From the opening kickoff, it was clear things were going to get ugly. One team came out firing, scoring touchdowns on its first three drives.
The other? Three straight punts.
Just like that, it was 21-0 in the first quarter. Game over.
And no, this wasn’t some supposed mismatch between a Power Four powerhouse and a Group of 6 upstart. This was Ohio State vs.
Tennessee last year. A blue-blood SEC team getting boat-raced-and yet, there was no national hand-wringing about whether Tennessee deserved to be there.
Fast forward to another playoff game. One team scores on six of its first seven possessions.
The other? Five punts and a turnover on downs.
It was 34-0 before halftime. A lopsided, unwatchable blowout.
And again, it wasn’t some Cinderella story getting exposed. It was Ohio State vs.
Oregon-two Power Four heavyweights. Still, no cries of injustice.
No calls to rethink the system.
Now contrast that with what happened this year. Tulane and James Madison both got their shot in the expanded College Football Playoff.
And yes, both got handled. But suddenly, the narrative shifts.
Now it’s, *“See? This is why Group of 6 teams shouldn’t be in the playoff.”
That’s the double standard. When a Power Four team gets blown out, it’s chalked up to a bad day.
When a G6 team takes a loss, it’s used as Exhibit A in the case to keep them out permanently. It’s a mentality that’s not just unfair-it’s corrosive.
It erodes the spirit of competition and inclusivity that college sports are supposed to be about. The power conferences already have every structural advantage-money, recruiting pipelines, TV exposure-and yet some still want to slam the door shut on any team outside their exclusive club.
Let’s be clear: the only reason there were two Group of 6 teams in the playoff this year is because the ACC fumbled its own tiebreaker. Miami, the league’s best team, didn’t even make it to the conference title game.
That allowed James Madison to slide in and take the automatic bid. If the ACC had gotten its act together, Miami gets the auto-bid, and Notre Dame likely grabs the final at-large spot.
And if that had happened? You wouldn’t have heard half the noise we’re hearing now.
But let’s not pretend Notre Dame didn’t have its chances. No team in the country controls its schedule more than the Irish.
They opened the year with two marquee matchups-and lost both. The rest of the slate didn’t offer enough quality wins to make up for it.
Cover a few receivers, nail an extra-point snap, and maybe they’re in. But they didn’t.
That’s on them.
And yes, Tulane and James Madison didn’t help their case on Saturday. But let’s keep it in perspective.
The Dukes lost to Oregon by 17-closer than Tennessee and SMU did in their first-round exits last year. Tulane’s 31-point loss to Ole Miss?
Not as bad as Oklahoma’s 35-point playoff meltdown against LSU a few years back.
Blowouts happen. They’re part of every playoff system, at every level, in every sport.
It’s what you get in a seeded format where top teams host underdogs. And when the field expands to 16 teams-as it inevitably will-those early-round blowouts will become even more common.
That’s not a Group of 6 problem. That’s just how playoffs work.
Look at the NFL. Last year, the Broncos got waxed by the Bills.
The Chargers lost by 20. The Vikings by 18.
No one’s talking about kicking those teams out of the postseason. In fact, the NFC South champ could finish 9-8 and still host a playoff game.
That’s how the system works. And you know what?
Fans still care. They still show up.
They still believe.
It’s the same story at the G6 level. Fans in Denton, Texas.
In Greenville, North Carolina. In Las Vegas.
They were locked in down the stretch, because their teams still had a shot. The playoff chase gave them something real to root for.
And that’s a good thing for college football. More teams with something to play for means more fans engaged, more campuses buzzing, more games that matter.
But the gap between the Haves and Have Nots is only getting wider. The Big 12 pulled in Cincinnati, UCF, Houston, and BYU-four former G6 standouts.
The ACC scooped up SMU. That leaves the top end of the Group of 6 thinner than ever.
Add in NIL deals and the transfer portal, and the G6 is increasingly becoming a farm system for the Power Four. Develop a young star, and odds are he’ll get poached the minute he’s ready to shine.
It’s a tough road. But that doesn’t mean G6 programs shouldn’t have a seat at the table.
Sixty-eight teams make up half of FBS football. They deserve more than a token spot in the playoff.
Blowouts aren’t exclusive to them, and their inclusion doesn’t cheapen the postseason. It strengthens it-by spreading hope, by expanding the map, by reminding us that college football is more than just a handful of bluebloods trading titles.
So let’s not lose sight of what makes this sport great. A playoff that includes Tulane and James Madison isn’t broken. It’s working.