Is it time for a G5 Champions Cup?

[GoldenEagleAztec]

Just now, Hugh Jiddump said:

The MW needs to be represented by a school that can handle its business vs. The Sunbelt.

#SJS

#STFUSUDS

Yet,  your school was dominated, just like Cincy, by the very school fhat lost to a Sunbelt team.

#PagingFalesb4Carr

 

[masterfrog]

25 minutes ago, I am Ram said:

I oppose this idea for the simple reason that it would endorse and add legitimacy to the P5/G5 division. 

Doesn't the current playoff system add legitimacy to that?  How about the contracts that the Big 10 and Pac 12 have to play in the Rose Bowl or the Big 12 and the SEC in the Sugar Bowl?

[HighNTight_SD]

32 minutes ago, I am Ram said:

Au contraire. There are about a dozen ways to re-level the playing field for at least some of the current "G5" schools. Many others will probably just be better off cutting football or playing at a less expensive level than D1 FBS. 

LoL ... forgive me, I forgot that CSU is Big XII bound.

Of course, expansion of the CFP to 8 teams would be ideal, but how is that different from G5 champions playing each other? As masterfrog points out ... one way for the G5 to level the playing field is to push for contract bowls for their champions on NYE/NYD. The resource conferences will not willingly allow the G5 to level the field, so how many of these "dozen ways to re-level the playing field" can you name?

IMHO the separation is active and underway. 5-7 P5 teams are displacing G5 champions from better bowls, how long until they find a way to relegate the entire G5? Which will happen first ... the P5 to cannibalize itself into the P4 or the leveling of the playing field between the P5 & G5? 

[since1670]

"There are about a dozen ways to re-level the playing field for at least some of the current "G5" schools."

Please, elaborate.

[WindowCoug]

SDSU deserved a much better bowl game.  I think a game against a .500 P5 team is much better than playing a Sunbelt champion though.

I can see partnering with other conferences for a late season "championship" game with the top 2 teams if they thought it might launch a team into the playoff.  When a team is outside of the P5 it's a crap shoot to get a SoS tough enough to consider getting into the playoff, so it would probably not be worth considering.

[Pokes Forever]

Bowl games for Conference Champions????? How about if we put the MWC Champ in the Las Vegas Bowl?

[Jack Bauer]

2 hours ago, WindowCoug said:

SDSU deserved a much better bowl game.  I think a game against a .500 P5 team is much better than playing a Sunbelt champion though.

I can see partnering with other conferences for a late season "championship" game with the top 2 teams if they thought it might launch a team into the playoff.  When a team is outside of the P5 it's a crap shoot to get a SoS tough enough to consider getting into the playoff, so it would probably not be worth considering.

Why?  They lost three games early on.  They were playing well at the end of the year against MWC opponents, but the MWC had a bad year this year.

[MWC Tex]

Since the MW champ is playing for the Access Bowl, I would not mind a 'champions' bowl with CUSA (MAC possible but feel more CUSA schools have a bigger fan base). 

But the date would have to be Jan. 1 with an OTA provider as there is hardly any broadcast bowl games anymore since EPSN has them all.  I could see the American Sports Networks showing it to start.   The best bowl possibility would be the Arizona Bowl since it is not owned by ESPN or under any other parent bowl (like the Poinsettia who is under the Holiday).  There is already a tie-in with CUSA.  CUSA has some flexibility for their champ to play in a bowl they prefer, so it could be possible to send the best MW team after the Access Bowl to AZ bowl against a W. Kentucky.    Notice W. Kentucky could have chosen to play in the HOD bowl against Washington but choose to play against S. Florida from the AAC. (Last year Marshall choose to play against the MAC champ NIU instead of the Illinois).

We play plenty of P5 schools in the OOC which counts much more than playing a beat-up, limping along P5 school in a low tier bowl game.

