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How do college football teams become bowl eligible in 2020? Here’s what you need to know

The college football bowl season is still more than two months away. But with uncertainty still surrounding the entire season due to the coronavirus, there are still questions about how the postseason might play out.

The Observer spoke with Football Bowl Association executive director Nick Carparelli on Monday to get some clarity about college football’s 2020 postseason, including how teams will make bowl games this year.

Here are a few questions and answers about how things are looking now — and how they might be different once the postseason arrives in December.

Will there be college football bowls in 2020?

As of now, yes. There are 41 bowls on the schedule, although the dates for many of the earlier ones have yet to be set — again — because of pandemic uncertainties. The New Year’s Day bowls (Rose, Citrus, Outback, Peach and Sugar) are set, as are the national semifinal games (Jan. 2 in the Fiesta and Orange bowls) and national championship (Jan. 11 in Miami).

How do college football teams become bowl eligible in 2020?

With the Big 10 now returning to play, that means there will be 88 teams and 41 bowls. If a winning record or at least six victories is necessary to become bowl eligible, in past years, that would make it impossible to find 82 teams to fill every spot.

According to Carparelli, the NCAA is reviewing two temporary waivers, one that would eliminate the .500-plus rule for this season, making every team in the country bowl eligible. And remember, the Pac-12 and MAC are both reportedly also considering starting football in October.

“People have been through so much,” Carparelli said. “Nobody’s going to play 12 games, right? You can’t compare teams that play seven or eight games. You kind of look at it as an extension of the regular season.”

Carparelli also questioned whether there was need for a waiver as the NCAA allows teams to play 12 regular-season games every year, and no teams this fall have scheduled that many games. A bowl game, in theory, could count as a 12th game for some teams, even if they don’t reach the traditional six-win eligibility mark.

What’s the other waiver?

That would be to move the schedules up for some of the earlier bowls so they effectively serve as a 12th (or 11th, or 10th) game for those teams, regardless of their records. That would also shorten the amount of time between the regular season and the bowl game, which, in the current public health environment, would seem to be the prudent way to go. Also, again because of the pandemic, regional matchups might be looked at more closely as options for the bowls.

“I think there’s going to be a premium on geography this year,” Carparelli said. “If you’ve got two teams from two conferences that can drive, that would work for a bowl matchup.”

What about Charlotte’s bowl?

There’s no date yet for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl (most recently known as the Belk Bowl) in Bank of America Stadium. The bowl, this season between ACC and Big 10 teams, has had a late-December slot since its 2002 inception.

The Carolinas’ other postseason game — the first-year Myrtle Beach Bowl between American Athletic, Sun Belt or Mid-America conference teams — is also still waiting on a date.

Virginia Tech’s Dalton Keene reels in a pass for a touchdown against Kentucky’s Jordan Griffin, left, and Quandre Mosely during the Belk Bowl at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, December 31, 2019.
Virginia Tech’s Dalton Keene reels in a pass for a touchdown against Kentucky’s Jordan Griffin, left, and Quandre Mosely during the Belk Bowl at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, December 31, 2019.

Have any bowls canceled?

Yes, the Redbox Bowl in Santa Clara, California, did, but not because of the coronavirus. The bowl’s agreement with Levi’s Stadium ended and it is looking for another Northern California stadium in which to play.

Will there be anything else different about the bowl landscape?

Of this season’s 41 bowls, 22 are owned by independent non-profits, 16 by ESPN and three by pro teams (New York’s Pinstripe, Detroit’s Quick Lane and Los Angeles’ LA Bowl). Look for a rebrand to be announced in October that brings them all together through a single marketing effort.

“People turn on the TV on a Wednesday between Christmas and New Year’s and they don’t even know (which) bowl game’s on,” Carparelli said. “But they know there’s got to be one on and they just want to see what it is.”

Carparelli said he wants the bowl season — outside the already well-marketed College Football Playoff — to be as eagerly anticipated and understood by the average sports fan as the postseason in other sports.

“It’s been around for 100 years,” Carparelli said of college football bowls. “But we’ve just never really formalized it.”

David Scott: @davidscott14