How did Rice get a bowl game with 5 wins?

Not hating,  just curious.  

Not enough bowl eligible teams..and being Rice U...they probability had the highest graduating rate which is the kicker for getting in over other 5 win other teams..

@davemsh

      By that standard Northwestern should be battling Stanford for the National Championship.   

"Rice (5-7) posted its best regular-season record under fifth-year coach Mike Bloomgren, even with a win total not normally good enough for bowl eligibility. When only 79 FBS teams reached six wins and three more bowl berths remained, the 5-7 teams with the highest academic progress rates (APR) were selected to fill out the remaining spots.

The Owls had the highest APR of the group, a 994 rating of a possible 1,000. The metric measures student-athlete eligibility and retention."

Rice gets smacked here

Smiss -6 made my card 

@TheBuddah

 yeah -when you have 41 bowls-not too hard to get in these days--late 70's/early 80's bowls generally pretty tough to get into and most games were decent--makes sense with 26 less bowls and a similar number of FBS programs (15 bowl games in 1980 to 19 in 1990 and 25 in 2000)...from a gambler's perspective I ain't complaining 

I honestly don't know how some of these lower tier bowls exist...They are clearly money losers...Its not like these teams bring fans..You have the bowl payout for each team plus all the expenses for hotel/food/Activities/Gifts/. Then the stadium expenses...These bowls are money guzzlers... I know EPSN or whoever is broadcasting it pays the bowl but now way they come out ahead...

@davemsh

  Somebody is making money off them.....

Rice is an academic powerhouse  that has nothing to do with football or Bowl games but most are unaware of this fact

Good thing academics don't ay football 

Play**

College football bowls are so much bullshit, way too many bowls!