The College Football Playoff could be better.
Indiana’s dramatic season and win over Miami proved the playoffs should include only teams that have a chance to win the national championship, not two teams that are in the field for political reasons and deny two other worthy Power 4s of having spots.
With 10 teams that all justifiably make the field, it is disingenuous to include two other schools with no chance to win a game, let alone the championship, while powers like Notre Dame get left out by a system that is heavily flawed.
Whatever reasons two Group of 5 conference champions can get in, they have no chance to win a game. It is far different than allowing some Cinderellas into the 68-team NCAA basketball tournament, because those David versus Goliaths add drama to the early rounds.
Sure, James Madison and Tulane had great football seasons but having them join the 12-team field just stirs up more controversy, and it will get worse every year with the transfer portal in full play.
Like Indiana rebuilt its program with a dozen of JMU’s best players following coach Curt Cignetti to Bloomington, that has already made the Group of 5 more irrelevant. Every major college now identifies and recruits the best mid-major players who enter the portal.
So the Group of 5 will continue to be competitive at their own level, but every school will get weaker by not being able to replace quality transfers they lose. Those league champions who get into the CFP will be bigger blowout mismatches for any top major college power.
Look at the score of JMU and Tulane games in the first round. The Dukes’ were behind Oregon 34-6 at the half, and the Ducks clearly let up in the second half of the 51-34 final score. It was even worse for Tulane, which got crushed 41-10 by Ole Miss, which was trying to prove it could win without departed head coach Lane Kiffin. So the Green Wave finished the season 11-3 when 12-2 would have been better had they instead played in a bowl game. Same for JMU, which could have won a bowl and finished 13-1.
The power brokers in college football surely realize they are helping heavily favored teams in the first round with essentially practice games that get them ready for the quarterfinals against teams with byes, where this season fifth seed Oregon defeated No. 4 seed Texas Tech and sixth seed Ole Miss upset No. 3 seed Georgia.
Meanwhile, angry Notre Dame was left out and turned down a major bowl bid and finished the season 10-2, concentrating instead on an early start in recruiting to make the Irish good enough for the 2026 College Football Playoff.
Whether or not the CFP honchos expand it to 14 of 16 teams, they have to realize that Group of 5 mid majors make the field farcical.
chapelboroaudio.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/2026/01%20-%20January/20/Art%27s%20Notebook%20012026%20-%20FINAL.mp3
Featured image via Associated Press/Lynne Sladky
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Chansky’s Notebook: Farcical Field Chapelboro.com.
Hence then, the article about chansky s notebook farcical field was published today ( ) and is available on chapelboro ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Chansky’s Notebook: Farcical Field )
Also on site :
- Rangers’ Cody Bradford Targeting Return In May From Elbow Surgery
- Hundreds of flights delayed at O'Hare after pipe burst at air traffic control tower
- Trump mocks Macron after Gaza ‘peace board’ snub