From
http://www.ncaa.org/library/handbooks/f ... ndbook.pdf
Deserving Winning Team
A deserving winning team is defined as one that wins a minimum of six games against Division I-A competition and has a record that includes more wins than losses. [Exception: Each year, a Division I-A institution may count a victory against a Division I-AA opponent that has averaged 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of grants-in-aid per year in Division I-AA football over a rolling two-year period.]
Per Bylaw exception 30.9.2.1 an institution with a record of six wins and six losses may be selected for participation in a bowl game if 1) the institution or its conference has a primary contractual affiliation, which existed prior to the first contest of the applicable season, with the sponsoring bowl organization. In the case of a conference contractual affiliation, all conference teams with winning records must be placed in one of the contracted bowl games before any institution with a record of six wins and six losses may be placed in a contracted bowl game; and 2) all contratual affiliations have been fulfilled and all institutions with winning records have received bowl invitations (either through a contractual affiliation or as an at-large selection).
Division I-A contests played in Hawaii are exempt from NCAA legislation limiting a season to 11 games, but this competition does count in the six-win requirement. An institution that participates in an exempt contest, however, must have more wins than losses against Division I-A opponents to be eligible to participate in a bowl game, even if it meets the six-win requirement.