The Fine Print: CFP Group of Six representative no longer required to be conference champ
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Billable hours are undefeated, and transparency is a thing of the past.
All of the focus as of late has been placed on the Power Four conference champions (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12) being guaranteed spots in the 2026 version of the College Football Playoff, along with Notre Dame being automatically placed into the 12-team field if they are ranked inside the top-12 of the final CFP rankings.
However, Chris Vannini of The Athletic reported today that, starting this upcoming football season, the single spot given to the Group of Six (Mountain West, Pac-12, AAC, MAC, Conference USA, and Sun Belt) doesn’t have to go to a conference champion.
This nuance has been largely kept under wraps, and it has been said that the Big Ten and SEC remained vague in what would be promised for the rest of the FBS.
From Vannini, “Multiple G6 leaders told The Athletic they could not recall much, if any, conversation among themselves about removing the G6 championship requirement.”
What this change in language does isn’t necessarily negative.
If anything, it should protect the “best” Group of Six team if they were to lose in its respective conference championship game.
Even this year, fans of conference winners from the Mountain West, MAC, and Conference USA had a glimmer of hope as they rooted for Troy to stun James Madison in the Sun Belt title game. There wouldn’t have been much of an argument for Boise State, Western Michigan, or Kennesaw State to overtake the Dukes, but because they would not have the conference champion designation, it would have left the tiniest of cracks open for a long shot to stand toe to toe, resume-wise, with the ACC champion, Duke.
Harking back to the historic undefeated seasons that Cincinnati and UCF had while members of the American, it would have been a travesty for them to not at least make a trip to a New Year’s Day bowl simply because they lost their conference championship.
But how does this “terms and agreement” alteration impact the Mountain West and Pac-12?
On the surface, it encourages one team to stand out from the rest in each conference without fearing that a lone loss in December ruins the journey. However, the Americans’ collective performance this year, with Tulane, North Texas, Memphis, USF, and others punching above their weight, would have assuredly spotted them the vaunted G6 spot in 2025.
For 2026, Hawai’i has been spotlighted as a potential Cinderella candidate with dates against Stanford and Arizona State on the docket. Alas, for Timmy Chang, they need a New Mexico or UNLV to reach double-digit wins.
You won’t be able to luck your way into the College Football Playoff anymore.
And if we are being honest with ourselves, that has happened more during the 12-team era.
- Boise State earned a bye and a No. 3 seed despite being ranked ninth in the final rankings.
- Two G6s – Tulane and James Madison – made the field, bumping an 8-5 ACC champ in Duke out of the bracket.
If you thought the powers-that-be would allow Cinderella to keep being the belle of the ball with these “loopholes”, I have some snake oil for sale.
With the Pac-12, this is why the five teams that abandoned the Mountain West chose to do so.
To drop the “dead weight” that would serve as landmines during conference play and not resume-boosters.
Boise State has been a staple of college football and the epitome of G6 football west of the Mississippi River.
Fresno State had its prime years of the Carr brothers at quarterback and Davante Adams, and has found a way to be a thorn in the side of the Broncos.
San Diego State is as stubborn as they come with their defensive identity being built during the Rocky Long era.
Colorado State has the funding and fan support to build something special in Fort Collins.
And Utah State appears to be on the rise under Bronco Mendenhall, with recent success driven by former QB Jordan Love.
The reality that a conference championship is no longer required to serve as the G6 representative allows for two clear avenues to utilize:
- Have a deep conference that allows each member to improve one another’s case, not diminish it. (The 2025 American)
- Prop up one or two programs that are head-and-shoulders above the rest and hope that they reach the conference title game. (2024 Mountain West featuring ranked Boise State and ranked UNLV in a pseudo-CFP play-in)
Either way, the best team in the Group of Six should make it each year without much debate…until the Big Ten and SEC decide to revamp the playoff all over again.
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