By these numbers, well, Jacksonville State will end up on the outside looking in despite its current 8-3 record, thanks to the NCAA denying its waiver for immediate postseason eligibility during the second season of its transition from the FCS ranks. That process comes up with 80 bowl-eligible teams, the Army-Navy game guaranteeing an 81st, something that some bowl should be willing to wait for. These bowl projections presume all favorites win this weekend, then lean into conference tie-ins to assign postseason destinations. Instead, Old Dominion is a 2.5-point favorite. Typically, this game would have been right about a pick’em. Meanwhile, the Monarchs need one more win. The Panthers have lost four games in a row, but they started the season 6-1, reaching bowl eligibility plenty quickly. The same can be said of Georgia State’s trip to Old Dominion. The Illini need the win to reach 6-6, and need the win to be officially bowl-eligible, and that motivation gets factored into the final week of the season.

Thus, it is now a 5.5- or 6-point underdog at Illinois this weekend, a game that would have been within a field goal otherwise.

Upsetting Wisconsin two weeks ago and beating Purdue as a 2.5-point favorite on Saturday spurred Northwestern that much further beyond any expectations. In the coaching job of the year, Wildcats interim-turned-permanent head coach David Bruan has them bowl-eligible with time to spare, 6-5 currently. Some of this week’s spreads have strayed from previous presumptions of power rankings’ bias simply because bowl eligibility is on the line.Ĭonsider Northwestern’s trip to Illinois.

9 meeting.Įnough teams have sprung college football odds upsets of late that if every favorite won this weekend, we would have 80 teams bowl eligible for 82 bowls. That is if the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl will wait for Army or Navy to notch its sixth win in their Dec.

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