Not quite related, so no.
The Belk Bowl has primary tie ins to the ACC and the SEC. The only way an alternate team from outside of those two conferences can get in is if either conference was unable to provide a team, which didn't happen last year as the match up was Virginia Tech vs Kentucky.
App's chances hinged entirely on the SEC and their teams not picking the Belk since the SEC did not have enough teams to fill all their bowls.
The SEC bowl pecking order is:
1. CFP bowls (both playoff and regular NY6)
2. Citrus bowl
3. Pool of 6 (Outback, Taxslayer, Music City, Belk, Texas, Liberty)
4. Birmingham and Independence
Because they sent 3 teams to the NY6 bowls, there weren't going to be any for the Birmingham or Independence bowls and they only had 5 teams for the pool of 6. But the pool of 6 bowl they chose to leave empty last year was the Liberty bowl, with Navy going in as the alternate in the SEC spot.