As a seismic regular college football season is finally wrapping up, all eyes are on the postseason chronicles. But not all the head turners of the last two months can’t hit the next step after a whopping 13 regular season matchups under their belt. It needs credentials to earn the stripe, but what is it? Traditionally, each team needs a 7-6 score or more to get them marked for the bowl game. But wait! The new top 12 system has been a little kinder to the contenders, and here’s what the blueprint looks like.

If you walk down memory lane of the iconic Pasadena bowl-shaped stadium in the early 20s, bowl games essentially meant postseason football. However, in the evaluative football of the present-day NCAA, the bowl games lead to a much more complex concept altogether.

The 40 bowl games are constructively arrayed in tiers. The post-season watch-out started with the group of Five conference matchups that culminated in the New Year’s Six (Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl). Previously, bowl games and the CFP have not been linked to each other, but under the new CFP norm, you can’t really eye a national championship trophy without proving your mettle in the bowl games.

Coming to the eligibility part is solely based on the team’s productivity and performance. To put it in a more specific figure, teams need a 6-6 constellation to be the picks. In the past, they needed seven wins, but the epic rise in the number of bowl games (40 at the moment) diluted the criteria to some extent. However, even if you don’t rack up a 6-6, the door isn’t closed. If there are not enough teams in the six-win bracket, there is a chance for the teams with fewer teams to have elbow room.

The New Year’s Six and CFP still owe their picks to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, whereas other bowl games are decided through the conference coalition. Again, the CFP expansion made it a tangled call altogether.

For A-lister teams, cracking the post-season call isn’t a big deal, but ask those who broke the sweat to get there for years, and finally 2024 made the door open for them, and you will understand what bowl eligibility really means to them. For the year, we can hold Indiana, Vanderbilt, etc, in that bluster category.

Bowl eligibility came off as a far-fetched ‘dream come true’ moment for many

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti’s first season with the Hoosiers is nothing short of sizzling hot. While nobody expected the team with an ugly trend to hit the bowl game, Cignetti made a historic turnaround. The marque head coach literally stunned the world by leading the team to a high-flying 10-0 before their first blow against Ohio State. They were so freaking good throughout the season that nobody can raise a question on their playoff hope. Cignetti gets the prize on the spot. While he still complains about not being allowed to host a home game, the first feeling after getting over the 33-year bowl eligibility drought still lingers. It was huge! it was iconic and worth flattering!

The Hoosiers’ 41-24 victory at Northwestern led their record to hit 6-0, continuing their best opening to a season since 1967 and marking them as the first college football team to become eligible for a bowl game this year.

Same pinch for the Vanderbilt football that returned to the postseason path for the first time since 2018. The massive wins over Ole Miss and Tennessee did wonder to their fate. Yes, all the other teams that are popping in your head right now felt the feeling for the first time in a while.

Bowl eligibility takes their worth to an unprecedented high! no lies!