Georgia Southern, despite winning an outright Sun Belt Conference championship in its first season at the FBS level, will not be going to a postseason bowl game this year. The university filed an appeal following an initial waiver denial, but the appeal was met with the same fate. Dan Wolken of USA Today reports via Twitter the appeal was denied by the NCAA, meaning Georgia Southern is now locked out of the bowl line-up this season.
Georgia Southern is classified as being in a transition season, moving up from the FCS last year to the FBS this season. Standard NCAA rules prohibit programs moving up a classification from playing in the postseason. It is not often a team playing its first year at the FBS reaches the six-win minimum for typical bowl eligibility. It is even more rare for a team to go undefeated in conference play to claim the outright conference championship in its first season. This is what Georgia Southern did this season, going 8-0 in conference play in the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt Conference recognizes Georgia Southern as the conference champion, but that is not enough to move the Eagles into the postseason.Georgia Southern’s final appeal to play in a bowl game this year was denied by the NCAA, person w/ knowledge tells @USATODAYsports
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 2, 2014
One of the biggest problems for Georgia Southern is the abundance of bowl-eligible programs this fall. There are already more bowl eligible teams than bowl spots to fill, and that is without Georgia Southern or Appalachian State in the mix.
Georgia Southern will have to put any bowl hopes on hold for another season. The program will be eligible to play in a bowl game in 2015, if it meets the required six wins.
This year’s bowl match-ups will be announced and confirmed on Sunday, December 7.