Group of 5 - I Think All Saw This Coming
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 2:24 pm
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Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier told the media on Wednesday, that the Group of Five schools are contemplating forming their own playoff.
Sean Frazier: "It’s time to have a realistic conversation about creating a playoff for the Group of Five. Why not? There is absolutely no ability for us to be in that national title conversation. That’s just reality. Anyone that says we can; That’s a flat-out lie. 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.”
This season, Western Michigan was one of 2 undefeated programs [the other of course, Alabama] and still only ascended to No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The Broncos ranked behind six Power Five teams with three losses, and one Power Five team with four losses. Memphis notched the highest-ever Group of 5 ranking @ #13 in 2015, but no team among the Group of Five has won a national title since 1984.
Other athletic directors in the Group of Five are exploring the idea of a separate playoff, and espn is reporting that NBC, CBS and espn have expressed interest in televising the event, several other Group of Five athletic directors aren’t thrilled about the idea.
One Group of Five AD told ESPN: “You mean compete for a junior varsity championship? No thanks.”
Currently, the highest ranked Group of Five team plays in a New Year’s Six Bowl, which is a financial boon to that school’s conference. Would this separate playoff be worth enough to offset that? Or would the highest-ranked Group of Five team still play in the CFP while the remaining conference champions and some at-large teams formed a Group of Five playoff field?
Teams from the Group of Five have been treated like second-class citizens in terms of the national championship for decades.
It took Boise State’s 2007 Fiesta Bowl win against Oklahoma for many to realize Group of Five teams could compete with the Power Five, and it took Utah’s undefeated season, which was capped with a thrashing of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, before the BCS powers that be admitted that the system wasn’t adequately rewarding all deserving teams.
While the FBS College Football Playoff was supposed to address those concerns by allowing every team a fair shake by an independent panel of voters, it’s clear the chasm still exists.
So, it’s no surprise that some programs are getting a little frustrated about where they fall in the college football hierarchy, and whether there’s really any place for them in the system at all.
While a separate playoff would accentuate the divide between the haves and have-nots of college football, it might be the only way for teams from these conferences to get a chance to lift a national championship trophy.
The only other possible solution would be to have a full on Tournament of Conference Champions, or for the Group of 5 teams to load an impossibly difficult nonconference schedule, and then go undefeated to force the CFP committee’s hand.
But the fact that Group of Five teams are held to such a higher criteria when it comes to their schedules — while Power Five teams can lose three games and still be in contention for a playoff spot — is just another part of the problem.
The writing has been on he walls from day one. The Group of 5 were on board when the playoff tournament was introduced. Though, now it has become evident that they, and their Cinderella success stories, were a media tool, to push for a playoff where they would still be excluded.
And, no doubt espn is going to be all in on swaying the slant for a midmajor tournament. It would be the next step in explaining away the rest of the Bowl Games.
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.
Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier told the media on Wednesday, that the Group of Five schools are contemplating forming their own playoff.
Sean Frazier: "It’s time to have a realistic conversation about creating a playoff for the Group of Five. Why not? There is absolutely no ability for us to be in that national title conversation. That’s just reality. Anyone that says we can; That’s a flat-out lie. 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.”
This season, Western Michigan was one of 2 undefeated programs [the other of course, Alabama] and still only ascended to No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The Broncos ranked behind six Power Five teams with three losses, and one Power Five team with four losses. Memphis notched the highest-ever Group of 5 ranking @ #13 in 2015, but no team among the Group of Five has won a national title since 1984.
Other athletic directors in the Group of Five are exploring the idea of a separate playoff, and espn is reporting that NBC, CBS and espn have expressed interest in televising the event, several other Group of Five athletic directors aren’t thrilled about the idea.
One Group of Five AD told ESPN: “You mean compete for a junior varsity championship? No thanks.”
Currently, the highest ranked Group of Five team plays in a New Year’s Six Bowl, which is a financial boon to that school’s conference. Would this separate playoff be worth enough to offset that? Or would the highest-ranked Group of Five team still play in the CFP while the remaining conference champions and some at-large teams formed a Group of Five playoff field?
Teams from the Group of Five have been treated like second-class citizens in terms of the national championship for decades.
It took Boise State’s 2007 Fiesta Bowl win against Oklahoma for many to realize Group of Five teams could compete with the Power Five, and it took Utah’s undefeated season, which was capped with a thrashing of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, before the BCS powers that be admitted that the system wasn’t adequately rewarding all deserving teams.
While the FBS College Football Playoff was supposed to address those concerns by allowing every team a fair shake by an independent panel of voters, it’s clear the chasm still exists.
So, it’s no surprise that some programs are getting a little frustrated about where they fall in the college football hierarchy, and whether there’s really any place for them in the system at all.
While a separate playoff would accentuate the divide between the haves and have-nots of college football, it might be the only way for teams from these conferences to get a chance to lift a national championship trophy.
The only other possible solution would be to have a full on Tournament of Conference Champions, or for the Group of 5 teams to load an impossibly difficult nonconference schedule, and then go undefeated to force the CFP committee’s hand.
But the fact that Group of Five teams are held to such a higher criteria when it comes to their schedules — while Power Five teams can lose three games and still be in contention for a playoff spot — is just another part of the problem.
The writing has been on he walls from day one. The Group of 5 were on board when the playoff tournament was introduced. Though, now it has become evident that they, and their Cinderella success stories, were a media tool, to push for a playoff where they would still be excluded.
And, no doubt espn is going to be all in on swaying the slant for a midmajor tournament. It would be the next step in explaining away the rest of the Bowl Games.
.
.
.