A growing number of Group of 5 officials "favor adding a playoff specifically for the Group of 5 schools," according to Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com. Northern Illinois AD Sean Frazier said that he "believes a Group of 5 playoff could be financially rewarding to those schools." A source said that NBC, CBS and ESPN "have interest in televising a Group of 5 playoff." One Group of 5 official said, "As long as the financial agreement that currently exists with the CFB Playoff remains and we had the opportunity to package a Group of 5 championship, why wouldn't we want to do it? It would spread the exposure to all five conferences, rather than just the one conference champion that plays in a New Year's 6 bowl." McMurphy notes the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion currently is "under contract to play in a New Year's 6 bowl ... for the next nine years" through the '25 regular season. Frazier "envisions an eight-team playoff made up of the five Group of 5 conference champions and three at-large teams or independents." However, there are plenty of Group of 5 officials who "oppose a separate playoff." One Group of 5 AD said, "Absolutely would not want a separate playoff, and I can't put enough exclamation points behind that." AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco added, "The answer is an emphatic no. We compete for national championships like anyone else in FBS, including the Power 5, and have no interest in any kind of separate championship" (ESPN.com, 12/29).
IDEA WORTH LOOKING INTO: ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said he likes the idea of a Group of 5 playoff, as those teams under the current system "are getting lost in the shuffle." He said, "Once the bowl games (started) a week ago, there's three or four a day and we're dizzy by 1 o’clock in the morning when the last one ends, and there just doesn't seem to be much to them until about right now. So I think for those schools, which have very good programs, at least it sets up a structure." He added, "I would be more interested in that playoff than watching some of these 11:00am games on Christmas Eve. ... This would at least give some rhyme or reason to trying to win those games." ESPN's Mike Golic Jr. said, "We already differentiate that group of teams. So if among that group you could say you are the best, I think for those schools it might mean something” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 12/29).
