Should they be interested? Perhaps. Will they be interested? Probably not. Note that in the article it is not any G6 school bringing this up. But it is speculation and wishful thinking of others (the writer himself, I presume): "Meanwhile, Bowl Season organizers would support facilitating a separate Group of 6 playoff, if those conferences wanted to crown their own national champion. CFP leaders would need to meet further to make any more changes regarding the Group of 6’s standing." I could possibly see some bowls being interested. But are they willing to put up more money to make it worthwhile for the G6 schools? Clearly schools like JMU and Delaware made the jump to FBS for a reason and I imagine most of the G6 schools want to be on this side of the status line. Maybe the next idea is to have the ACC and BigXII level have their own playoff. We, of course, would reject such a notion out of hand.

quickly realize they will make more money maintaining the status quo (and not win a MNC in DI football) than to do their own thing so they have better odds to win a MNC in DI football. Plus, a G6 Playoffs would likely directly compete against either the FBS Playoffs or the NFL regular/playoffs for viewers regardless of whether they played their games on Friday or Saturday.

If you don't get invited the CFP, why not participate in a football (Not Invited) Tournament (unless you are Notre Dame)? The winner would just be the FNIT champion, not the G6 national champion. It would be better than the bowl games. I'd prefer for it to be run by the NCAA, as a contrast to the CFP, and have auto-invites for the top non-CFP teams in each conference. Let the SEC and B10 turn their invites down. I wouldn't care. But any conference kept back at one or zero CFP teams should want to do it, IMO, even the ACC and the B12 (e.g. Virginia, Duke, SMU and BYU, Utah, Houston). ** Edited by Truthahn at 1/23/2026, 1:18:46 PM

performance in the "FNIT". It could be a game changer.

would be competing against the FBS Playoffs, FBS bowl games, NCAA DI Playoffs (aka FCS Playoffs), NFL regular season/NFL Playoffs, NCAA college basketball regular , NBA regular season, NHL regular season, and other sporting events (i.e. UFC) for both TV space and ratings. If the FNIT won't generate a high enough ratings, then it may be tough to find enough sponsors with deep pockets. No sponsors = no money.

didn't make the playoffs and were invited? The entire VT nation would watch.

then I may still not watch it because I had other plans for that day. FWIW the NIT isn't as big as it once was and it has less competition than the FNIT would have to deal with.

audience because I don't gamble or use any of the sports betting apps that all the media companies seem to be in bed with at some level.

would give the top G6 schools a chance to play the power schools that missed the playoffs. I'd be 100% interested in that.

in another playoff? Just saying they wanted to play at the level above FCS (more money) doesn't prove they don't want that. I have had conversations with G6 school alums and they very much would want a G6 playoff. They miss a realistic chance to win a National Championship like they did at the FCS level. Yes some of them went to JMU, and they were happy they got in the playoff, but the disrespect they received from Nick Saban and other media heads was quite humiliating, not to mention the lopsided first half that put the game out reach early. Since they have been and won National Championships, they know what it is like to have a realistic chance and receive the respect/lift that comes with that. They much prefer that to no realistic chance to win a National Championship, the G6 has NEVER won a playoff game and have gotten blown out when they make it. I would not be so sure about that opinion, there is more than one viewpoint out there.

If the alumnus aren't decision makers at their respective schools, then it may not really matter what they do or don't want because they will never have any skin in the game regardless of the decision made.

G5 in 2026 G6, never made the playoff until automatic bid for them. It was in 25-26 playoff 5 highest ranked Conference Champions, but not in 26-27. It will be P4 Conference Champions and highest ranked G6. So now 1 team in ~60 will have a decent chance to make the playoff from the G6. However, if they have their own G6 playoff, then let’s say they just have 12 in the playoff. Then they go from a likely 1 in 60 chance to play, to 1 in 5. That alone could easily get the Presidents to vote for it. Plus they won’t have the SEC and B1G gerrymandering the rules each year to keep them out. They get to set their own rules. Lastly the viewership and attendance should be way better than the Opt Out Bowls. That’s a strong case they will make more money and have more control with it, than without it. ** Edited by Stech at 1/23/2026, 5:43:56 PM

facing during that time of the year.

