawaii (3-10 / #126), New Mexico (2-10 / #130), UMass (1-11 / #131) and a usually good Liberty team (8-4 / #48).
The ‘Dores might have been a bowl team this year … but we also might have ended up 6-8 on the season.
Mostly OT: Crappy teams in bowls
Moderators: kerrigjl, BrentVU, jfgogold, NateSY, KarenYates, Vandyman74, roanoke, VandyWhit
-
vandylifer
- Lieutenant
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2020 5:59 pm
- Been thanked: 7 times
Re: Crappy teams in bowls/RICE
Looks like Rice is the only 5-7 team to make it to a bowl this year. I wonder if, as a 5-7 team, we were even close to making it. I understand that they use an academic formula to fill slots with 5-7 teams and that COVID messed up Vandy"s ranking. Just wondering how close we might have been.
-
Minoadoc
- Rear Admiral
- Posts: 1159
- Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:45 am
- Has thanked: 1 time
- Been thanked: 8 times
Re: Crappy teams in bowls/RICE
I believe we were eighth or ninth on the listvandylifer wrote: ↑Tue Dec 13, 2022 9:40 pm Looks like Rice is the only 5-7 team to make it to a bowl this year. I wonder if, as a 5-7 team, we were even close to making it. I understand that they use an academic formula to fill slots with 5-7 teams and that COVID messed up Vandy"s ranking. Just wondering how close we might have been.
Re: Mostly OT: Crappy teams in bowls
It used to be that only perhaps one team from the non-power five conferences went to a bowl, and being from a power five conference was advantageous. Now, in a world where every kid gets a trophy, six wins does it, whatever conference you are from.