There are two types of bowl watches this time of year.

The first is the New Year’s kind, aka the teams hoping to be in the College Football Playoff or a New Year’s Day game. Then there is the APR kind, aka teams that won only five games hoping to still reach a bowl due to their Academic Progress Report scores.

Alright, so those two things aren’t quite equal, but the bottom of the bowl rung is often just as interesting as the top (okay, those aren't equal either, but a guy can dream). A week ago it appeared more than a handful 5-7 teams would sneak into the 80-program bowl field. But wins by NC State, Southern Miss, Vanderbilt and Boston College last week to move to 6-6 lowered that below-.500 group considerably.

As it stands, 76 of the 80 bowl spots are filled.

Two more teams, South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette, are 5-6 entering Week 14. With wins by the Jaguars (vs. New Mexico State) and the Ragin’ Cajuns (at Louisiana-Monroe) the available spots would be cut further.

That scenario leaves at least two and as many as four bids available to teams that did not reach the bowl threshold of six wins. The order of the 5-7 finishers in that case is determined by multi-year APR rankings; the highest-ranked schools in terms of APR are given bowl spots first.

There are currently 11 teams at 5-7 entering Week 14 (multi-year APR scores are listed next to the schools): SMU (945), Texas (971), Texas Tech (941), North Texas (984), Akron (947), Northern Illinois (970), Nevada (949), California (960), Arizona State (960), Mississippi State (971) and Ole Miss (958). Additionally, South Alabama (947) and Louisiana-Lafayette (950) could "join "the group at 5-7 after next week.

North Texas will reach a bowl with the highest APR score on the list. Texas and Mississippi State are tied for second, but the Bulldogs will get priority for a bowl over the Longhorns because they have the highest most recent single-year APR score (970-968). If three teams get in, Texas would be next, followed by Northern Illinois in a four-bid scenario.

There is also a chance teams decline bowl bids at 5-7, which happened last year.

North Texas is sure to accept an invitation in Seth Littrell’s first season. Mississippi State, following a huge Egg Bowl victory over Ole Miss, will accept a bid, too.

Texas is a bit of a question mark. The Longhorns have a new coach in Tom Herman, and he was less than committal about a bowl game at his introductory press conference Sunday evening.

“Haven't even thought about it," Herman said. "Quite frankly, it's not a decision for me to make. I think (Athletic Director) Mike (Perrin) and I, if that decision comes, we'll talk about it, but have not had any discussions about it.”

The Longhorns could use the extra 15 practices, but at the same time, they're not expected to retain any of Charlie Strong's staff, so who would coach them? With short preparation, Herman wouldn't want to be responsible for a possible shellacking to rain on his parade.

As for Northern Illinois, the Huskies have been to eight straight bowl games. It’d be a surprise to see that streak end with a chance to get to nine.

California and Arizona State will have an opportunity (a slim one) to reach a bowl if four spots open up and one or two of the teams above decline an invitation. In that scenario, California holds priority due to its most recent single-year APR score.