What must Group of Five teams do to reach College Football Playoff?

1. Finish undefeated and win conference title (then do it again… and again)

This seems like the most elementary, but it must be stated. The Group of Five stipulations just to win the access point into a New Year’s Six bowl requires that a team be a conference champion. For instance, had UCF failed to come back against Memphis, it would have eliminated the Knights from consideration.

Beyond that, however, the Group of Five champion must be undefeated at the end of the season. While a loss or two does no longer disqualifies a team from potentially reaching a New Year’s Six bowl game, it has been only 14 years since Utah busted the BCS for the first time as an undefeated Mountain West champion.

Just as the first chance to play in a major bowl game required a perfect record, so too will a Group of Five champion need to be undefeated to get that first opportunity to try for a national title on the field in the College Football Playoff.

As we’ve seen with UCF this year, though, doing that once isn’t enough. Even doing it twice won’t be enough. A team likely has to string together three straight perfect seasons and a winning streak topping three-dozen games to get a playoff opportunity.