G5 Playoffs?

[The Real SamC]

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...ficials-considering-playoff-non-power-5-teams

Interesting. Essentially creating I-A and a half. Same format as the "big" championship. Obviously the arrogance of the AAC would be the stumbling block, but still something. But a part of me just looks at this as "welcome back to I-AA".

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

I get it but I tend to agree with Arresco. No thanks. Would rather keep the G5 slot in the NY6 as the ultimate prize for schools like MU.

 

[GreenDuke]

This would confirm what everybody already knows. We're in 1-AA right now.

 

[herdalicious]

The NCAA men's basketball tournament has 68 slots and Marshall hasn't placed a team in it since 1987. Having one slot for 64 teams to share leads me to believe our odds of ever winning that slot are extremely remote.

There's also a bit of a rub in that the current format has the top rated G-5 team going to a bowl against a top 10 P5 team and get waxed. I kind of like the idea that the best team in G-5's season ends with a win instead of a humbling.

 

[Sean Hammond]

It would be cool if we could have our cake and eat it too in this scenario. Start a G5 playoff as soon as the season is over and the winner of the playoff get the Access slot.

But since that will never happen, I would be in favor of the G5 playoff. There's an obvious split in the P5/G5 divisions. There's no sense in acting like there isn't. It's time to start getting creative and make something enjoyable for ourselves instead of 5 conferences slobbering over a game that's going to go to the AAC champion or Boise State 9/10 years.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

There's also a bit of a rub in that the current format has the top rated G-5 team going to a bowl against a top 10 P5 team and get waxed. I kind of like the idea that the best team in G-5's season ends with a win instead of a humbling.

Except that doesn't really happen.

Since the move to the current format in 2014 G5s are 2-0 in the NY6 bowl game.

Boise beat Arizona in 2014 and Houston beat FSU last year.

UCF won in 2013, too.

 

[wvkeeper(HN)]

No way the playoff to access slot thing happens in the current NY6 environment.

Now if they were to go to a 8-team playoff I could see there being a "play-in" game between the Mountain West and AAC (or whoever is the top 2 G5 teams) to get a slot in the 8 team playoff.

 

[andy4theherd]

"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."

WMU beat 5 teams that went to a bowl. Northwestern just finished the year with a bowl win over a top 25 team. they also lost to tOSU by 4 points in Columbus. WMU had absolutely zero chance at the playoff. they would have zero chance if the playoff teams were doubled. they would have zero chance if the playoff teams were tripled.

i say go for it. when 10 times more people tune in to watch the "G5 playoff" than 20+ bowl games between 6-6 teams the money will come. when the money comes the quality of football will start improving across the G5 board...

 

[TheGreenhouseEffect]

It would be cool if we could have our cake and eat it too in this scenario. Start a G5 playoff as soon as the season is over and the winner of the playoff get the Access slot.

I'd agree with this, but it would destroy the bowls. I love the P5 v G5 match ups so....

 

[Tim Hensley]

The playoff needs to expand to eight teams: Five spots (all conference champs) and a wild card (for the best team left out) for the P-5; two for the G-5. In extreme cases, the wild card or one of the G-5 selections could be used as a play-in game like basketball.

 

[Herd-in-ATL]

I'd agree with this, but it would destroy the bowls. I love the P5 v G5 match ups so....

I think the current bowl system selection process has become woefully outdated with the exception of using it for the 4 teams playoff format. Less then half filled stadiums outside of the New Years Eve bowls is stark visual evidence. I to love the P5- G5 end of season bowl games, but it's time to do away with automatic conference tie ins, thus allowing better match ups and ensuring a Western Kentucky plays Louisville in the Citrus bowl or La Tech plays Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. Once again as this bowl season proves primarily only P5 schools get to play in the after Christmas higher profile higher paying bowl games.

 

[The Real SamC]

The original system of each bowl being truly independent except for some (not all) of the major conferences' champion tie-in (e.g. SEC to Sugar) was superior to what replaced it. Which was the dumb BcS where the five major conferences and one mid-major got bids to these "big" bowls, with the other mid-majors having a theoretical shot that never actually happened. That would be hard to make something worse, but they have with this unneeded "playoff". An extra game in basketball season.

I would much prefer a return to the original system. Alabama, the only undefeated team plays the best available (Clemson) in the Sugar Bowl, pollsters pick the Tide as National Champion. Simple.

But that is not going to happen. As predicted, the playoffs will grow (I-AA was originally 4, now it is 24). So this seems to make sense:

- Eight teams, the "power five" conference champions, the best of the "group of five" conference champions, and two "wild cards" which anybody could get, including Notre Dame, et al. This saves these conference championship games, which everybody now ignores.

- Do not let conferences (Big 2, Little 8 or Sun Belt) with less than 12 members play a conference title game, rather allow them to play 13 regular season games.

- Teams can play down only ONE level. Meaning P5 can schedule non-conference G5, but not I-AA; G5 can play I-AA but not DII, so on.

- Rest of the bowls are like an NIT, will full freedom to make matchups of regional interest.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

- Eight teams, the "power five" conference champions, the best of the "group of five" conference champions, and two "wild cards" which anybody could get, including Notre Dame, et al. This saves these conference championship games, which everybody now ignores.

This is the magic pill, although I'm not sure how you can fairly determine a champ in these bloated conferences without a conference championship game.

Seriously, it checks every box.

All P5 conference champs in? Check.

Spot for a G5? Check.

Spot for the best of the rest? Check.

Regular season stays meaningful? Check.

More playoff football? Check.