Bowl eligibility picture entering Saturday night's games; 79 teams in, room for 3 more

UPDATED 7 p.m. ET

What a wild Saturday. Congrats to Kansas State, Louisiana, Texas State and Army, which all won to get bowl eligible. Also, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State and Penn State won matchups of 5-6 teams to qualify for the postseason.

That’s 79 bowl eligible teams for 82 spots – yes, there will be 41 bowls as I’ve been reporting since June. Only four teams entering Saturday night are still alive to get that elusive sixth win.

The teams that are still a win away from bowl eligibility, listed first, with their Saturday opponents. It’s simple: win and they’re bowl bound – unless there are more than 82 teams. Then it gets tricky determining which teams make the cut.

Florida State (5-6) vs. Florida, 4:30 p.m.

Washington State vs. Oregon State, 6:30 p.m.

Rice (5-6) at USF, 7 p.m.

Auburn (5-6) vs. Alabama, 7:30 p.m.

Earlier today:

Kansas State (6-6) defeated Colorado

Kentucky (5-7) lost to Louisville

Baylor (5-7) lost to Houston 

UCF (5-7) lost to BYU 

Louisiana (6-6) defeated ULM

Texas State (6-6) defeated South Alabama

Army (6-5) defeated UTSA

If Florida State, Washington State, Rice and Auburn all lose, then they would need three teams to fill the remaining spots.

In that scenario, the NCAA will fill the remaining openings with any FBS teams making the transition from FCS with six wins and then fill any other openings based on the 2023-24 APR (Academic Progress Rate) rankings of the five-win teams.

That means Missouri State (7-4) and Delaware (6-6) would fill the first openings. The Conference USA members are in their first year transitioning from FCS. They could only earn a bowl bid if there weren’t enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all the spots.

Following Missouri State and Delaware will be the highest-ranked five-win teams based on APRs. Those teams that already have five wins or can get to five wins with a victory Saturday, based on APR rankings, would be chosen in this order until all bowl spots are filled.

If UNC defeats NC State, it would be first in line among the APR schools. If UNC loses, Auburn would be next in line.

School (Record) APR score

North Carolina (4-7) 996

Auburn (5-6) 990

Florida State (5-6) 990

Rice (5-6) 988

Check back Saturday for updates as the games go final.