Jacksonville State and James Madison officially qualify for bowl spots

James Madison and Jacksonville State are bowl-bound after all.

The two transitioning FBS programs are officially ineligible for the postseason but will be going to bowl games because there aren’t enough six-win teams to fill all the bowl spots. With 82 bowl spots available, there are 79 bowl-eligible teams with six wins or more.

NCAA rules prohibit teams in their first two seasons at the top level of college football from playing during the postseason. Both James Madison (11-1) and Jacksonville State (8-4) applied for waivers from the NCAA but were denied. The denial of the waiver cost the Dukes a spot in the Sun Belt title game as they finished atop the East Division. However, Appalachian State will play Troy in the championship game since JMU is ineligible.

James Madison is in its second season at the FBS level while Jacksonville State moved up ahead of the 2023 season. Virginia's attorney general — a JMU graduate — even threatened legal action against the NCAA after his alma mater's postseason efforts were rebuffed earlier in the fall.

James Madison and Jacksonville State got into the postseason field on Saturday as teams like Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado State and others failed in their opportunities to get a sixth win.

Since there weren’t enough six-win teams, JMU and Jacksonville State were the first teams in line to fill the bowl spots before any five-win teams. The addition of those schools to the bowl field brings the total of bowl eligible teams to 81 and leaves one spot for a 5-7 team.

Five-win teams are chosen via their Academic Progress Rate from the previous year and that means Minnesota is in line for a bowl game if the Gophers choose to play. Minnesota has the best APR of any 5-7 team.

Navy is 5-6 and would get a sixth win if it beats Army on Dec. 9. However, bowl rules stipulate that both Navy and Army must have six wins by the time the bowl field is announced on Dec. 3 to make the postseason.