The Auburn Tigers, Rice Owls, UCF Knights, Mississippi State Bulldogs, and FSU Seminoles didn't qualify for College Football's bowl season based on the results of the 2025 regular season. They still may become eligibile, though.
As On3's Brett McMurphy explains, "If Kansas State opts out of bowl, the 5-7 teams, based on 2020-24 multi-year APR rankings, an NCAA source told On3 Sports is in order Rice, Auburn, UCF, Miss St & Florida St.," adding that "These rankings aren't publicly available."
As Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor told Kellis Robinett of The Wichita Eagle, a decision hasn't been made yet, but not attending their bowl game is on the table for the Wildcats locker room this winter.
“We will start with the players,” Taylor said. “If they have a desire to play then we will take the next step. We have to start with the players and kind of see where they are at with it.
“We haven’t gotten that far,” Taylor added about naming a coach for a potential bowl game. “[Klieman] really wants me to talk to the players first to see what their interest is. And I’ll do that. Let’s get with the leadership and see where they are from a bowl perspective.”
DJ Durkin could coach Auburn during Tigers' potential bowl game
After Alex Golesh's hiring, there's legitimate optimism that Auburn could be moving in the right direction. Golesh is almost certainly not going to make his bowl game debut this December if given the chance.
DJ Durkin would more than likely be the team's headman for the team's bowl game in what'd be his fourth and final game as the team's interim head coach.
Ideally, the team would get an extended look at Deuce Knight under center and evaluate depth pieces across the depth chart in a hypothetical bowl game.
We'll see if AU gets the call, and if they'd accept an invitation.