Georgia Southern happy with bowl eligibility

In FBS play, reaching six wins allows a team to become bowl eligible.

A year ago, Georgia Southern won nine games but was not bowl eligible due to NCAA rules stating that no team in its first year of eligibility is allowed to go to a bowl game. This year, the Eagles do not have that problem. Last week, against Texas State they earned their sixth win on the season.

"I think all the people in our program and all our fans are excited about that (being bowl eligible). One thing about Georgia Southern is if we play anywhere close, there is a good chance we will bring 15,000 people-plus," Georgia Southern head coach Willie Fritz said. "I think that is also very attractive to the bowl people. To be the first team (in program history) to (go to a bowl) would be a real feather in our cap and something that we would like to accomplish, but we still have a long way to go."

While becoming bowl eligible was a goal for Fritz and his team, the Eagles' work is not done. They still have aspirations of winning the Sun Belt Conference for the second straight year. They are also hoping to get selected to play in a bowl game.

"There has been many teams that have been bowl eligible that haven't been selected for a bowl. We need to keep winning and do the best we can in these next few games," Fritz said. "Obviously, another goal for us is to win the conference,"

While the bowl game is within reach, winning the conference looks to be more of an uphill battle as the Eagles no longer control their own destiny. The Eagles need Arkansas State to falter down the stretch after the Red Wolves knocked off Appalachian State on Thursday night.

The Eagles do not play the Red Wolves this season and will have to rely on someone else in the Sun Belt to open the title picture back up by beating the Red Wolves.

"I do think if you could have everyone play everyone, it certainly would be easier for scheduling, but it would also make everything as fair as possible," Fritz said

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Georgia Southern happy with bowl eligibility ."