February 17, 2026
By Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports: Bowl games aren’t nearly as important as they once were, but they remain a measuring stick in college football. We’ve begun to see some fall by the wayside as teams have joined the ranks of NFL-bound players and opted out of playing in the games, but the fact of the matter is, missing out on a bowl because you didn’t win enough games is a little embarrassing.
Perhaps you aren’t proud of that invite to the LA Bowl (RIP), but you aren’t ashamed of it, either.
Last year, 24 Power Four programs failed to reach bowl eligibility. Here, in mid-February, more than six months from the start of the 2026 season, it felt like a good time as any to take a look at those teams and their outlook on avoiding a repeat embarrassment in 2026. It’s harder than ever to know how a program will progress from year to year now that we’ve seen so many one-offseason makeovers through the transfer portal, but after long hours of deep reflection, I broke our 24 contestants down into five separate categories. We’ll start with the bad news and work our way to the good.
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