FSU did not provide what specific rule or NCAA by-law allows for this "interpretation." Athletic directors and compliance officers at various schools I spoke to in the past few days said FBS schools usually put the scholarship requirement in the game contract, to protect the FBS school if the FCS school doesn't meet the scholarship requirement. FSU defeated Delaware State 77-6.

Whether Delaware State met the necessary scholarship requirements to count as a bowl eligible win, there never was any danger that FSU (6-6) would not play in the Independence Bowl against Southern Miss. FSU left Saturday for Shreveport, La., for Wednesday's game. This will be the 36th consecutive season FSU is in a bowl, an NCAA record.

Sources told me last week it was a “monumental" oversight by FSU, the ACC and NCAA for not verifying Delaware State's scholarship situation. FSU, the ACC and NCAA were not aware that DSU didn't meet the athletic scholarship requirement until Reddit College Football initially reported it and verified that information with DSU. Only by using the nebulous non-athletic, academic aid information did Delaware State qualify, according to FSU.

Without using the academic aid scholarships, Delaware State did not have enough scholarship grants-in-aid over a two-year period, as required by NCAA bowl eligibility rules, which would have left FSU with only five "bowl-eligible" wins.

“This monumental error should have been caught at three levels: the school, conference and NCAA,” a bowl industry source said a few days ago. “It’s too late to do anything now, they’ll still play in the game."

Officials from the ACC and NCAA did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the situation.