This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Jas114 on 2026-04-08 01:44:30+00:00.
The Bois Bowl
Rule Book, Comprehensive
About This Document
As a homage to Jon Bois’ 20020, I decided to put together this ‘game’ as a homage to JUICE’s beautiful trainwreck of a game. Make no mistake, I fully intend on running this game, and everyone is allowed to watch and join in on the fun. This will begin with the 2026 NCAA football season. Or any Spring Games that may come before it. This was also not beta read in any capacity.
1 - The Game
The Bois Bowl’s scrimmage play (to be explained later) uses all conventional college football rules as of April 7th, 2026, which will change as they do in the NCAA’s lifetime.
That said, there are two ‘games’ being played:
The Bois Bowl The Celebration Game
There is also the exception that a player must be touched by an opponent to be declared down.
2 - The Teams
The Bois Bowl will be played by the 138 teams competing in the 2026 NCAA FBS season, which will evolve as teams enter or leave FBS play
The Celebration Game will be played exclusively by football teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (Currently 18)
Both games will play by the same rules (to be explained later)
3 - The Balls
At the beginning of play, each team begins in possession of one football.
The games each end when one team is in possession of every football in their respective game
4 - The Players
Every team is restricted to their NCAA roster of players, however large or small that may be.
Teams are encouraged to play in multiple conferences, such as Louisiana Tech
5 - The Field
As opposed to 20020, this game will not be played by teams running cross country. Rather, each team will move from field to field in keeping with their NCAA schedule, playing to take from or defend against whomever they run into.
Neutral sites (Such as bowl venues) are also part of the game.
6 - Gameplay
6a - Standard Scrimmage Play
Each NCAA football game played in a season will be translated to a round of scrimmage play, with both teams on the field fighting to defend their footballs while taking balls from their opponents or whatever balls are lying around on field at the time.
The transfer of footballs after a game will be determined by tallying the number of scoring running plays by both teams, in keeping with the 20020 game’s focus on running plays. For each team, this is:
Number of touchdowns + Number of 2-point conversions - Number of Safeties (Including ending the game or half on a kneel)
At the end of a game, these two scores are compared, and the winning team takes that many footballs from the losing team if possible 6b - Neutral Site Scrimmage Play
If a scrimmage play is done on a neutral site, the rules for taking footballs change to the following:
Both teams first attempt to take from the neutral pool of balls, getting one ball for each scored running play up to either their total or the number of balls in the pool. Balls are distributed evenly, so if two teams score far more than the number of balls on field before the game, they split them equally. However, if there is an odd number of balls, the higher-scoring team takes one more football. Once all neutral pool balls are taken, then teams may, if they have ‘points’ to spare, attempt to take balls from each other.
These rules also apply if a ball winds up on a field with neither team having initial access for any of a number of reasons to be explained later.
7 -Possession
By JUICE’s ruling, a team is in possession of a football if it is on their football field no matter who controls it.
That said, if a team takes a football from another team on their home ground, they must carry that football to (and play to defend it in) any games they play before returning to their home field. Once there, the ball is in their possession, and they can keep it on their field unless certain circumstances apply.
7b - Example of Play
As an example of how this all works, take the 2025 Temple Owls
If the game were to start with the start of their season, they begin play with 1 football in Lincoln Financial Field.
In their first game, they travel to UMass and win by 6 running plays to 1, handily taking UMass’s starting football.
In their second game, they return home to defend against Howard, prevent a fumble (to be explained later) and successfully take possession of the football they took from UMass.
Then Oklahoma shows up, whips them, and steals both their footballs, leaving Temple with 0 footballs.
Temple then travels to Georgia Tech to try (and fail) to take their footballs and return home with 0, rendering their games with UTSA and Navy moot. They then defeat Charlotte and Tulsa on an away tour, but they didn’t have footballs to take at the time, and with them losing the rest of the season, they end that run with 0 footballs. However, had Charlotte had a football for them to take, Temple would have needed to defend it against Tulsa.
8 - Scoreboard
Every Saturday, I will update a scoreboard of the number of footballs in every team’s possession.
9 - Other Rules
9a - Fumbles
A fumble occurs in any of the following circumstances: A team loses an NCAA football game to any team of a lower division than them (FBS to FCS, FCS to DII or lower) Getting a defensive 1-point safety scored on them (Has never happened in football, will be entirely deserved if it happens) Any other situation of sufficient absurdity, incredulousness, or otherwise ineptitude
In a fumble, a team drops whatever footballs they have onto whatever field they are playing on, wherein they become neutral site balls and can be taken by whomever is able to do so.
9b - Move Your Balls Rule
In any situation where a team will play host to two other teams, they will carry any footballs they have with them off the field to avoid their being taken as neutral site balls. However, these balls must be played for in any NCAA football games said team ends up involved in afterwards. This rule exists to protect teams like Temple, Boise State, USF, UCLA, and Miami, who play host to bowl games and don’t deserve to be penalized for it.
9c - Marshall Rule
If any team declines an NCAA bowl game invitation, they waive their right to the Move Your Balls rule, and any ball losses by their replacement team are to be taken at the declining team’s expense after the fact, even if this brings said team into Ball Debt.
Play the games, you turkeys. Be like Auburn men’s basketball and take any would-be snubs on the chin.
9d - Ball Debt
Ball debt refers to any state wherein a team owes another team a football, either through the Marshall Rule or vacated results, but does not have any to give at the moment. In a Ball Debt, any balls a team owes another team are, upon possession by the indebted team, immediately transferred to the teams to which they owe balls in chronological order of first debt.
Neither the Bois Bowl nor the Celebration Game can end with any active Ball Debts unless they are to the team that possesses every ball.
9e - Vacated Results
If the NCAA decides to vacate any results by a team, the Bois Bowl and Celebration Game shall charge said team with the following sanctions:
Any balls taken from fields are to be returned to said fields (though not necessarily to teams who lost them in unvacated losses) in chronological order. Any balls owed but unpaid are counted as Ball Debts.
9f - Death Penalty
In the event of the NCAA’s issuing a team the Death Penalty, the following set of events happens:
The offending team loses all of their footballs, which are to be placed on local neutral site stadiums (local being defined as within an hour’s drive, subject to change) for rapid redistribution to other teams The offending team is forbidden from taking another football until every football they had originally is transferred to another team.
9g - Leaving and Joining the Games
If any team leaves the FBS, MEAC, or SWAC, they are eliminated from their respective game. This means: Their original football, wherever it is, remains in play Any footballs they originally had are left on their field for the taking or distributed to neutral sites if there are no NCAA games scheduled for their field in the foreseeable future.
Any team that joins the FBS, MEAC, or SWAC after the 2026 season enters their respective game and begins play with one football, which enters play immediately.
9h - Future Amendments
Odd circumstances may come up throughout play of the Bois Bowl and Celebration Game that will require amending the rulebook. These will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.