No self-respecting college football program should ever need a bit of extra motivation heading into Rivalry Week. It’s the one game every year where records don’t matter, talent disparity means even less and extremely successful head coaches find themselves on the hot seat after a loss.
Yet for more than a dozen teams this year, the chance to go from five wins to six wins and become eligible to play in a bowl game next month should provide all the extra juice before Week 14 kicks off.
There are even two games this weekend where both teams enter with five wins. And you know what feels better than beating your rival? Ending their season for good in the process.
Here are the 16 teams to pay attention to on Saturday as bowl eligibility goes up for grabs one last time.
Boise State has been the class of the Group of Five conferences since the season began. Oregon State has been in “survive and advance” mode since the Pac-12 dissolved last season. The Beavers snapped a five-game losing streak last week against Washington State. With one more massive upset, Oregon State can go bowling and throw Boise State’s season into chaos.
Paul Bunyan’s axe currently resides in Madison after a two-year stint with the Golden Gophers. Minnesota winning it back this year wouldn’t just get the program to at least seven wins for fifth time in the last seven seasons, it would also prevent Wisconsin from reaching a bowl game for the first time since 2001.
Arguably the best five-win team in the country, the Kansas Jayhawks take on Baylor after becoming the first sub .500 team in college football history to defeat three consecutive ranked opponents (No. 17 Iowa State, No. 6 BYU and No. 16 Colorado). Kansas has been extremely competitive in every game this season, so the turnaround is no surprise. Yet a win on Saturday would send the Jayhawks to a third straight bowl game for the first time in school history.
UL Monroe had a solid start to the year going 5-1, with a lone loss to No. 1 Texas, and impressive wins over James Madison and UAB. Then it lost five straight to sit at 5-6 heading into Rivalry Week. A victory over Louisiana would be a mightily impressive way to close out Bryan Vincent’s first season leading the Warhawks.
North Texas has boasted arguably the best offense among all non-Power Four schools this season with a 493.7 yards per game average that sits third-best in all of FBS. Temple just fired its head coach and has fans worried about the school’s commitment to fielding a football program in general.
One of two rivalry games this week where both teams need a win to become bowl eligible. Western Michigan snapped a four-game losing streak in this game last year and remains the favorite this time around.
All Coastal needs to do is get past a Georgia State team that lost to Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern, Old Dominion, UConn, James Madison and Arkansas State. And yet the Panthers are favored in this one after dropping 55 points in a win at Texas State last week.
An Iron Bowl matchup where Alabama can try one last time to bolster its playoff resume while Auburn looks to burn it all down and reach a bowl game in consecutive seasons. This is, quite literally, the game Hugh Freeze was hired to win.
Michigan State has been to one bowl game since head coach Mark Dantonio left the program in 2019 — it lost the Peach Bowl in 2021. Jonathan Smith could have the Spartans playing in December once again in Year 1. All he has to do is get past Greg Schiano’s Rutger’s team at home.
Mack Brown is out as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, but he’ll be allowed to coach the regular season finale against NC State. Beating your in-state rival to deny it a bowl game in your (likely) last appearance on the sidelines? That sure seems like something that Mack Brown would do.
The Bearcats enter as a home underdog to a TCU team that’s rattled off wins against Texas Tech, Utah, Oklahoma State and Arizona — not exactly the Big 12’s Murderer’s Row. This is a very winnable game for Cincy and it would be quite a disaster to drop it.
App State, admittedly, has endured a pretty weird season — even by App State standards. It began the year with blowout losses against Clemson and South Alabama, then rebounded late in the season with wins over Georgia State, Old Dominion and James Madison. This is not the Giant Killer of a Mountaineers team we’re used to and Georgia Southern will not be a pushover.
Two rivals who absolutely loathe each other and who each need a victory to reach a bowl game. This one is in Blacksburg. We shouldn’t need to say any more.
The last kickoff of the final Saturday of the college football regular season really matters! New Mexico — and a Lobos’ offense ranked fourth in the FBS — heads to Hawaii as a slight favorite to win out and become bowl eligible.
