Has the Group of Five Earned Their Stripes?
The CFP quarterfinals are over and all that remains are four teams: Indiana, Oregon, Ole Miss, and Miami. However, we'd like to focus on the losers of these quarterfinals, zoom in on how these P4 teams lost, and how they compare to the G5 losses.
"It's a Safety Issue"
A month ago, on December 8th, 2025, CBS Sports Analyst, Bud Elliot, took to X to voice his discontent about two G5 teams being in the playoffs. Bud Elliot is a host for the number one college football podcast deemed the "Cover 3 Podcast" on Spotify and Apple Music.
When Elliot ran to X, he said, "Football is not every other sport... Physical size/speed is way more important in it." This was in response to a commenter saying that in every other collegiate sport, the conference champion is guaranteed at least a shot at the national title.
Elliot wasn't finished there either. Another responder commented, "That has nothing to do with what he said," in which Elliot responded: "It's literally a safety issue."
With these comments in mind, we should look at the biggest blowouts from the playoffs so far. The Green Wave was on the receiving end of one of these blowouts, as they would get trounced by the Rebels in Oxford, losing 41-10. The 31-point loss would be the biggest margin of victory in the first round of the playoffs, but that would change in the quarterfinal.
A lot of College Football Purists would tell you that the SEC is the best conference in the country. Heading into the playoffs, the CFP had five teams representing the SEC. Now, there is only one team left, Ole Miss. One of the SEC teams that would lose in embarrassing fashion was Alabama, who was picked by two of the three anchors on College Football Gameday.
This same Alabama football team would get humiliated in the Rose Bowl, losing 38-3 against who is probably the best-coached team in the country, Indiana. Not to downplay anything Indiana did, because it is very impressive, but for Alabama and the SEC to be talked about the way they were, you would hope they wouldn't lose by 35-points against their Big-10 counterparts.
Alabama may have had the worst record of all the SEC teams, but they were SEC Championship runner-ups, falling just short of Georgia who also lost this past New Years.
A quarterback at the top of his game, Trinidad Chambliss, also hails from a division two school by the name Ferris State University. Chambliss won the division two national championship with Ferris State, but would leave the year after for Ole Miss. Now, Chambliss is lighting the field on fire at the highest stage with his electric plays.
A "safety issue" may be a hyperbole, but it's way too extreme to even be considered. Maybe we should've been concerned for Alabama's safety as they lost by four more points against Indiana than Tulane did against Ole Miss.
The Absence of Offense
The first game played on New Year's day was a battle of defensive attrition between Oregon and Texas Tech. The first half was capped off by the second of two field goals scored in the first half, giving Oregon a 6-0 lead going into the break.
Texas Tech’s once prolific offense looked like it was being drug through mud the entire game. In the first half alone, the Red Raiders could only muster up 88 total yards of offense. The second half would only give Texas Tech an additional 127-yards, totaling to 215-yards of offense.
To put that into perspective, the Red Raiders averaged over 450-yards and a staggering 39.5-points per game in the regular season. To be held in check shows how prepared the Oregon defense was and how unprepared the Red Raider offense was.
Now, let’s compare that to the only other opponent Oregon faced in the playoffs, James Madison. Let’s keep in mind that James Madison also had to travel to Oregon and play in a hostile environment. Texas Tech on the other hand, had the advantage of playing on a neutral site. Regardless, James Madison doubled Texas Tech’s productivity in the first half, scoring just six points but accumulating 197 total yards of offense.
It wouldn’t be until the second half when the Dukes turned it up a notch. James Madison would score 28-points in the second half, racking up 312-yards of total offense, doubling that of Oregon’s offensive production.
Despite the conditions working against the Dukes (the hostile environment and the lack of a bye week), they were able to completely outperform the Big 12 Champion, who held a top-5 defense and a top-15 offense.
At the End of the Day, G5 is Here to Stay
Despite what the naysayers have to say, Tulane and JMU came out and left it all on the field. Tulane had a rough outing, but even their worst day wasn’t the worst outcome so far in the playoffs. They won their conference, beating several of the top offenses in the country in North Texas and East Carolina.
JMU has shown that the most well coached teams can compete at the top levels. They’ve proved their worth, out-performing the Big 12 Champion against the same opponent in harsher conditions. The Group of Five shouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
Colin has been following football for over a decade. Growing up supporting LSU naturally led him to be a massive Saints fan. He is a regular guest on the Ball Don’t Lie podcast on WBOK-AM in New Orleans as well as Apple Podcasts, where they discuss the NFL, College Football, and the NBA.