This past Sunday, the 12 teams competing in the College Football Playoff were announced: Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama, Ole Miss, Tulane, JMU, Oregon, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Miami. While reading that you may have sensed two Polar Bears… JMU and Tulane. 

It makes no sense how just because they are Group of 5 conference champions they get an autobid. The CFP is for the top 12 teams in college football, so how does it make sense for two teams ranked outside the top 15 to be in? 

The last G5 school to make the playoff was Boise State in 2024 and they received a first round bye since it was a conference champion. Facing sixth-ranked Penn State, the final score was 31-14 and the game was never close and PSU took their foot off the gas pedal. SMU was in the playoffs their first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but they were an American Athletic Conference-level school at the time and had a weak schedule. When the Mustangs played Penn State in the first round, they got blown out 38-10. 

This year Tulane and JMU are Boise State and SMU. Tulane plays Ole Miss in the first round, and if you are wondering how the game could end, you are in luck because they already played and Tulane lost 45-10 in Week 4. JMU beat a 6-6 Washington State team by four points, that same team lost 59-24 to Washington, who lost to Oregon (JMU’s first round opponent) 26-14. The writing is on the wall, both Ole Miss and Oregon are going to blowout their opponents and advance. ESPN currently has Oregon as 21.5-point favorites and Ole Miss is favored by 17.5 points. 

The correct matchups should have been; 

Indiana

Ohio State 

Texas Tech 

UGA 

Oregon vs Notre Dame 

Alabama vs Oklahoma 

Miami vs Ole Miss 

A&M vs Texas

These matchups would have been better: Ole Miss vs. Miami and Oregon vs. Notre Dame.

However, there is a world where leaving out G5 schools is not “fair” but if the playoff was expanded to 24 teams then it would be more fair to both sides. I believe G5 schools do have a place in the CFP, if it was 24 teams or if they played multiple SEC teams. The SEC has the most depth of any conference and would give a decent measurement of how good the G5 school really is. 

Some complain about a three-loss Alabama team making it in after getting blown out by UGA in the SEC championship game. However the Roll Tide beat UGA early in the season and penalizing them for being 1-1 is unfair. With only one bad loss to Florida State, in week one, it did not make sense to eliminate them. The CFP committee has to value out-of-conference and strength of schedule games. Notre Dame being left out for two G5 schools even though they rattled off 10 straight wins and lost to Miami and A&M (two top-ranked schools) by a combined four points is unfair.  

The committee and NCAA have a dilemma on their hands, is the CFP for the top 12 teams or is it for conference champions including drastically inferior ones? Their two best options are to  remove conference champions and put in the top 12 teams or expand to 24 teams and allow six conference champions.