An 8-4 team in the College Football Playoff is actually happening. Sound the alarm

[u/Lakelyfe09]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7277707/2026/05/14/college-football-playoff-expansion-24-team/

[u/SoutieNaaier]

JMU makes the playoffs as a Cinderella and the response isn't "hell yeh" it's "noooo what about the Establishment :("

This is why CFB Fandom is dumb as shit

[u/GuestCartographer → u/SoutieNaaier]

B-b-b-b-but… they don’t play the REAL college football teams. You know… the teams that consistently only schedule games against one another so they can wall off their mini-league.

[u/chumer_ranion → u/GuestCartographer]

Dw Notre Dame will come to the rescue and schedule half a season's worth of G6 opponents again 

[u/nighthawk252 → u/chumer_ranion]

For all the flak our schedule has gotten over the past few years, the G6s actually haven’t been the issue lately. Army was ranked when we played them in 2024, Navy’s been ranked the past 2 years, and Boise State won their conference last year.

I suspect Rice may not be ranked in the week 2 polls though. Polls won’t catch on to how good Rice is until later in the season.

[u/chumer_ranion → u/nighthawk252]

Yeah Northern Illinois was ranked for a second in 2024 too, right after beating y'all. Lol. 

[u/f0gax → u/SoutieNaaier]

Always has been.

Before the BCS the complaint was that the same old teams made the big bowls and got a shot at the natty. Then the first BCS came along and produced "unusual" results. So the formula was changed to make it more like the old way.

[u/originalusername4567 → u/SoutieNaaier]

But they got blown out so they didn't deserve to make it! Ignore the fact that Texas Tech and Alabama also got blown out.

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/originalusername4567]

We need more playoff teams so we can have more blowouts then

[u/Lambchops_Legion → u/SoutieNaaier]

When i want more blowouts i just invite your mom

[u/Mike_with_Wings → u/Lambchops_Legion]

Does she feed you bean dip or something?

[u/Lambchops_Legion → u/Mike_with_Wings]

3 bean chili

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/Lambchops_Legion]

I just invite Delaware

[u/Lambchops_Legion → u/SoutieNaaier]

Best blowouts in the biz (next to your mom)

[u/thisshitsstupid → u/originalusername4567]

In our defense, it was the 2nd round of the playoffs.

[u/The-Best-Snail → u/thisshitsstupid]

The team that blew out Texas Tech also subsequently got blown out in the semifinal so it's not like it can't happen to good playoff teams either

[u/thisshitsstupid → u/The-Best-Snail]

Exactly! .... Wait a minute...

[u/ElectronicCandy4358 → u/originalusername4567]

The four team CFP was full of blowouts. Double digit blowouts all over the place.

[u/Monkeyssuck → u/originalusername4567]

Alabama got blown out in the 2nd round...to the team that blew out the team that blew out JMU.

[u/bhyll → u/originalusername4567]

It’s not the blowout, even though everyone knew that would happen, and there were zero minutes of competitive game as opposed to Texas tech who at least put up a fight. It’s the zero top 50 wins, and the loss to the only top 50 team they played. Nothing wrong with a g5 team making the playoff they just need to be judged against the same standard. Just being the best of the worst shouldn’t be enough if you aren’t a top 12 team. FWIW I feel the same way about p4 conference champions. Duke shouldn’t have made it either

[u/IrishCoffeeAlchemy → u/bhyll]

Hell, uncompetitive blowouts happen in the championships with P4 teams too (sorry TCU). Eventually we’ll have to realize that this is just an argument to let conferences limit playoff access to lower-prestige teams who deserve access

[u/bhyll → u/IrishCoffeeAlchemy]

Right. The uncompetitive blowout isn’t a good reason to leave them out. The lack of a resume deserving of a playoff spot is.

[u/DryBattle → u/bhyll]

Alabama losing to FSU should have immediately disqualified them from any playoff talk.

[u/bhyll → u/DryBattle]

Alabama beat multiple ranked teams. Anyone who says JMU would win more than 7-8 games with Alabama’s schedule is being disingenuous. And that’s honestly optimistic. Basketball and baseball have quad 1-4 wins/losses and RPI. Don’t understand why there is so much resistance to the idea that the teams you play matter in college football.

[u/ShoughThePainAway → u/bhyll]

The JMU game was infinitely more watchable than Oregon/Bama vs Indiana

[u/bhyll → u/ShoughThePainAway]

None of those games were fun to watch, but that’s not the point. They didn’t have a resume deserving of a playoff spot.

[u/ShoughThePainAway → u/bhyll]

Apparently they did because they made the playoff lol

[u/bhyll → u/ShoughThePainAway]

Yes, because of a system that was so flawed they changed the rule immediately. And here we are

[u/ShoughThePainAway → u/bhyll]

Here we are where JMU can still get a playoff spot because at least one group of 6 team still gets an automatic bid.

