ESPN and the G5 Playoff idea

[Lobot]

ESPN's Brett McMurphy floated something in an article yesterday (below) stating that the G5 wants it's own playoff. Here's the thing, They don't. At the very least the AAC is not interested. The MWC is also not interested. The AAC has spent some money on a Power 6 publicity campaign designed to pull the AAC back into the power conference pack. While I don't think this will work on the AAC's part, the article from ESPN is a blatant attempt to help create a separate football division, along with the money they gave the Big 12 to not expand.

We know ESPN wants to kill off the Big 12 in the long run. We also know they'd like to have rights to all 4 of the whatever the remaining P4 turns out to be. By getting rid of the the Big 12 and relegating the AAC to G5 status permanently they effectively accomplish that. If the G5 were to form it's own playoff structure as ESPN suggests, the P4/5 would get an easier route to break away from the rest of FBS and form it's own super division without much further realignment. If ESPN and FOX want to push this It could effectively trap us for good in a second tier division.

We can do a few things to prevent that.

1) Call out ESPN and Disney every time they try something like this.
2) Rally for a true realignment where the bottom feeders of the P4 get shuffled out and the top teams in the G5 get shuffled in.
3) Win football games
4) Continue to show up at the games or find another means to support the team and Athletic Department.

http://www.espn.com/college-football...-power-5-teams

[London 'Cat]

Interesting concept thrown about for discussion.

http://www.cbssports.com/college-foo...r-own-playoff/

[Lobot]

Ha I didn't see this when I started another thread on it this morning in the conference realignment forum. http://bearcatnews.com/forum/confere...5-playoff-idea

[red_n_black_attack]

This could also be the way to pull the P4/5 back into the fold. Let's face it, the P4/5 needs the G5 for scheduling as none of them want to only play P4/5 non-conference games. They also don't want to risk having a losing record or (god forbid) the same amount of road games as home games. The NCAA can simply put in a playoff system and declare an NCAA champ. If the P4/5 teams choose not to participate, they can do so.

[Illuminerdski]

Hopefully what ever they come up with is better than the college football playoff system. Conference champions and highest ranked division champs to round out the brackets. Take the human element out as much as possible. I don't care for the glorified popularity contest that has historically picked the "national champions".

[bearcatbret]

^^ I agree with you about the popularity contest. We were told two years ago that TCU and Baylor dropped from 3 and 4 respectively to both being out of the championship because they did not have that 13th data point. Yet, tosu did not when their division, did not play in the conference championship and did not when the conference yet was chosen. I am not debating that they may be one of the best 4 teams but the whole selection stinks. After PSU comeback against Wisconsin, they should have been one of the 4 teams even if it included tosu.

[swilsonsp4]

If Mike Aresco has anything to say about it, such a playoff won't happen:

From espn.com:
"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," Frazier [NIU AD] said.
While Frazier and several other Group of 5 officials, who wished not be identified, support adding a Group of 5 playoff, plenty of Group of 5 officials oppose a separate playoff.
"Absolutely would not want a separate playoff," said a Group of 5 AD, "and I can't put enough exclamation points behind that."
American Conference commissioner Mike Aresco has no interest in it either.
"The answer is an emphatic no," Aresco said. "We compete for national championships like anyone else in FBS, including the Power 5, and have no interest in any kind of separate championship."

He's still holding out for P6, I guess. Even at that, though, I feel that a G5 playoff would cement teams from G5 conferences into what could become officially a sandwich division between FBS and FCS.

[red_n_black_attack]

If Mike Aresco has anything to say about it, such a playoff won't happen:

From espn.com:
"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," Frazier [NIU AD] said.
While Frazier and several other Group of 5 officials, who wished not be identified, support adding a Group of 5 playoff, plenty of Group of 5 officials oppose a separate playoff.
"Absolutely would not want a separate playoff," said a Group of 5 AD, "and I can't put enough exclamation points behind that."
American Conference commissioner Mike Aresco has no interest in it either.
"The answer is an emphatic no," Aresco said. "We compete for national championships like anyone else in FBS, including the Power 5, and have no interest in any kind of separate championship."

He's still holding out for P6, I guess. Even at that, though, I feel that a G5 playoff would cement teams from G5 conferences into what could become officially a sandwich division between FBS and FCS.

Not separate, I advocate a championship playoff including G5!and P5. Each conference champion 10, plus six at large. Must play 9 in conference games plus at least 1 from same level, i.e. G5 team x plays 1 P5 and 1 G5 non conference game plus 1 other game. Use some bowls as Playoff and some as traditional consolation. Every few years the Liberty, Belk, Yankee and other "lower" bowls get a playoff game. Have multiple games in Pasadena, Miami, Atlanta etc... the smaller bowls get more in this system and so do the bigger bowls. The only way it works is if it gives more games for tv and more money for the bowls. Playoff games on weekends and "consolation bowls" mid week. You can do away with conference championship games as the P5 likely to get two teams in every year and the G5 now has shot to get in. This could work.

[Lobot]

Navy AD Gladchuk totally blew up this idea this morning.

[red_n_black_attack]

Navy AD Gladchuk totally blew up this idea this morning.

How did the Navy AD blow up this idea? What happened?

[Lobot]

I'm looking for the twitter thread but in a press conference with Aresco he basically said that Navy and the AAC would not be a party to any such agreement and doing so would make the G5 look like Junior Varsity.

Here's an article with a better write up than I can provide.

http://www.capitalgazette.com/sports...106-story.html

[blackattack]

I'm looking for the twitter thread but in a press conference with Aresco he basically said that Navy and the AAC would not be a party to any such agreement and doing so would make the G5 look like Junior Varsity.

Here's an article with a better write up than I can provide.

http://www.capitalgazette.com/sports...106-story.html

I do understand why Navy (or any team in the AAC) wants no part of a separate G5 playoff. However eventually I wouldn't be surprised to see the P5 conferences shed some of their bottom feeders (like Purdue, Wake, Vandy, BC, Kansas, UVa, Colorado, Oregon State, etc) and become even more exclusive. If that happens, I think it's counterproductive for the G5 schools to continue being a perennial stepchild to the P5 big boys. At that point I believe you're better off to separate completely from the P5 and set up your own G5 conferences, schedules, and separate playoff. Force the P5 schools to play ONLY other P5 schools and see how long that lasts.

[red_n_black_attack]

Separate is the wrong thing to try. I'm proposing each conference champ plus 6 at large. The B!G would've had three teams easily in that format. This also has the advantage of keeping existing bowls, i.e. more P5 teams in a bowl and many bowls get multiple games in same city. More post season games means more TV sets.

[Illuminerdski]

I would get rid of the at large selections. Do the 10 conference champs. Have a round of 4 where the bottom 4 ranked conference champs play to see who gets to play the top two ranked conference champs in the round of 8.

[Lobot]

I like some of the ideas here but realistically we'd be lucky to have the CFP go to 8 teams much less 10. We almost certainly won't see either if a P4 happens. If they were to go to conference Champs and go by a rankings system to slot the bracket, you'd have the SunBelt vs. CUSA almost every year in the first round which is not all that equitable for those conferences. The last two "G5" participants in the BCS and CFP have both been from the MAC (WMU, NIU).