It's gonna be close this bowl season. A story that was in the local rag tonight. It was by the AP, may be on something like Yahoo or ESPN but I haven't seen it.

Not enough teams to fill bowl spots

Miami’s decision to ban itself from postseason football this season may have a few bowl executives squirming. With the Hurricanes out of the picture, there are now 61 bowl eligible teams — and 70 available spots in the 35 bowls. A handful of teams still have a chance to reach six wins and join the list of qualifiers, but there may not be enough when it’s all said and done.

Before the season, the NCAA announced contingency plans for exactly this type of scenario, even a way for 5-7 teams to be selected – it’s tied to academic performance.

The list of 61 eligible teams does not include Georgia Tech, which is 6-5 but could end up 6-7 if it loses this weekend and again in the ACC title game.

Here are the 16 teams still on the bubble and what they need to do to become bowl eligible:

Baylor (5-5) must win at home against Texas Tech OR at home against Oklahoma State
Central Michigan (5-6) must win at Massachusetts
Connecticut (4-6) must win at Louisville AND at home against Cincinnati
Georgia Tech (6-5) must win at Georgia OR in the ACC title game against Florida State
Marshall (5-6) must win at East Carolina
Michigan State (5-6) must win at Minnesota
Mississippi (5-6) must win at home against Mississippi State
Missouri (5-6) must win at Texas A&M
Pittsburgh (4-6) must win at home against Rutgers AND at South Florida
Purdue (5-6) must win at home against Indiana
Rice (5-6) must win at UTEP
SMU (5-6) must win at home against Tulsa
Troy (5-6) must win at Middle Tennessee
Virginia Tech (5-6) must win at home against Virginia
Wake Forest (5-6) must win at home against Vanderbilt
West Virginia (5-5) must win at Iowa State OR at home against Kansas
So, glancing at the results from today's games, West Virginia beat Iowa State and will make a bowl game. Marshall lost to East Carolina, so unless they can somehow get in at 5-7, they're done. Central Michigan beat UMass, so the Chips are going bowling.

So we're up to 63 bowl eligible teams, with 13 chances to fill the final 7 slots.

Baylor (5-5) must win at home against Texas Tech OR at home against Oklahoma State

Connecticut (4-6) must win at Louisville AND at home against Cincinnati

Georgia Tech (6-5) must win at Georgia OR in the ACC title game against Florida State

Michigan State (5-6) must win at Minnesota

Mississippi (5-6) must win at home against Mississippi State

Missouri (5-6) must win at Texas A&M

Pittsburgh (4-6) must win at home against Rutgers AND at South Florida

Purdue (5-6) must win at home against Indiana

Rice (5-6) must win at UTEP

SMU (5-6) must win at home against Tulsa

Troy (5-6) must win at Middle Tennessee

Virginia Tech (5-6) must win at home against Virginia

Wake Forest (5-6) must win at home against Vanderbilt

Connecticut is most likely done, same with Pitt. Baylor has a chance but it will be tough. Georgia Tech is looking slim, having to knock off either Georgia or FSU.

Michigan State should get a win, Ole Miss is a tossup, Missouri has a big challenge ahead of them, Purdue's a tossup, Rice has a chance, SMU has a chance though I hope they get knocked out as it'll mean they'll lose to Tulsa.

Troy will have a tough game, but they're always dangerous, Virginia Tech has sucked this year so not sure how good their chances will be against Virginia. Wake Forest will have a tough one with Vanderbilt.

It's gonna be close. I'm thinking wins by Michigan State, Purdue, Ole Miss, Rice, Troy and Virginia Tech. It'll leave one open slot with either one of the teams needing to pull off the two win miracles, or one of the teams pulling off an "upset" to get to 6 wins.