FIU is among 79 teams eligible for 78 bowl-game spots
There are 78 bowl slots … and 79 bowl-eligible teams.
With the selections set to be announced Sunday, the 6-6 FIU Panthers are one of several bubble teams in a high-stakes game of musical chairs.
FIU is joined by 14 other Division I college football teams with 6-6 records, including Miami and Florida State. But there are only five other “mid-major” programs with 6-6 records: Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Ohio, Toledo, and Tulane.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm, who is an expert on bowl projections, told the Miami Herald on Monday that Tulane is in because of its conference requirements.
That leaves FIU to compete against those four Mid-American Conference schools
“FIU could be left out, but, more likely, it will be a MAC team,” Palm said. “I’m predicting Toledo
[will get left out]. Toledo lost its starting quarterback and is on a three-game losing streak.”
Palm said it’s up to each individual bowl to make selections.
If a bowl is looking for a program that has a significant fan following, that likely won’t be FIU. But Palm said that factor could be mitigated by sending FIU to the Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 21 or the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 23 in Tampa, both of which would be within driving distance for Panthers fans.
“There are no bowl games in Ohio,” Palm said. “Everything for their fans would have to be a flight.”
Also on the plus side for the Panthers is that they are from a larger TV market than the other 6-6 mid-majors, and they have a more famous and accomplished head coach in Butch Davis.
FIU could’ve ended any suspense had it defeated Marshall this past Saturday. But the host Thundering Herd earned a 3027 overtime victory, dropping FIU’s road record this season to 0-5.
Brenden Knox, the Conference
USA rushing champ, won the game with a 1-yard touchdown run and finished with 146 yards on 33 carries.
Looking at the big picture, there’s no question that FIU’s 30-24 win against Miami on Nov. 23 saved the Panthers’ season, making them bowleligible and giving them credibility locally as well as nationally. FIU also had a solid win over a 7-5 Charlotte team.
But FIU’s other wins were against an unimpressive group that includes
6-5 New Hampshire (an FCS team), 1-11 Massachusetts, 1-11 Texas-El Paso, and 1-11 Old Dominion.
Palm was asked what he thought about FIU’s season.
“Before they beat Miami, I wasn’t thinking about them at all,” Palm said. “But when they beat Miami, I thought, ‘Oh my, this is huge.’ ”
THIS AND THAT
FIU senior wide receiver ● Tony Gaiter has 49 catches for 632 yards and four touchdowns this season — all career highs. He had only three TD catches in his three previous seasons.
As a freshman, he had 12 catches for 101 yards. The next season, he had 34 catches for 314 yards and one touchdown. Last season, he produced 24227-2.
But in the past three weeks alone — against quality opposition in Florida Atlantic (94 yards), Miami (82), and Marshall (107) — Gaiter has 22 catches for 283 yards and two scores.
Devon Andrews had a ● team-high 21 points and added eight rebounds to lead FIU’s men’s basketball team to a 70-69 win over New Hampshire on Saturday. FIU, which trailed by eight points with 4:24 left, improved to 5-3 overall and 3-0 at home.
FIU was down by three in the final minute but tied the score at 69 on backup guard Eric Lovett’s threepointer with 42 seconds left. FIU guard Antonio Daye Jr. then drove the lane and got fouled with 1.4 seconds left. He made his first free throw, and that was the winning margin.
Next up for FIU is Wednesday’s home game against Florida Gulf Coast.