Since the playoff field was announced, there has been quite a lot of backlash about why Tulane and James Madison are part of the playoff field over teams like Notre Dame, Texas, and BYU. What people are quick to forget is that allowing a guaranteed spot for the top Group of Six team into the college football playoff is what makes college sports great.
People remember the most unlikely of upsets, and if either the Dukes or Green Wave pulls off the unthinkable on Saturday will forever be remembered by the fans. People will argue all day that we should be seeing the best 12 teams in the field to give us the most competitive matchups, but it is as important to me for all FBS teams to technically have an opportunity to be part of the playoff field. It gives programs extra hope and allows them to have more purpose when getting ready for the football season.
Sure, we are very unlikely to see an upstart team to make a deep playoff run, but even an upset in the first round will always be fondly remembered by those who love the game. Remember, we will again see two G6 teams make the playoff in the same year, as I am sure the ACC will shore up their tiebreaker situation, so there is no chance for their conference winner to ever be left out of the playoff.
The argument against teams like Tulane or James Madison is that their schedule is weaker, they won't be able to compete in their first-round matchups, and they will never be true title contenders. I will counter that argument by saying, outside of possibly Notre Dame, who is another team on the outside that could have run the table this year?
Also, for an experience for the players and fans of said program a trip to the playoff will mean much more to these G6 programs and forever be remembered no matter what happens in the game.
It seems like expansion talks continue, and the college football system continues to change, so there will be a push to get rid of the automatic qualification for the top team out of the G6. College sports are built on the little guy finding success, and though there will never be a run like we have seen during March Madness, to eliminate the opportunity for a team to be included in the playoff field overall would be a bad look. The Power four teams have plenty of opportunity to make the playoff field, and sometimes they have to accept that in certain years, it just is not their time.