KALAMAZOO, MI - Western Michigan's bowl hopes received a huge boost when the Broncos closed out the regular season with a 28-21 win over Northern Illinois, but the victory over the MAC West champs doesn't mean the team in the clear quite yet. There are currently 81 teams competing for 78 available bowl bids, meaning at least three eligible teams will feel the sting of rejection - - when the matchups are released on Dec. There's a chance at least one of those bowl-eligible teams left out calls the Mid-American Conference home, as the MAC currently has seven qualifying teams for five guaranteed slots. To qualify for a bowl game, a team must have five wins over Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.

RELATED: RELATED. The MAC currently has tie-ins to five bowl games - four of which have their rights held by ESPN Events, with the Dollar General Bowl being the exception.

ESPN Events gets the first choice of the seven bowl-eligible MAC teams, which is likely to be a 10-win Buffalo team, especially if the Bulls hold off NIU in Saturday's conference title game at Ford Field. But the MAC's top squad isn't assigned to a certain bowl game this year, and the team ESPN finds the most desirable could find itself in any one of the Camellia Bowl, the Potato Bowl or the Frisco Bowl. The Dollar General Bowl will have the second pick of MAC teams, and ESPN Events will take the final two to fill the conference's guaranteed five slots.

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Toledo has already been picked to play Florida International, as the teams need to secure passports and other travel arrangements for the trip abroad. In addition to its five primary bowl affiliations, the MAC also has a secondary tie-in with the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit, should the game be unable to find a bowl-eligible team from each of the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC has 10 bowl-eligible teams for 10 guaranteed bowl slots, including the Quick Lane, so it's unlikely that conference opens up a spot for a MAC team to play in Detroit, but there is a scenario in which the Big Ten opens up a spot for a team like WMU or EMU. The Big Ten has nine bowl eligible teams for nine bowl slots, but if Ohio State jumps into the college football playoff, that likely moves Michigan to the Rose Bowl and leaves the conference with nine teams to fill 10 bowl games, thus opening a postseason spot for all six of the MAC's seven bowl-eligible teams. Projected rankings for the College Football Playoff place OSU at No.

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5, which could allow them to jump No. 4 Georgia, should the Bulldogs lose to top-ranked Alabama in the SEC title game. But if Georgia beats Alabama, the Crimson Tide are unlikely to fall out of the top four, pushing the Buckeyes back to the Rose Bowl and giving the Big Ten nine bowl slots for nine eligible teams.