Every December, college football transforms into a spectacle of pageantry, pride, and packed stadiums. The Bowl season arrives like a grand finale, bringing together powerhouse programs and unlikely underdogs on one national stage.
What began as a handful of postseason exhibitions has exploded into a sprawling calendar of matchups, each carrying its own traditions, trophies and stakes. For players, it’s more than just another game — it’s a shot at legacy.
But not every team earns that ticket. Behind the celebrations and confetti lies a complex system that decides who gets in, how many bowls make the cut and what it all means for the NCAAF’s ever-evolving landscape.
How many Bowl games are there and how do teams qualify?
The postseason for FBS college football has ballooned over the decades. Once confined to a handful of marquee contests, the landscape now features around 47 bowl games in the 2025-26 season — a total that includes both the traditional invitationals and the games tied to the College Football Playoff.
Xavier Truss #73 of the Georgia Bulldogs celebrates in the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship game. (Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Behind those numbers lies the issue of eligibility: most teams must finish the regular season with at least six wins in a schedule of 12 games to be considered bowl-eligible. But the system isn’t rigid — in years where there aren’t enough teams meeting the benchmark, programs with losing records may be invited to fill slots.
On the other end of the spectrum sits the playoff: with the expansion of the College Football Playoff to a 12-team format, the top five conference champions receive automatic bids, while the seven highest-ranked remaining teams fill out the bracket.
The quarterfinals and semifinals of that playoff are embedded within the six “New Year’s Six” bowls — giving this year’s bowl season both breadth and elite stakes, according to the NCAA.
