Overview
- ESPN ratings showed a steep drop for the G5 first-round games, with Ole Miss–Tulane drawing 6.2 million viewers and Oregon–James Madison 4.4 million on TNT, compared with 14.9 million for Alabama–Oklahoma and 14.8 million for Miami–Texas A&M.
- ESPN’s Paul Finebaum urged excluding G5 teams from future fields, while commentators such as Josh Pate pushed minimum strength-of-schedule standards and floated a separate G5 playoff.
- No. 11 Tulane lost 41–10 to No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 12 James Madison fell 51–34 to No. 5 Oregon, results that renewed scrutiny of automatic access for G5 conference champions in the 12-team format.
- Analyses highlighted structural disadvantages for G5 programs, citing the transfer portal, realignment-driven attrition, and coaching churn, including Tulane’s Jon Sumrall to Florida and JMU’s Bob Chesney to UCLA.
- Commercial considerations are driving the discussion, with lower viewership for G5 games cited by analysts as a reason the College Football Playoff selection rules are likely to be revisited.