Joel Klatt doubles down on idea that G5 teams shouldn't be given access to College Football Playoff

The Group of Five has once again sparked a debate around the sport coming out of the first round of the College Football Playoff. Joel Klatt is now the latest analyst to address it, and what it could mean for their future, namely in the postseason, down in the G5.

Klatt discussed the Group of Five, coming off uncompetitive losses for Tulane and James Madison on Saturday in the opening round of the CFP, during his show on Sunday. He thought it was a bad look for that level of collegiate football, and maybe even a worse one for those that designed the playoff in such a way that allowed it to happen.

“Saturday was a tough day for the Group of Five. It was a tough day for the creators of this playoff. It was a tough day for the leaders of college football. Because all of us sit there, and you’re like, how do you continue to screw up what is so obviously, you know, like, an easy fix?” Klatt said. “I think that this playoff is not built right. You guys know that. I got in all sorts of hot water this week when I said, hey, in college football, we don’t want Cinderellas. And, like, I’m right. Did you watch the last two games of the first round? Of course, I’m right.”

Klatt made points that are alike to the ones made by all those who are currently in favor for there being a better way to represent the Group of Five. Through two years of the expanded model, those teams have not been put into position to even compete, due to the difference in competition between the two levels, while teams of a higher caliber, who are likelier to have contended had they been in the field, are left at home to watch what have been three playoff losses so far the past two years by an average margin of -21.7 points for those teams from the G5.

“Notre Dame, and Vanderbilt, and Texas, and BYU were just sitting at home watching Tulane and JMU play in games in which they were overmatched. Like, that’s not cool. That’s not like, oh, yay, look at us, look at the access we’re giving. Like, they don’t need our charity. They don’t need our pity,” said Klatt. “JMU and Tulane, unfortunately, are now going to be thought of as like, oh, yeah, they were just those teams that got out there, you know, thrown out there in the College Football Playoff, and it’s not their fault. It’s the fault of the people that built this structure, obviously. You see, JMU is a good football team – for what they are, competing in the Sun Belt, competing for a championship in the Sun Belt, which they won. Same for Tulane – to compete in the American, which they won. But that doesn’t mean that they can go and beat Ole Miss on the road, and beat Oregon on the road. It doesn’t mean that any Group of Five team (can).”

“The Group of Five and the Power Four are growing vastly apart. This is not the old days where Boise State was like, oh, they could go and beat anybody on any given day. That’s not what we have anymore. Since the transfer portal opened, what we have is the haves and the have-nots. And, guess what? Those schools and that level of football is being raided,” Klatt continued. “Every single time the transfer portal opens, those big programs from around the country? They go down there, and every single all-conference player in the Sun Belt, and in the MAC, and in the American, and in the Mountain West? Those Power Four programs go and comb over that tape and, if you can play, they offer you, and they try to go down there and get you. That might be tampering, but that’s what goes on. That’s the truth. And so, the gap between the Group of Five and the Power Four is large, it’s never been larger and it will only grow larger. How do we not understand that? And, guess what? They’re doing that with the coaches as well. Look at all these guys that brought their team to the playoff? They’re all going to the Power Four.”

So, what’s the fix? Well, Klatt was the latest to suggest a playoff just for the programs in the Group of Five. He also made the similar suggest to others that, if they want to be in the actual field, G5s will have to have met a certain prerequisite of some kind, beyond just winning their conference title, to justify themselves being in the CFP.

“It’s better for them if they can go and play their own playoff. Maybe we can make even a little bit more revenue – incentivize them, subsidize it, give them the same money that they would have gotten in the College Football Playoff and earmark that money towards putting on a national championship. And then, guess what? You’ve got more inventory that television networks would buy. What are we doing? What are we doing?” said Klatt. “They deserve that. They deserve to go play in awesome, close games in semifinals and championships. Not to go up to Oregon and get their doors blown off. And, listen, credit to them, because they kept playing hard, and they scored a few times there and played pretty well in the second half. And, like, that’s awesome. Guess why? Because that’s a proud and good football team – for what they are.”

“So, how do we fix this? Well, my solution, one, go play your own playoff, which could be awesome and it could be awesome for them. And, if that’s not what the solution is, then we need a prerequisite in order to get into the College Football Playoff. Just like the Olympics,” continued Klatt. “Did you know that you’ve got to run an Olympic time before you can then be in the trials and then qualify through your country and go and be in the Olympic Games? Like, in track and field, there’s like a prerequisite for a time. There’s like a minimum time that you have to run your, I don’t know, 400 in. Let’s just say it’s the 400, and there’s a minimum 400 time. And, once you hit the Olympic qualifying time prerequisite, then you can go into the trials in your country, and win your trials, and then go and compete in the Olympic Games. Well, we need this in college football – obviously…If you want to keep access for Group of Five into this playoff, then just say, if you win your championship, and you’re in the top-fifteen, then you can go play in the College Football Playoff. But, until then, then you just get what we got this weekend, and I didn’t think that was fair for Tulane and I didn’t think that was fair for JMU.”

“If you want to keep them in the College Football Playoff, there should be a prerequisite ranking that they have to achieve in order to get in. That’s pretty simple,” said Klatt. “Now, the more difficult conversation, but the better result, is to say, hey, let’s go create a Group of Five national championship, a playoff for them. Sell that to the networks, grow revenue, grow valuable inventory, and then those players can be on stages where they can succeed and compete with their peers. I don’t see how that is that crazy. It’s not crazy, actually. I know that it’s quite good.”

This conversation can be a bit of an uncomfortable one, as some obviously don’t want to look at all the programs in the Group of Five and separate them that far from what those in the Power Four are doing despite all of them being part of the FBS. However, Klatt says that conversation needs to be had around college football when it comes to the G5.

“The problem in college football is, and always has been, that we are unwilling to have difficult conversations in college football – unwilling. We’re unwilling to do so. It’s been a good ‘ole boys network for a long time. And, those that have power? They don’t want to use it in a way that would demean or hurt other people within the sport, and maybe that’s noble. That might be noble. But, what I do know is that we don’t have difficult conversations in this sport,” said Klatt. “We need to have a frank conversation about the Group of Five and their inclusion into the College Football Playoff.”