Of the 35 college football bowl games that will be played this season, seven will feature a team without a winning record. While that may sound like a lot, it is actually the fewest number of non-winning teams in seven years.
With 70 of the 126 FBS (Division I) football programs playing in a bowl game, it is inevitable that some of the games will feature mediocre teams. But this year's seven non-winning teams is six fewer than last year and only half what was seen in the two seasons before that.
Fewer mediocre teams also means fewer mediocre games. Only one bowl game this season will feature two teams that combined for 13 or fewer wins in the regular season, the New Mexico Bowl, in which 7-6 Colorado State defeated 6-6 Washington State. Last season, there were seven such games, including two games in which both teams entered with 6-6 records.