CFP miscommunication strikes again as Group of Six leaders admit they misunderstood key playoff language in signed 2024 MOU that also benefited Notre Dame
One would think college football commissioners would have their postseason strategy figured out before signing an MOU (a Memorandum of Understanding) that locks certain teams into the postseason. The latest blunder is a sign that some are walking into this new era of the CFP either oblivious to future agreements, or they’re just horrible at communicating.
Just last week, it was announced that the CFP would remain at 12 teams after the SEC and Big Ten could not come to an agreement on how many teams would make up a future format.
It would’ve been either 16 or 24 teams, with the Big Ten willing to accept a brief expansion by adding four additional spots, but only if they eventually added twelve more teams to the postseason format.
Obviously, since we are sticking with 12 teams for the 2026-2027 season, an agreement could not be reached in time for ESPN’s deadline, which had already been extended once.
So, we stay at 12 teams, with the Power-4 conference champions receiving an automatic bid into the playoff.
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But, remember when everyone was seemingly caught off-guard by Notre Dame being inserted into the postseason if they were ranked within the Top-12?
That was news to athletic directors across college football, which was, I guess, somehow just magically swept under the rug by conference commissioners for over a year.
Either commissioners from the Big 12, ACC or even the Big Ten just decided to leave that part out of the postseason conversation when discussing future scheduling, or there were a number of AD’s fibbing about their knowledge of Notre Dame signing an MOU in 2024 that guaranteed the Fighting Irish a spot in the CFP next season.
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Who knows, everyone seems to have an opinion on the Fighting Irish, especially when USC used that as a talking point as to why it needed to move around its matchup against Notre Dame in the future.
But, this latest blunder, or episode of miscommunication might be the worst of them all, outside the Notre Dame fan base.
Somehow, Group Of Six Spot Doesn’t Need To Be A Conference Champ
Yes, you read that part right.
Is this MOU that was signed in 2024 so complicated that it takes a forensic analyst to break it down like it’s part of the JFK assassination file from the CIA?
On Tuesday, Chris Vaninni reported that among the changes already established for the 2026 college football playoff, it somehow was a shocking discovery to G-6 members that their spot in the postseason IS NOT required to go to a conference champion.
This means that the G-6, which includes conferences like the AAC, Sun Belt, Conference USA and others, don’t have to just rely on their representative for the CFP to win a league title.
Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey had this to say on Tuesday night regarding the Group of Six conference members not being much of a factor in regard to future College Football playoff format discussions.
Last season, Tulane received a CFP bid for winning the AAC title, while James Madison was awarded a trip to play Oregon after winning the Sun Belt title. The reason why the G-6 received two bids to the postseason centered around both teams being ranked ahead of Duke, which won the ACC title game over Virginia.
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But now? You could have teams like Memphis or Boise State being ranked high enough that they do not need to win the conference title to potentially grab the one CFP bid designated for the Grouo of Six.
Somehow, G-6 members told the Athletic that they had a hard time remembering everything that transpired before signing that VERY important MOU that will come into play for next season. And while they plan on discussing the matter over the next few months at CFP meetings, that’s a pretty big thing to miss in the short term.
I find it hard to believe that the SEC or Big Ten is going to say, “Hey, it’s ok. I know we were putting pressure on you to sign an agreement in 2024, so we’ll allow you to make this small change so that your conference title game isn’t diminished.”
I mean, you might as well ask Notre Dame to back off its automatic spot if ranked within the Top-12, right?
I don’t understand how some of the folks leading conferences can be so oblivious to major changes regarding their future standing in the playoff, but here we are.
Can someone please get everyone on the same page regarding the CFP’s future, because this has passed the point of embarrassing.
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