2018 Bowl Ties and Eligible Teams for the Group of Five

The following are all the bowl ties for all of FBS schools. The ties are shown that involve Group of Five schools. Those ties are highlighted in bold.

Remember the top Group of Five school (which should be undefeated UCF) is guaranteed on of the New Year’s Six Bowl games.

Also, the complete list of bowl eligible teams are listed with those in the Group of Five also listed in bold.

College Football Playoff games

• Cotton (North Texas): two of the top four teams
• Orange (Miami): two of the top four teams
• Championship (Santa Clara, California): the two semifinal winners
  • Likely will not include UCF giving current rankings

The rest of the New Year’s Six

• Sugar (New Orleans): Big 12 vs. SEC
• Rose (Pasadena): Big Ten vs. Pac-12, which will be Washington
• Peach (Atlanta): At-large vs. at-large
• Fiesta (Glendale): At-large vs. at-large
  • UCF will get a bid either to the Peach or Fiesta Bowl

All the other bowls

Other indies like BYU have their own side deals and can find their way into these matchups.

Some of the ties listed below are subject to change in the event of conferences not having enough teams to fill all their slots, teams needing to avoid repeat bowl appearances, and other geography reasons.

A few bowls also trade with each other, so if one game gets one conference, the other gets a higher pick in another conference. But below is a general guide.

• Citrus (Orlando): ACC/Big Ten vs. SEC
• Outback (Tampa): Big Ten vs. SEC
• Gator (Jacksonville): Big Ten vs. SEC
• Holiday (San Diego): Big Ten vs. Pac-12
• Liberty (Memphis): Big 12 vs. SEC
• Military (Annapolis): ACC vs. AAC
• Sun (El Paso): ACC vs. Pac-12
• Belk (Charlotte): ACC vs. SEC
• Alamo (San Antonio): Big 12 vs. Pac-12
• Arizona (Tucson): Mountain West vs. Sun Belt, which will be Arkansas State
• Camping World (Orlando): ACC vs. Big 12
• Music City (Nashville): SEC vs. ACC/Big Ten
• Texas (Houston): Big 12 vs. SEC
• Pinstripe (New York City): ACC vs. Big Ten
• Independence (Shreveport): ACC vs. SEC
• Cheez-It (Phoenix): Big 12 vs. Pac-12
• Quick Lane (Detroit): ACC vs. Big Ten
• SERVPRO (Dallas): Big Ten vs. Conference USA
• Redbox (Santa Clara): Big Ten vs. Pac-12
• Hawaii: MWC’s Hawaii vs. Conference USA’s Louisiana Tech, already announced
• Dollar General (Mobile): MAC vs. Sun Belt
• Armed Forces (Fort Worth): Big 12 vs. AAC
• Birmingham: SEC vs. AAC
• Potato (Boise): Mountain West vs. MAC
• Bahamas: MAC’s Toledo vs. Conference USA’s FIU, already announced
• Gasparilla (Tampa): AAC vs. ACC/Conference USA
• Frisco (Texas): AAC vs. at-large
• Boca Raton: AAC vs. Conference USA
• New Orleans: Southern Miss vs. Appalachian State, since ASU won Sun Belt
• Camellia (Montgomery): MAC vs. Sun Belt, which will be Georgia Southern
• Las Vegas: Pac-12 vs. Mountain West, which will be Fresno State
• Cure (Orlando): American vs. Sun Belt, Louisiana by losing Sun Belt title game
• New Mexico (Albuquerque): Mountain West vs. Conference USA

All Bowl Eligible Teams by Conference:

ACC (11): Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

American (7): Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, UCF

Big Ten (9): Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin

Big 12 (7): Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, West Virginia

C-USA (7): FIU*, Louisiana Tech*, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Southern Miss, UAB

Independent (3): Army, BYU, Notre Dame

MAC (7): Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo*, Western Michigan

Mountain West (7): Boise State, Fresno State*, Hawaii*, Nevada, San Diego State, Utah State, Wyoming

Pac-12 (7): Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, Utah, Washington*, Washington State

SEC (11): Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt

Sun Belt (6): Appalachian State*, Arkansas State*, Georgia Southern*, Louisiana*, Louisiana–Monroe, Troy*

Number of teams assigned to a bowl already: 11

Number of bowl berths available: 78

Number of bowl-eligible teams: 82

* has been assigned to a bowl already

With more teams eligible, this likely means four G5 teams that are bowl eligible will not be selected this year for a bowl. Note that Liberty as a first year FBS program despite having bowl eligibility will be left out. The Flames did have an waver with the Cure Bowl to get a bid if there were not enough teams eligible but this will not be the case this year.

Many projections are out and it appears teams like Wyoming, Eastern Michigan, Louisiana-Monroe, Miami (OH), Nevada, Tulane, and even possible 10-win team if they beat Navy next week in Army (who does not have a direct bowl bid) could be left out of a postseason bid.

The bowl selections will take place starting with the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six bids at 12:00 EST, December 2. The remainder will be announced later on the same day.