NCAA shuts down notion that ‘Irrelevant Bowl’ will be granted waiver: report

The state of college football bowl games has been widely discussed over the past several weeks. The advent of the College Football Playoffs has somewhat diminished the value of other prominent bowls.

Football programs are still incentivized to win enough games to qualify for a bowl game, but a proposal could actually seek some of the nation’s worst teams. High-profile promoter Roy Englebrecht is hoping to create the “Irrelevant Bowl.” The proposed game could feature teams that struggled to win games over the course of the regular season.

If the bowl game had actually taken place this season, Vanderbilt and Akron would likely have been two of the top candidates in the bowl’s selection process. The Commodores finished the season with two wins while Akron won just one game.

Even featuring a winless team does not appear to be out of the question for the potential bowl game. But to move from merely a concept to a reality, the NCAA would have to grant a waiver.

But NCAA officials told the Action Network that there was “no chance” that the necessary waiver would be granted for the potential “Irrelevant Bowl.”

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According to a release sent to Fox News Digital, cities interested in hosting the “Irrelevant Bowl” would submit bids during the year’s first quarter. The city that wins the bid would be allowed to keep any event revenue.

“No polls, no rankings, no controversy, just two winless or near winless teams looking for redemption and one elusive win,” Englebrecht said in a press release. “Knowing that the NCAA has become more flexible with the number of team’s wins to qualify for a bowl, I will petition the NCAA asking them to grant a waiver in 2024 so that two teams would be eligible to play in the inaugural Irrelevant Bowl.”

Currently, teams have to win at least six games to become bowl-eligible.

Beginning in the 2024 season, the College Football Playoff will expand to a 12-team format. The New Year’s six bowl games would serve as quarterfinals and semifinals games on a rotating basis.

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