The first two games in the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoff were pretty competitive. The final two games, however, were not.
For FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt, No. 6 Ole Miss‘ 45-10 drubbing of No. 11 Tulane and No. 5 Oregon’s decisive 51-34 victory over No. 12 James Madison put a damper on what should’ve been an exciting weekend for the sport. With Tulane and James Madison losing in the fashion they did, Klatt believes the playoff format needs to be reconsidered.
“It was a tough day for the Group of 5,” Klatt said. “It was a tough day for the creators of this playoff. It was a tough day for the leaders of college football. All of us sat there and were like, ‘How do you continue to screw up what is so obviously an easy fix?’ I think that this playoff is not built right.
“I got into all sorts of hot water this week when I said, ‘In college football, we don’t want Cinderellas.’ I’m right. Did you watch the last two games of the first round? Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Texas and BYU were just sitting at home watching Tulane and JMU play in games in which they were overmatched. That’s not cool.”
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Within the present iteration of the 12-team CFP, the 5 highest-ranked convention champions obtain an automated berth. Within the overwhelming majority of different seasons, the winners of the Energy 4 conferences (ACC, Massive Ten, Massive 12, SEC) and the highest-ranked Group of 5 champ would obtain these automated bids.
This 12 months’s discipline noticed 8-5 Duke throw a wrench into issues by profitable the ACC. Duke wasn’t ranked within the last CFP ballot, whereas No. 20 Tulane (AAC champion) and No. 24 James Madison (Solar Belt champion) have been ranked increased, placing them within the playoff. However, it is value noting there have been noticeable flaws with each groups.
Tulane went 11-2, with one in every of its losses coming in a 35-point blowout to Ole Miss earlier within the season. James Madison, in the meantime, went 12-1 earlier than the CFP, however did not beat an influence convention crew all season lengthy.
With that rule in place, Tulane and JMU made the CFP over Notre Dame and BYU, who have been the eleventh and Twelfth-ranked groups, respectively, within the last CFP ballot. Each groups completed with related data as Tulane and JMU (Notre Dame: 10-2, BYU: 11-2), with every choosing up wins over a crew ranked within the prime 16 of the ultimate ballot.
Ought to Group of 5 Groups get automated bids to CFP? Joel Klatt thinks they should not
Whereas Notre Dame and BYU had higher resumes forward of the CFP, Klatt did not need to blame the Group of 5 groups for the losses. Fairly, he continued to level on the construction of the CFP discipline as the most important problem.
“They do not want our charity. They do not want our pity,” Klatt mentioned. “JMU and Tulane, sadly, at the moment are going to be considered these groups that bought thrown on the market within the School Soccer Playoff. It isn’t their fault. It is the fault of the individuals who constructed this construction, clearly.
“JMU is an efficient soccer crew for what they’re — competing within the Solar Belt, competing for a championship within the Solar Belt, which they gained. Identical for Tulane, to compete within the American, which they gained. That does not imply they’ll go and beat Ole Miss on the highway and beat Oregon on the highway.”
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What occurred with the 2 Group of 5 groups this 12 months was barely totally different than what occurred final season. Boise State was ranked ninth within the last CFP ballot in 2024 after getting a top-25 win and practically beating Oregon on the highway en path to securing a playoff bid. Boise State was capable of hold round with Penn State within the quarterfinals as effectively, with the Nittany Lions solely securing an insurmountable lead late in that sport.
Klatt, although, thinks that groups like Boise State is likely to be the anomaly shifting ahead on the subject of Group of 5 groups.
“They should play in superior shut video games, semifinals and championships. Not go as much as Oregon and get their doorways blown off,” Klatt mentioned. “Credit score to [James Madison], as a result of they stored enjoying onerous and so they scored a couple of instances and performed fairly effectively within the second half. That is superior. Guess why? As a result of that is a proud and good soccer crew for what they’re.
“The Group of 5 and Energy 4 are rising vastly aside. This isn’t the previous days [when] Boise State was like, ‘Oh, they might go and beat anyone on any given day.’ That is not what we’ve got anymore. Because the switch portal opened, what we’ve got are the haves and have-nots. These faculties and that degree of soccer are being raided.”
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So, with that in thoughts, Klatt has a transparent answer as to what ought to be accomplished shifting ahead to keep away from related first-round blowouts: Both have a playoff for the Group of 5 groups, or set the next customary for them to make the CFP.
“Go play your personal playoff, which could possibly be superior, and it could possibly be superior for them,” Klatt mentioned. “If that is not what the answer is, then we want a prerequisite so as to get into the School Soccer Playoff. Identical to the Olympics. Do you know that you have to run an Olympic time earlier than you possibly can then be within the trials and qualify by way of your nation to go and be within the Olympic Video games? Like in monitor and discipline?
“Properly, we want this in faculty soccer. We had the twentieth and Twenty fourth-ranked groups within the nation. If you wish to hold entry for the Group of 5 on this playoff, then simply say in the event you win your championship and also you’re within the prime 15, then you possibly can go play within the School Soccer Playoff. However till then, you simply get what we bought to this weekend. And I did not assume that was honest for Tulane or JMU.”
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