The NCAA’s setting new limits on the number of bowl ties each conference can have

The NCAA announced it will use a four-year average of historical bowl eligibility data to determine how many bowl ties each FBS conference can have.

This doesn’t mean the number of teams that can go to bowls, but rather the number of predetermined slots in bowls each conference will have. You know, like how the Alamo Bowl has ties with the Big 12 and Pac-12.

The new tie-ins will start in 2020 through 2025.

When looking at last year’s bowl tie-ins, there are some noticeable differences. Mid-major conferences benefitted -- the C-USA and Mountain West got one more each, the MAC got two more, while the Sun Belt and AAC stayed the same. As for the power conferences, the Pac-12 got a couple more, and the SEC and Big 12 got one more.

In total, the new number of teams is 79, which would mean one additional team would make for a complete bowl schedule (40 games). And teams would also be able to fill in any conference’s unused spots.

Here’s more from the NCAA’s official release:

“We struck that balance, and we wanted to strengthen the bowls,” said Bob Bowlsby, committee chair and commissioner of the Big 12 Conference. “We want to have better reporting to make sure bowl games are financially sound, and they are appropriately represented in terms of having them meet NCAA requirements, so they remain strong entities and serve the collegiate community.”

The new process requires autonomy five conferences to allocate one of their allowable commitments to account for participation in the College Football Playoff agreement.

In order for a postseason football bowl game to be considered for NCAA certification, it will be required to have a historically supported commitment from two conferences and/or independent institutions.