This year, there were a whopping 78 bowl slots available to FBS squads, which sounds like a ton when you think about it.

However, surprisingly, there were 82 FBS squads (83 if you count Liberty, an independent program in its first FBS season that likely would have had to forgo a bowl except in extraneous circumstances) with at least six wins, so that means four squads got left out of the postseason festivities.

As you can see below, a Conference USA team, a MAC squad, a Mountain West team and a Sun Belt team were left at home this bowl season:

  • Southern Miss — 6-5
  • Miami (OH) — 6-6
  • Wyoming — 6-6
  • Louisiana-Monroe — 6-6

Those are tough breaks for those programs, but there simply weren’t enough spots to go around.

Sadly, they won’t be rewarded for their solid seasons, but such is life as a Group of 5 program.