Should Group of Five have their own CFB national champion?

The newly expanded College Football Playoff will provide greater opportunity for more teams to play for a national championship. But, inevitably, eligible teams will be left out regardless of how big the field is.

This season, 12 teams will vie for the national title — a three-fold increase from the original four-team format. The expansion was mostly a result of teams with playoff-caliber resumes (i.e. undefeated, ACC champion 2023 Florida State) being excluded.

So, with more teams now involved, there should be no complaints about anybody being left out now, right?

Well, 11 of the 12 teams in the field will most likely be from the Power Five conferences. At least one team from the Group of Five will be eligible to qualify, and with the toughness of schedules and the quality of wins being naturally lesser in the Group of Five conferences compared to the Power Five, it may only stay at one. 

This season is already demonstrating how many high-caliber teams could be playoff-worthy (i.e. Boise State, UNLV, undefeated Army and Navy).

The Group of Five commissioners even broached the possibility of such a plan in August but nothing has gone past the discussion phase.

If no further expansion for the Group of Five will be considered in the near future for the College Football Playoff, those conferences should discuss a separate playoff and national championship.

In 2023, Chip Kelly proposed that Power Five teams should be independent in football. Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt expanded on that specific proposal.