A separate Group of 5 Playoff?

[HFCS]

This is a terrible idea. Teams should be selected based on quality wins rather than avoiding losses. If it's just based on being undefeated why would teams ever schedule anyone decent out of conference? Play a bad FCS team, a bad Sun Belt team and a bad MAC team to make sure you run the table before conference play, that's going to make for great football in September. The fact that Western Michigan beat a bad Illinois team and a 6-6 Northwestern team is not a reason for them to be in the playoffs.

In recent history mountain region teams that have gone undefeated have cracked the top 8 but had trouble cracking the top 4.

Utah's undefeated team finished #5 before bowls and I believe was #2 or #3 in AP poll after bowls. It was the second most dominant team in college football history statistically. Boise State also had a couple teams where nobody hotly debated them as top 8 range but did debate if they were top 4 worthy.

I agree it shouldn't be as simple as "undefeated" or "not undefeated". But there have been several MWC/WAC teams in the past 15 years that clearly earned a birth in any college football playoff that would have been denied in a 4 team playoff and not an 8. The fact that Meyer's Utah team would have been out of a 4 team playoff is one of the best arguments against 4 teams in favor of 8. That team was literally the future of college football and one of the greatest ever.

I'm not throwing every undefeated non P5 team in the top 8 either, just pointing out that many have earned that classification and proven they deserve a shot in a playoff system if we can call it that. Dropping TCU from 3 to 6 for little reason should make everyone realize that a non-P5 or non-ND team will never make the four team playoff with this small committee 4 team setup.

 

[tolfbfan]

Would you do this with a 4-team playoff? Or only an 8-team playoff? If a 4-team playoff, then who would you have bumped this year for Western Michigan?

There was more national pressure to include a 2-loss Penn State than a 0-loss Western Michigan.

No doubt it would have to be a 8 team playoff. The highest rated undefeated or 1 loss team who had 2 wins over Power 5 teams would get the spot [my opinion]. I believe this is an attempt to gain a position in playoff when it moves to 8 teams. If it doesn't work, then I think there will be a push by allot of the G 5 teams to separate. What do they lose, nothing. May gain money and if a P5 league still needs to add a member they can still move up. I like the move. As a G5 guy at heart it's kind of nice to stir things up a little.

 

[CyInDFW]

If they were good enough they would. If Houston would have been undefeated they would have been in this year.

Not a chance UH gets in even if undefeated. You really think the committee would take UH over any of the four? Come on this systems about making the network money and G5 schools and lower P5 schools need not apply.

 

[Die4Cy]

Couple of things are gonna happen in the next 5 years.

1) Playoff will expand to 8. This push by the G5 is only trying to speed up the process and they have a legitimate beef. WMU went 13-0, beat 2 Power 5 teams and got nothing. Expand to 8 and grant a bid to the highest rated G5.

2) Collective bargaining for the Power 5. All 65 teams will pool their rights and sell them for a gigantic payday.

3) Return to regionalization of the Power 5. Notre Dame will continue to do their own thing, but the other 64 teams will be realigned for traditional, regional divisions. 8 divisions of 8 teams. Or maybe 6 divisions of 11 teams and 2 schools are added to the collective bargaining agreement. Either way, the current conferences seem untenable

I wish!

I take this announcement as a sign the playoff will not be expanding any time soon. Why rock the boat if the best opportunity for money and exposure for those smaller schools is to play in a game with P5 schools? If the playoff expansion were coming, they wouldn't even consider this.

I do think this is another signal the P5 schools are going to branch off from the NCAA for football. However, I am not hopeful they would do it in such a way that will bring regional sanity back to the sport because it really will only be about TV money and not the fan or gameday experience when it finally happens. The bulk of money the sport makes is from TV and stadium attendance has been dropping for years.

 

[theshadow]

P5 and G5 schools are pretty well split during the bowl season already. This year, only 5 matchups out of 41 bowls.

 

[Clones8686]

I'll be honest, I don't watch any of the lower tier bowls. But if they did this G5 playoff, I would watch, in the same way that I watch the FCS playoff games when they're on ESPN. That is to say, I wouldn't really keep track of it during the season, but the playoff games would be on my tv, where as now I generally watch college basketball games instead of the lower tier bowls.

 

[Rogue52]

I'd rather expand existing playoff to 16 with all 10 conference champions getting an automatic bid. Then, setup the playoff in a way that there are several "playin" games among the lower seeds where the top 4 teams essentially get a double bye or similiar.

Keep lower tier bowl games for fans of schools who actually like to travel to see their team play.

If that doesn't happen, sure G5 should do anything they want.

 

[Frak]

Agree with those that say 8 team playoff and include a G5 team. I'd say only if they are undefeated but not sure how realistic that is. Especially if there are multiple undefeated G5 teams. Then who do you pick?

I'd just have a rule where any G5 school in the top 8 of the rankings has to get one of those at large spots. Seems simple enough.

 

[mj4cy]

This is a terrible idea. Teams should be selected based on quality wins rather than avoiding losses. If it's just based on being undefeated why would teams ever schedule anyone decent out of conference? Play a bad FCS team, a bad Sun Belt team and a bad MAC team to make sure you run the table before conference play, that's going to make for great football in September. The fact that Western Michigan beat a bad Illinois team and a 6-6 Northwestern team is not a reason for them to be in the playoffs.

Yeah that's not what I meant at all......

Just meant the teams that have the resume to possibly make the CFP that aren't power 5. And let's be honest it'll have to be 12-0 and then get some luck.....

 

[Judoka]

I'd just have a rule where any G5 school in the top 8 of the rankings has to get one of those at large spots. Seems simple enough.

Cue the committee never ranking a G5 above 9th.

 

[MeanDean]

If 39 teams go to bowl games one of those games is going to be extremely boring with only one team on the field.

Have Alabama go 1 on 2 against the two worst bowl teams. So when 'Bama has the ball they have 11 guys on the field. Army and Nevada together have 22. I'd watch that!