As college football conference realignment continues to reshuffle the landscape of the sport, countless ideas have been discussed. One, albeit not novel, has emerged about the Group of Five.
G5 decision-makers have begun to discuss the possibility of a Group of Five-only playoff and potentially separating from the Power Four, according to multiple reports.
Here’s more about the possibilities being discussed and what it could mean for the Group of Five conferences – the AAC, the Sun Belt, the MAC, the Mountain West, and Conference USA.
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Group of Five Conferences Discussing Playoff Possibilities
This isn’t the first time a G5-only playoff has been explored.
Northern Illinois athletic director Sean Frazier has reportedly discussed both a G5 playoff back in 2017 and even an NIT-type tournament for FBS teams that don’t make the College Football Playoff.
However, ideas like this have never really come close to materializing. Outgoing AAC commissioner Mike Aresco, for example, often stressed even the use of the term “Group of Five” created a bigger divide in the FBS landscape.
However, new commissioner Tim Pernetti said during his recent introductory press conference that the league is open to “maverick postseason models.”
A G5 playoff could take many forms, and it would require approval from all five conferences. That means leaders of those leagues would have to agree to several issues.
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If those five conferences were to split off, it reportedly would include all 64 G5 teams being divided up into eight-team divisions.
What would the requirement be for those programs to exit their current conferences if it happened in the form of a mass exodus? What would that mean for current TV deals, which has been a major factor in conference realignment in the first place? Would it be more profitable for the G5 to make its own playoff rather than only taking its current share of the CFP revenue?
These are all crucial questions that would need to be answered.
As for the financial aspect of it, a G5 playoff would likely include some element of private equity. Derek Dooley, a former head coach at Tennessee, has reportedly spoken on behalf of private equity firms with decision-makers from each G5 league.
Dooley is obviously familiar with the G5 world, having also been a head coach and athletic director at Louisiana Tech.
Group of Five Playoff vs. College Football Playoff Money Distribution
CBS Sports reported Group of Five programs are unhappy with their share of the College Football Playoff media rights revenue, which helped spark the G5-only playoff conversation.
What’s interesting is the money each G5 school receives from the CFP media deal should increase from $1.5 million to $1.8 million starting in 2026. But the difference is that the percentage of the pot for the Group of Five is going down.
The entire collection of the Group of Five conferences will take 9% of the $1.3 billion ESPN is paying per year for the CFP media rights. That’s down from 22% under the previous deal. The Big Ten and SEC, meanwhile, will each take 29%.
It’s not clear how much money a G5 playoff would make and if it would ultimately be more lucrative. But it would give those leagues more autonomy as the Power Four conferences continue to consolidate and gain more influence in decision-making at the FBS level.
What Would A Group of Five Playoff Look Like?
We at HERO Sports ran a fan-voted, hypothetical playoff on Twitter/X with seeding based on our Group of Five Top 25 postseason rankings.
The teams in the bracket were: No. 1 SMU, No. 2 JMU, No. 3 Liberty, No. 4 Memphis, No. 5 Tulane, No. 6 Troy, No. 7 Boise State, No. 8 UTSA, No. 9 App State, No. 10 Air Force, No. 11 Wyoming, No. 12 Miami (Ohio), No. 13 UNLV, No. 14 Toledo, No. 15 Fresno State, and No. 16 Ohio.
JMU ended up beating App State in the championship. Wyoming and Memphis also made the final four.
There’s no telling what the format would be if a G5 playoff would happen, and of course postseasons would be decided on the field. But those are some examples of teams which might have made the field if there had been a G5 postseason bracket in 2023.
