A 5-7 Team Will Play In a Bowl, But It Won't Be Colorado; Here's Why

There are more bowl spots than eligible teams

There are eight more bowl spots than there are bowl-eligible teams right now, which means chances are good a 5-7 team will play in a bowl game this year. 

But that team won't be Colorado. It can't be Colorado. Here's why:

A couple years back the Pac-12 announced that, as a league, it would turn down all bowl invites to 5-7 teams. Seems like a strange choice. Seems like you'd want the extra TV game and exposure and practice for your programs, but that's what they did. So even if Colorado got invited, it would turn down the bowl. 

There is another reason, though, that it probably wouldn't be Colorado even without that Pac-12 rule. The Academic Progress Rate. 

Technically, you're supposed to have six wins to be eligible for a bowl game, but the spots have to be filled, so when it goes down to the 5-7 teams they pick them based on APR. 

As it is, there are several five-win teams that would be above Colorado (No. 76) in the APR. Duke, Boston College, Stanford and Ole Miss, for example. 

Obviously, Stanford won't be the pick because Stanford plays in the Pac-12, and the Pac-12 doesn't send 5-7 teams to bowls. 

It's a goofy rule that I'm surprised the Pac-12 teams went for. I know some of these bowl games really aren't so glamorous, and the exposure benefits are probably over-rated. I'm just not sure how much you really get out of two average teams playing each other in some random town. 

But the extra practice is a big deal. You'd think the coaches would have fought harder for that.