A bowl appearance is a special thing for any football team.

It extends the season by a month, and will include a contest versus an unfamiliar opponent. For coaches, it gives them a bunch more practices to develop the talent on the team — particularly the underclassmen.

Winning six games will get any program bowling. In recent years, there have also been a few 5-7 team garnering entry into a bowl game based upon the APR score. This is a measure introduced to look at the collective academic standing of a team.

Of the teams battling for a potential bowl spot, Vanderbilt is at the top of the list:

It faces in-state foe Tennessee this weekend. A victory would give Vanderbilt six wins — thus ensuring a spot in a bowl game.

However, a loss would drop the Commodores to 5-7. Based upon their high APR, it’s looking like a safe bet that Derek Mason’s squad will feature in postseason play.