TAMPA, Fla. — With the college football regular season winding down, bowl eligibility still remains in reach for most of Florida’s squads.

But only two can get closer this week: only Florida and USF are in action as UCF, FSU and Miami all have bye weeks.

Still, with a quick glance as the remaining schedules, nothing is automatic for the Gators, Bulls or Knights. FSU, going through a historically disappointing campaign, will not have a bowl. And Miami, still sporting a no. 9 ranking and no. 4 playoff seeding, appears headed to a playoff berth.

UCF get an extra week to try to prepare for their final two games, against West Virginia and Utah, which they must win if they want to avoid missing a bowl game for the first time since 2015.

Meanwhile, USF and UF, both 4-5 overall, are trying to reach the six-win mark and a bowl invite.

It may come easier for USF, with three remaining November opponents (Charlotte, Tulsa and Rice) having just a combined nine wins. Florida has to navigate LSU, Ole Miss and then the annual rival FSU.

Here’s a look at this week’s games:

USF (4-5, 2-3 in American Athletic Conference) at Charlotte (3-6, 2-3 in AAC), 3:30 p.m., ESPN+

Winners of two of its last three, USF struggled in a 28-7 loss last week at home against Navy. That leaves USF needing wins in two of its last three to reach a bowl for the second straight season under coach Alex Golesh. The Bulls may start QB Bryce Archie for the fifth straight game as Byrum Brown continues to be sidelined since being injured Sept. 28.

Charlotte, which has not played since Halloween night, is coming into the matchup with three straight losses. The 49ers opened their AAC schedule with wins against Rice and East Carolina but have struggled since then.  

USF leads the series between the schools 1-0, winning 48-14 in 2023 in Tampa.

No. 21 LSU (6-3 overall, 3-2 in Southeastern Conference) at Florida (4-5, 2-4 in SEC), 3:30 p.m., ABC and ESPN+

The Gators must win two of their last three games to become bowl eligible, or it will mark the first time since a stretch from 1989 through 1991 that they have not gone to a bowl game in consecutive years. Meanwhile, the Tigers are out of contention for the College Football Playoffs after dropping two games in a row to ranked opponents, but they still have a chance to win 10 games for the third season in a row under coach Brian Kelly.

Quarterback DJ Lagway has practiced for multiple days this week and is expected to return for the Gators after he missed last week’s game with a strained left hamstring. That could be bad news for the Tigers, who have struggled to stop mobile quarterbacks all season. Not only that, but the Tigers have given up a combined 553 rushing yards in their past two games and now face a Gators offense coming off a nearly 200-yard rushing performance at Texas. LSU has won five games in a row against Florida, the longest streak in the history of that series.

Florida is 2-14 against ranked teams under coach Billy Napier and 1-10 against rivals Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami and Tennessee. 

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.