‘Not even playing the same sport’: Why Group of Five football teams should go their own way

Some in the Group of Five point to Tulane’s 46-45 Cotton Bowl win after the 2022 season as proof they can compete with the best. Truth is, since 2021, the American Conference, up until last year the strongest of the G5 conferences, is 8-51 against the Power Four plus Notre Dame.

North Texas Coach Eric Morris sees the iceberg. It’s dead ahead and there’s no way to avoid it.

The prudent thing to do is get off the ship, which Morris wants to do but which almost none of his Group of Five colleagues would even consider. In fact, in the G5, which consists of the American, C-USA, the MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt, such talk is almost considered heresy.

The iceberg in this case is the Big Ten and SEC with a nod to the ACC and Big 12. They have become the dominant powers in college football and, especially in the case of the Big Ten and SEC, are only going to get stronger in the coming years.

While the G5 conferences like to pretend they can compete with anybody, the fact is that ever since 2021, when NIL and unrestricted transfers went into effect, the G5, which has always been a notch below the four majors, has now been relegated to permanent second-string status.

Statements like that produce howls of resentment from within the G5. Administrators — and some coaches, who should know better — point to Tulane’s 46-45 Cotton Bowl win after the 2022 season as proof they can compete with the best.

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The fact is they can’t. Since 2021, the American, up until last year the strongest of the G5 conferences, is 8-51 against the Power Four plus Notre Dame.

Furthermore, it is difficult for Power 4 teams to get motivated when they play someone from the G5 because they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. That’s why most of these games are played…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/not-even-playing-same-sport-163014371.html

Author : The Ledger

Publish date : 2024-05-23 16:30:14

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