There's an article on the CBS Sports Website - The NCAA might Require 7 wins for a team to achieve post season college bowl Eligibility

The article does raise the possibility that several of the present bowls might have to go away.

Now, besides the fact that this rule change appears aimed at both the Big 10 (12) and the SEC....

Requiring  a winning record to become bowl eligible is probably a good thing, altho it could potentially cut down my alma mater's (Northwestern's) bowl appearances but maybe it would help us finally win one again. An NU 7-5 team coming out of the Big 10 would be potentially playing a more closely matched team from somewhere else.

But the loss of bowls means we wouldn't have the Papa John's Vegetarian Pizza Bowl any more? Or the Stihl Chainsaw Humanitarian Bowl? (that's about what the lesser bowls have become)

Yes, the NCAA should allow December (or early January) practices to level the field a bit. My only concern is for the players who are hurt at the end of the season.

There might be a tendency for underclassmen who are dinged up from the season, to practice when they should be mending. A kid who is hurting might needlessly strain an injury in an attempt to maintain his position going into the Spring Drills.

But as long as teams use the December Bowl workups to actually train next year's starters, fairness dictates that either they reduce the number of those pre-bowl practices, force the teams to work on their starters the same as they would during the regular season, or let everyone have the December practices.

IMHO of course.