Quote:Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier is among a growing number of Group of 5 officials that favor adding a playoff specifically for the Group of 5 schools.

"It's time to have a realistic conversation about creating a playoff for the Group of 5," Frazier told ESPN. "Why not?"

It's been 32 years since a non-Power 5 team won a national championship (BYU in 1984) and it likely will never happen again in the current format. In the first three years of the College Football Playoff, a Group of 5 team has never ranked higher than No. 13 (Memphis in the 2015 initial rankings) by the CFB Playoff selection committee.
P.J. Fleck led Western Michigan to a 13-0 record and a trip to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic to play Wisconsin. But WMU was ranked No. 15 -- behind six Power 5 teams with three losses and one Power 5 team with four losses. Patrick Gorski/USA TODAY Sports

"There is absolutely no ability for us (teams in the Group of 5) to be in that national title conversation," Frazier said. "That's just reality. Anyone that says we can: that's a flat-out lie."

The Group of 5 consists of schools from the American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences along with independents BYU, Army and UMass.

Frazier said he believes a Group of 5 playoff could be financially rewarding to those schools. NBC, CBS and ESPN have interest in televising a Group of 5 playoff, an industry source said.

"As long as the financial agreement that currently exists with the CFB Playoff remains and we had the opportunity to package a Group of 5 championship, why wouldn't we want to do it?" a Group of 5 official said. "It would spread the exposure to all five conferences, rather than just the one conference champion that plays in a New Year's 6 bowl."

Currently, the highest-ranked Group of 5 champ is under contract to play in a New Year's 6 bowl -- either the Cotton, Fiesta or Peach -- for the next nine years, through the 2025 regular season. Frazier envisions an eight-team playoff made up of the five Group of 5 conference champions and three at-large teams or independents.

"Every division of college football has a national championship -- Power 5, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA -- every division, that is, except the Group of 5," Frazier said.

While Frazier and several other Group of 5 officials, who wished not be identified, support adding a Group of 5 playoff, plenty of Group of 5 officials oppose a separate playoff.

"Absolutely would not want a separate playoff," said a Group of 5 AD, "and I can't put enough exclamation points behind that."

American Conference commissioner Mike Aresco has no interest in it either.

"The answer is an emphatic no," Aresco said. "We compete for national championships like anyone else in FBS, including the Power 5, and have no interest in any kind of separate championship."

The Group of 5 officials that favor a Group of 5 championship acknowledge several factors would have to be resolved: how much the playoff would be worth, how would it impact the Group of 5's automatic bid to a New Year's 6 bowl, what bowls and how many teams would be involved.

Some officials are concerned a separate national title would perpetuate the perception of the "haves" and "have nots" between the Power 5 and Group of 5.

"You mean compete for a junior varsity championship?" one Group of 5 AD said. "No thanks."

Even though the Group of 5 representatives have upset the Power 5 in the past two New Year's 6 bowls -- Houston over Florida State in 2015 and Boise State over Arizona in 2014 -- the committee has penalized the Group of 5 teams for playing weaker conference schedules. The Power 5 teams are from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 conferences and Notre Dame.

"The College Football Playoff is great and I love the committee, but their focus is on the national championship for the Power 5 teams and not focused on getting Group of 5 (teams) in the national conversation," Frazier said.

This season, Western Michigan was only one of two undefeated teams along with No. 1 Alabama. The Broncos had non-league wins at Power 5 opponents Northwestern and Illinois, yet 13-0 WMU was ranked No. 15 -- behind six Power 5 teams with three losses and one Power 5 team with four losses.

(12-29-2016 09:15 AM)kmfloyd Wrote:  Without looking it up, who's in the FCS Championship game?

Exactly...

(12-29-2016 09:26 AM)Crewdogz Wrote:  In my opinion DI can have a playoff like DII and DIII do, access should be given to all teams. Look how great the NCAA basketball tournament is by comparison. I won't argue tO$U isn't one of the 4 best teams in the nation, but they didn't even win their conference.

(12-29-2016 09:26 AM)Crewdogz Wrote:  In my opinion DI can have a playoff like DII and DIII do, access should be given to all teams. Look how great the NCAA basketball tournament is by comparison. I won't argue tO$U isn't one of the 4 best teams in the nation, but they didn't even win their conference.

(12-29-2016 09:15 AM)kmfloyd Wrote:  Without looking it up, who's in the FCS Championship game?

Exactly...

(12-29-2016 09:40 AM)crex043 Wrote:  

(12-29-2016 09:26 AM)Crewdogz Wrote:  In my opinion DI can have a playoff like DII and DIII do, access should be given to all teams. Look how great the NCAA basketball tournament is by comparison. I won't argue tO$U isn't one of the 4 best teams in the nation, but they didn't even win their conference.

I agree with you. And with the Top 16 teams, it would eliminate the controversy that usually results from cutting the Top 4 and would most certainly allow access to G5 teams. I also bet it would generate a lot more revenue for ESPN and Co, but it would muddy the path to Championship for the Alabamas and Ohio States of the world (the upper 1%) and thus will be vehemently opposed.

(12-29-2016 09:22 AM)crex043 Wrote:  

(12-29-2016 09:15 AM)kmfloyd Wrote:  Without looking it up, who's in the FCS Championship game?

Exactly...

Exactly, you've proven no one cares about FCS.

G5, on the other hand, may have a following if it is marketed. How many people knew who #3 and #4 were before they were included in a 4-team playoff?

Not defending the idea, but it's hard to know about anything if it isn't marketed.

(12-29-2016 09:43 AM)SeniorBearcat Wrote:  

(12-29-2016 09:26 AM)Crewdogz Wrote:  In my opinion DI can have a playoff like DII and DIII do, access should be given to all teams. Look how great the NCAA basketball tournament is by comparison. I won't argue tO$U isn't one of the 4 best teams in the nation, but they didn't even win their conference.

Do you start paying the college players if you are adding more games (at what cost to their long term health)...used to be able to win a NCAA championship with 11 games, now 15 games are needed. How many games are needed to remove the amateur athlete tag for these student athletes? I see my Dad and old sports injuries he and his friends share and more games is a slippery slope even with improved safety equipment. Didn't the namesake of this board play a college sport and might have suffered some long term effects of a violent sport?

(12-29-2016 09:54 AM)Not Duane Wrote:  

(12-29-2016 09:40 AM)crex043 Wrote:  

(12-29-2016 09:26 AM)Crewdogz Wrote:  In my opinion DI can have a playoff like DII and DIII do, access should be given to all teams. Look how great the NCAA basketball tournament is by comparison. I won't argue tO$U isn't one of the 4 best teams in the nation, but they didn't even win their conference.

I agree with you. And with the Top 16 teams, it would eliminate the controversy that usually results from cutting the Top 4 and would most certainly allow access to G5 teams. I also bet it would generate a lot more revenue for ESPN and Co, but it would muddy the path to Championship for the Alabamas and Ohio States of the world (the upper 1%) and thus will be vehemently opposed.

It would be the only way to re-kindle enthusiasm for DI FB outside the P5. But the only way it would happen would be an act of Congress. Otherwise, all you will see is the shedding of P5 schools into the G5 as the top of that crop divide the $$ between fewer participants.

This is the same thing that kept B12 expansion from happening.