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College Football Bowl Eligibility Rule Could Impact Quick Lane Bowl

By Zac Snyder

Dec 28, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back Eric Murray (31) hold up the trophy after winning the Quick Lane Bowl against the Central Michigan Chippewas at Ford Field. Minnesota won 21-14. Mandatory Credit: Sage Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back Eric Murray (31) hold up the trophy after winning the Quick Lane Bowl against the Central Michigan Chippewas at Ford Field. Minnesota won 21-14. Mandatory Credit: Sage Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Detroit-Lions sponsored Quick Lane Bowl could have a harder time getting Big Ten and ACC participants because of a new rule.

The Quick Lane Bowl was supposed to be an improved version of the Little Caesars/Motor City Bowl when the Detroit Lions announced the new bowl a couple years ago. The game is set up as a matchup between a representative from the Big Ten and a counterpart from the ACC, but that has happened just one out of the two years the bowl has been played.

Because of a rule recently adopted, it could become even harder for the Quick Lane Bowl to get their intended matchup of the two power conferences. From Bruce Feldman on Fox Sports:

"The NCAA’s Division I Council has mandated that all bowl-eligible teams with 6-6 records must be selected for a bowl game before any teams with a 5-7 record can be considered.The key to this rule, decided at the Council’s Wednesday meeting in Indianapolis, is that now bowls won’t be able to select teams with losing records from Power 5 conferences over 6-6 teams from mid-major or Group of Five conferences, who end up in lesser bowl games."

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The 2015 Quick Lane Bowl went without an ACC team due to not enough teams gaining bowl eligibility from that conference and only landed a Big Ten team because the 5-7 Minnesota Golden Gophers gained eligibility as they had one of the best academic scores of the 5-7 teams considered to fill the open bowl spots.

Depending on which teams qualify and how they slot into the existing conference bowl ties, the Quick Lane Bowl could now see a non-Big Ten or ACC team slotted in even if a 5-7 team from that conference become eligible. Teams that qualify based on reaching the six-win minimum will gain bowl selection ahead of any 5-7 teams. More from Feldman:

"After all bowl-eligible teams are selected, the 5-7 teams — which will be considered alternates — will be deemed eligible in descending order from the highest multiyear Academic Progress Rate in the Football Bowl Subdivision for the most recent reporting year. Those teams will then select the bowl in which they will participate."

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The Quick Lane Bowl is off to an inauspicious start in the attendance department, averaging just under 30,000 in attendance in the first two years. Consistently filling their game with power conference matchups should help the game build some momentum but that may be increasingly difficult unless the Quick Lane Bowl powers that be can get the game into a more prominent spot in the ACC and Big Ten pecking order.

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