It’s hard to believe if there is a possible National Championship on the line that it wouldn’t help significantly. You may still be against it, but with the ratings for the expanded playoffs blowing away bowl games, I don’t think that’s debatable.

Perceptually people may view a G6 Playoffs in the same light as the NCAA DI Playoffs? Likewise, how did the FBS Playoffs and NCAA DI Playoffs do vs. the NFL regular season and NFL Playoffs? Remember the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 only gives college football protection from the NFL through the regular season which officially ends Conference Championship Weekend. After that date, the NFL is allowed to play regular season and playoff games on Saturdays. If I am a network executive and my network has a contract with the NFL (regular season and playoffs), then do I give up that contract to take a chance on the G6 Playoffs or do I stick with the sure thing? Particularly when there are only limited time slots on Saturday (and Sunday) to broadcast any football games. If I am a network executive looking to get into the football broadcasting business and I can only win one contract, then which one do I go after? 1. NFL 2. FBS Playoffs; or 3. G6 Playoffs

bigger following. If people are going to watch them for Bowls that are exhibition games, they are going to watch them even more if a National Championship is on the line, there is no way you can convince me otherwise. You are not going to change your mind, and neither am I. So let’s just leave it we agree to disagree.

else an idea of what a G5 Playoff schedule will look like. Instead of playing games during the week (during the day and night) that you currently see with bowl games, the games will be limited to Saturdays and maybe Fridays. Hence why I mentioned the competition issue for both time slots and ratings. If a viewer is going to watch a football game on Saturday in the 1pm slot, then they have to decide do I watch a FBS Playoff game, G6 Playoff game, NCAA DI Playoff game, NFL regular season game, maybe a FBS bowl game, some other sporting event, or some other TV show/movie. You may decide to watch a G6 Playoff game instead of those other options. Will majority of the viewing audience make that same choice though? That is the question. If the G6 Playoffs ends up exclusively on a streaming service, then it will likely limit how many people can watch the game and reduce the ratings. FWIW the NCAA DI Playoffs was broadcasted exclusively on ESPN+ until it got to the Semifinals and Championship Game. As a result, the NCAA DI Playoff will never be given the opportunity to get decent ratings because the number of subscriptions for ESPN+ will never get close to number of people who have ABC or ESPN. It is possible a G6 Playoffs could end up with a similar fate because there are only so many time slots available on Saturdays and a lot more content competing for those time slots.

happening now. The only difference is the G6 Bowls are for a National Championship and have more interest because they are playing for a National Championship. I was very involved with JMU the last time they won a National Championship, went to playoffs and watched them win the National Championship. Every game was juiced with energy and attendance. The current FBS bowls not in the playoff are mainly a snooze cruise. Huge difference in energy and attendance down for the FBS Bowls not part of the playoff. Hey we see this differently, let’s agree to disagree.