 

 

[GoCoAztec]

10 hours ago, Jack Bauer said:

Why?  They lost three games early on.  They were playing well at the end of the year against MWC opponents, but the MWC had a bad year this year.

The MWC Champion should always have a better bowl game than against the #6 from another G5 conference.

'

 

[I am Ram]

19 hours ago, masterfrog said:

Doesn't the current playoff system add legitimacy to that?  How about the contracts that the Big 10 and Pac 12 have to play in the Rose Bowl or the Big 12 and the SEC in the Sugar Bowl?

Of course. But there is a difference between a playoff system that was created for and by the major college programs and a G5 Championship, which basically tells the world that the not-so-cool kids have accepted their fate. No one will gain anything from further cementing the P5/G5 distinction.

The main reason I am saying this is that the line between P5 and G5 is more arbitrary and fluid than most people recognize. There are plenty of struggling P5 schools, and there are G5 schools that will probably move up. 

[I am Ram]

19 hours ago, HighNTight_SD said:

LoL ... forgive me, I forgot that CSU is Big XII bound.

Of course, expansion of the CFP to 8 teams would be ideal, but how is that different from G5 champions playing each other? As masterfrog points out ... one way for the G5 to level the playing field is to push for contract bowls for their champions on NYE/NYD. The resource conferences will not willingly allow the G5 to level the field, so how many of these "dozen ways to re-level the playing field" can you name?

IMHO the separation is active and underway. 5-7 P5 teams are displacing G5 champions from better bowls, how long until they find a way to relegate the entire G5? Which will happen first ... the P5 to cannibalize itself into the P4 or the leveling of the playing field between the P5 & G5? 

What makes you think the P5 will remain static from here on? We may have a P6 in a couple years. Or a drastically different looking P5. There are plenty of schools who want to play big ball, and the system isn't going to reject someone who has success and can generate money. At the same time, there are P5 programs that have been struggling forever and may at some point decide nit to participate in the whole circus anymore.

There is a tendency among college sports fans to overrate the importance of high-level athletics for universities, especially the notion that athletics drives academic reputation. But the university landscape will change drastically over the next decade with traditional US universities having to compete more and more with universities abroad and non-traditional school types. American universities other than Harvard, Standford, MIT, etc. have dropped dramatically in international rankings. Not because they are getting worse, but because universities worldwide are understanding how to play the ranking game. In order to remain competitive and seeing how the US is unwilling to support its public universities, schools will have to make tough choices. 

[HighNTight_SD]

2 hours ago, I am Ram said:

What makes you think the P5 will remain static from here on? We may have a P6 in a couple years. Or a drastically different looking P5. There are plenty of schools who want to play big ball, and the system isn't going to reject someone who has success and can generate money. At the same time, there are P5 programs that have been struggling forever and may at some point decide nit to participate in the whole circus anymore.

There is a tendency among college sports fans to overrate the importance of high-level athletics for universities, especially the notion that athletics drives academic reputation. But the university landscape will change drastically over the next decade with traditional US universities having to compete more and more with universities abroad and non-traditional school types. American universities other than Harvard, Standford, MIT, etc. have dropped dramatically in international rankings. Not because they are getting worse, but because universities worldwide are understanding how to play the ranking game. In order to remain competitive and seeing how the US is unwilling to support its public universities, schools will have to make tough choices. 

That is an awful lot of words to say that you have no idea in regards to your claim of a "dozen ways to re-level the playing field" ...

I will ask again, which will happen first: The P5 cannibalizes itself into the P4 or the leveling of the playing field between the P5 & G5?

[Swedish]

The only way something like this would work is if the higher ranked team was allowed to host the playoff game. Otherwise we would have empty stadiums. I like the idea. I think our conferences best hope moving forward is somehow if the current playoff expands to 12 or 16 teams them our conference would get an automatic bid. If it moved to 12 teams we could have the champion from each of the P5, the three highest ranked champions from the G5 and four at large bids.