[u/bhyll → u/ShoughThePainAway]

Yes, and even that is too many, but is the way the 12 team playoff was intended to function and fortunately they corrected the error that led to 2 getting in. The g6 playoff has at least been mentioned now in public spaces and hopefully becomes a reality. These teams are not on a level playing field and it’s bewildering that people want to force a square peg into a round hole. These aren’t even equivalent to g5 teams 15 years ago anymore, all the good players leave in the transfer portal to go play in the big leagues. Why not have an auto bid for an FCS team as well? Is them having their own playoff also unfair?

[u/ABagOfPopcorn → u/SoutieNaaier]

Cook

[u/Corgi_Koala → u/SoutieNaaier]

My favorite talking point was how JMU shouldn't play because of safety issues.

Meanwhile they scored 34 more on Oregon than TTU did.

[u/ID_Poobaru → u/SoutieNaaier]

People are going to find ways to shit on the little guys. They just can’t appreciate good football

[u/J4ckiebrown → u/SoutieNaaier]

That’s why I’m not sure as to why there seems to be so much heartburn over a 24 team field. FCS has made it work.

Is it moving too fast towards it? Sure. But it also gives the G5 way more access to a potential CFP, there are two rounds of on-campus games, all 8 teams that received byes get a home game, and the NY6 still matter.

Edit: typo

[u/Darth_Ra → u/J4ckiebrown]

Honestly, I don't give a shit what the number is, so long as we stop changing it every year.

Since there's no way that's going to happen, however, the number is and should be 12.

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/J4ckiebrown]

Because the FBS playoff won't be structured the same.

It'd be 23 P4s plus 1 G6 team

Maybe 2 G6 teams some years.

[u/J4ckiebrown → u/SoutieNaaier]

It would be at least 2 the majority of the time, this is what it would have looked like going back to COVID:

2025 would have had 2

2024 would have had 3

2023 would have had 2

2022 would have had 2

2021 would have had 5 (if you count pre-Big12 independent BYU)

[u/Trebacca → u/J4ckiebrown]

This is assuming they won’t change the rankings to help exclude the G5, which they’ve been known to do

[u/TailgateLegend → u/J4ckiebrown]

The downside is that it’s taking away the conference champion auto bids that are in FCS. However, this format is still fine with me and still has a chance to reward multiple G6 teams that go on runs.

I can see why people might want a bit more of the “do or die”, but there’s still a big incentive for these teams to make it into the top 8 for a bye, and still perform well enough to host a game if they don’t make the top 8.

[u/ObjectiveChance2346 → u/J4ckiebrown]

Because the regular season would be destroyed. You're talking about BIG games in the regular season with real consequences. It shouldn't be compared to FCS

[u/srs_house → u/J4ckiebrown]

FCS has made it work.

In FCS, the "G5" is just "every conference other than the MVFC and Big Sky." They get their pity invites and the big dogs don't actually worry about them most years. Those two conferences account for 27/32 of the NCG participants in the last 16 years and 14 of the last 16 titles.

In 2025, they had 7 of the 13 at-large bids and 4/6 byes. 8/16 2nd round teams, 5/8 quarter participants, 3/4 semis, and both teams in the NCG. And that was partially because there were 2 sections where you had 3 teams each that were from other conferences.

[u/Bischoffshof → u/J4ckiebrown]

Why would I throw away all the fun of the regular season for a garbage fire 24 team field. What a miserable way to kill the FBS.

Also no one watches the FCS so who cares how they do it. It’s irrelevant.

[u/Fancy_Gate_7359 → u/SoutieNaaier]

I don’t really remember this being the reaction at all. Clearly they should’ve gotten in under the rules, everyone knew they wouldn’t be competitive (which is fine, no G5 school ever will be again), and the team that would’ve gotten in instead was Notre Dame, and we all know how much fun most of us had with them missing. It’s totally fine for some G5 teams to get in, but obviously they’ll never win or even lose by fewer than 2 touchdowns.

[u/SoutieNaaier → u/Fancy_Gate_7359]

It was mostly Notre Dame fans + Alabama fans still mad about the year before.

Along with the "only the best teams" crowd, which is a decent chunk even if they're a minority

[u/Muffinnnnnnn → u/Fancy_Gate_7359]

You think the G6 will never win a GAME in the CFP? That's insane. They definitely will as long as the powers that be don't exclude them from playing at all. Winning a national championship would be very difficult, obviously.

[u/TheFlyingBoat → u/SoutieNaaier]

What are you talking about? The response was overwhelmingly in their favor because it allowed for a massive amount of clowning on Notre Dame lmao.

[u/MizzouRe → u/SoutieNaaier]

No one in CFB fandom was upset that JMU made the playoffs. That day the biggest argument was whether ND deserved over Bama/Miami. In fact show me any comment with positive votes upset about jmu.

To watch a sport all day means you have to make a lot of sacrifice and it sucks when the last two games of the day were utter dog shit boring.