was for SCHEDULING PURPOSES ONLY. Fist Round - SATURDAY November 29, 2025 Second Round - SATURDAY December 6, 2025 Quarterfinals - 1 Friday game December 12, 2025 and 3 SATURDAY games December 13, 2025 Semifinals - SATURDAY December 20, 2025 (both games televised on national TV) Even the FBS Playoffs followed a similar format for the first round. First Round - 1 game Friday December 19, 2025 and 3 SATURDAY games December 20, 2025 The FBS Playoffs could utilize New Year's Day holiday for Quarterfinals by playing 1 game on New Year's Eve (Wed. Dec. 31) and 3 games on New Year's Day (Thur. Jan. 1). While the Semifinals were played on Thur. Jan. 8 and Fri. Jan. 9 so the Championship Game could be played on Mon. Jan. 19th. Since a 12-team G6 Playoff won't be playing its Championship Game on the same Monday as the FBS, then it will likely play the game on the Saturday and directly compete against the NFL which played its Divisional Playoff games on Sat. Jan. 17th and Sun. Jan. 18th. Also, remember the NFL Wild Card Round was played on Jan. 10-12, which may help explain why the FBS Playoffs chose Jan. 8th and 9th so it didn't have to directly compete against the NFL. From a scheduling perspective a G6 Playoffs will either have to directly compete against the FBS Playoffs or the NFL regular and NFL playoffs by scheduling games at the same time. There is no way around it. As far as the bowl games go, only 6 bowls were involved with the FBS Playoffs. Currently 41 bowls (42 if you could the 1 FCS bowl game for the MEAC and SWAC) have been certified by the NCAA. Given there are more bowl games than slots available for a G6 Playoffs, I don't see the bowl going away even if every game of every round is connected to a bowl game. Especially since ESPN Events owns about 20 of them. ESPN will still need content during the day (Monday - Friday) during the holiday season when majority of the people are home from work or school. Right now bowl games are the only football that can fill that void and I doubt that is going to change any time soon. Even if you, the G6 fans, and whomever else can convince the college presidents and ADs the scheduling issue is resolved, there is still the economic issue. Right now the G6s are co-owners of the CFP Administration, LLC which runs the FBS Playoffs. Depending on how the bylaws were established, they should get a percentage of any money generated from any contracts the CFP Administration, LLC signs with another party which is completely separate than the money participating schools receive. In order to establish a G6 Playoffs, it would likely mean eliminating all ties to the CFP Administration, LLC and the revenue they receive from that non-profit organization. If the new non-profit organization does generate the same amount of revenue that CFP Administration, LLC currently does for them, then economically it doesn't make sense for them to leave the CFP Administration, LLC and/or start their own playoffs. This is a place where the economics of the situation tie back into the available time slots, potential broadcasting partners, potential sponsors, and potential ratings.

But it is also in response to the opinion of the writer with no evidence of what G6 school and conference decision makers actually want. So let me be clear. The G6 schools have fought a long time to get an invite to the big party. Remember when Utah, which was G6 at the time was undefeated and didn't get to play in the BCS title game? They then smoked Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Now, if the G6 still has access to the CFP AND then those left behind play in a tournament as suggested here, they may very well be interested. But that's not how it is coming across to me (but please correct me if I'm wrong). So perhaps I misunderstand the writer's proposal. Anyway, I think the G6 will reject anything that subjugates them to a permanent underclass in the sport. I know it's fashionable to say, "Oh, they're just getting blown out anyway." But I still think the sample size is too small. And the programs need some latitude on our part to grow. Oregon has been blown out two years in a row, and programs like Alabama have been blown out too. And sure the P2 or the A4 could bully them out, but I don't think the G6 schools are going to want to support it. Moreover, from simply a VT perspective, we should be cool with G6 access to the CFP. Because while we might think we are "safe" by being in the ACC, we could easily be big-timed out of the top level of college football. It would behoove us to perhaps protect the class beneath us as a way of preserving our own future ("First, they came for the G6 schools..."). BTW, if the G6 will be allowed access to the CFP AND for the rest to have their own bowl tournament, then why not invite bowl-bound teams from the A4 who didn't qualify for the CFP as well? It would make a much better tournament with better ratings. Kind of like a football NIT. And it would be a nice test of G6 vs. A4 teams, adding to the sample size and interest in the sport. ** Edited by Maroon Baboon at 1/23/2026, 4:42:40 PM

separate tournament? It's compelling TV, or, at the very least, it's more compelling than the Boise Idaho Potato Bowl. People would 100% watch it. IMO, they'd watch THREE different tournaments. The CFP, a 2nd tier, and a 3rd tier. It would give programs something to strive for. It would also show progressive improvement and garner respect for winners - think Boise State in the late 90's and 2000s. If they keep getting in big games and winning, how can you keep them out of the biggest games?

like you said, the TV would have a much higher probability of going up. We already have the CFP, the NFL fighting to make the playoff and Bowl games. The least compelling and least watched by far are Bowl games. It is pitiful IMHO to watch so many empty seats in Bowl games that used to sell out. Plus don't get me started on the Northern Bowls in Fenway and Yankee stadium (terrible conditions including playing on sand), no wonder you have so many opt outs. By the way, they have become the Opt Out Bowls, but we don't see much of the same with playoffs, and if they fix the calendar for the portal the small amount of those would go away too IMHO. *National Championship at a neutral site stadium. ** Edited by Stech at 1/23/2026, 10:54:01 AM