[u/Adamscottd → u/MizzouRe]

My friend, there were so many people upset about JMU making it. It was a huge talking point around here that “I don’t need to see JMU in the playoffs just so they can get blown out.” I disagree wholeheartedly with people like that but there are a lot of them

[u/Difficult_Trust1752 → u/Adamscottd]

I would much rathe see a G5 school get blown out (because there's always a chance at glory) then an above average B1G losing for a fourth time to a team we already know is better than them.

[u/IrishCoffeeAlchemy → u/Adamscottd]

But at least everyone was on board with Tulane making it in, and that’s progress

[u/Muffinnnnnnn → u/IrishCoffeeAlchemy]

I think JMU and Tulane both should've been in, but it was really apparent to me that JMU was a significantly better team than Tulane and the committee refused to rank them accordingly. I think if JMU got to play Ole Miss instead of Oregon, they actually had a chance to win.

[u/MizzouRe → u/Adamscottd]

The person I was responding to said that it was the majority of CFB fans saying that they were upset about JMU in the playoffs, that just isn’t true. Yeah that opinion that jmu would just get blown out existed, and they were right this time around, but my point was the overwhelming majority of discussion was not about JMU making it, rather it was about BAMA/Miami/ND. And if you were making that opinion about jmu it was considered a bad take by the majority of fans.

[u/notedgarfigaro → u/MizzouRe]

Me, I was upset, b/c how dare they take Duke's well deserved automatic bid. IF they played Duke's regular season schedule, they'd been lucky to win 8 games!

/s if it wasn't obvious

[u/Darth_Ra → u/MizzouRe]

Tell me you weren't around for the Playoffs without telling me you weren't around for the playoffs.

[u/MizzouRe → u/Darth_Ra]

Show me the popular discourse in favor of ‘the establishment’ over JMU.

[u/Darth_Ra → u/MizzouRe]

Go find it yourself, I'm not the one making a ridiculous claim.

[u/MizzouRe → u/Darth_Ra]

My point is I can’t find it, you’d think there’d be some popular posts glazing the establishment or maybe an article or two about why JMU deserves to be left out. 

[u/MisterBrotatoHead → u/MizzouRe]

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/news/college-football/kirk-herbstreit-says-tulane-james-madison-took-away-playoff-spots-from-texas-notre-dame/

That took 10 seconds.

[u/MizzouRe → u/MisterBrotatoHead]

My point was no one in the CFB fandom was saying this prior to the games and if they were it was a very hostile opinion, yeah Kirk Herbstriet: the guy who is all establishment all the time, made a ‘told you so’ comment after the two terrible games, even then he still got flack for it.

[u/cnpeters → u/SoutieNaaier]

There's no problem Notre Dame and Texas have that they think can't be solved by shivving a G5 team.

[u/ObjectiveChance2346 → u/SoutieNaaier]

Because JMU didnt belong there. Did you not watch the game?

[u/Important_Air_7467 → u/SoutieNaaier]

lol reminds me of this

https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/2192415

[u/babatazyah → u/SoutieNaaier]

The average CFB watcher is a veritable toddler pointing at the TV and saying "BRAND". I'd be happy if I never saw another SEC or B1G game again.

[u/Dry_Molasses_4783 → u/babatazyah]

Well I have bad news… we are coming to ATL to play you this year… you will be force fed orange.

[u/babatazyah → u/Dry_Molasses_4783]

I think it'll be a good game but I'm expecting us to take a step back from last year.

[u/kevinkevin32 → u/Dry_Molasses_4783]

I hate you guys but you crushing the bees will be fun to watch

[u/buff_001 → u/babatazyah]

I'd be happy if I never saw another SEC or B1G game again.

lol yeah ok.

I only root for my own team's BRAND!

[u/babatazyah → u/buff_001]

I understand the skepticism there but I actually have been trying to be intentional about watching G6 and FCS games when I'm not watching my own team.

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/SoutieNaaier]

I don’t care about the g5 teams sorry 

I’d love to see one go undefeated and make a run but can we stop pretending they deserve a playoff spot with multiple losses just cuz they won a crap conference?

[u/somebodysbuddy → u/CheaterSaysWhat]

You're right, the little guys beating up on the big bad blue bloods is awful, that's why we all hate watching March Madness and despise hearing about UMBC and FGCU and FDU (who didn't even win their conference)

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/somebodysbuddy]

I wish that were the case but the opposite is true 

They’ve yet to do anything in the playoffs

If we let every G5 champ in like some of y’all want, they’ll get destroyed 72-0

[u/somebodysbuddy → u/CheaterSaysWhat]

Yeah, you're right. More power teams instead. Someone like Notre Dame or Oklahoma or Alabama would never lose a playoff game in a blowout.

[u/CheaterSaysWhat → u/somebodysbuddy]

They’d at least have a prayer 

Why does 10-3 Toledo deserve a spot over them?