EUGENE, Oregon – As Wayne Knight approached the line of scrimmage, Oregon defenders pushed James Madison’s offensive line back and inched closer. Knight had no choice but to escape with the ball to his right.
One more Oregon defender stood between Knight and a lot of open field. JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III recognized this and dashed toward that defender. The QB made a perfect block, and Knight scampered for a 24-yard run to midfield.
Among tens of thousands of thunderous Oregon fans, JMU’s faithful that traveled across the country could be heard from the southwest corner of Autzen Stadium.
For just a moment, JMU looked like it had a shot at pulling off another improbable feat – going on the road and defeating a powerhouse program. But that feeling dissipated.
False starts. Missed tackles. Burned defenders. It all led to No. 12-seeded James Madison (12-2) falling 51-34 against No. 5 Oregon (12-1) in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday.
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It was an uplifting story of JMU, a program that was in the FCS just a half decade ago, earning a spot on the most substantial stage in college football. But where the tale landed was far from heartwarming, at least for the underdog anyway.
James Madison’s fall, and especially the way the Dukes lost, just gives more fuel for the loudest voices and most powerful people in sports media to make overreactionary changes to the sport.
The moment JMU’s logo appeared on televisions across America during the College Football Playoff Selection Show, debate engulfed social media about whether the Dukes and Tulane, another G5 team that earned the 11th seed in the CFP, should be in the field.
As the format stands now, the top-five highest ranked FBS conference champions qualify for the CFP with seven at-large bids going to the next-highest ranked teams. One would think that means the winners of the Power Four leagues would get in, so that would lead to one guaranteed spot for a Group of Five program.
And this format has been established for a while. But it wasn’t a problem then.
Clemson got into the 12-team CFP field last season as a 16 seed after winning the ACC. But it wasn’t a problem then.
It was only a problem when two G5 teams made this year’s field.
And JMU losing the way it did to Oregon, just hours after Tulane lost to Ole Miss 41-10, is only going to worsen this debate.
Here’s my hot take: Let’s not overreact.
That isn’t very cool or interesting or compelling in today’s climate, is it? But to me it’s the most logical way to go about this.
Two G5 teams only made the field because a 7-5 Duke team made the ACC Championship and upset Virginia. But the ACC has already addressed its tiebreakers, which means the odds of two G5 programs making the CFP in its current format is minimal going forward.
And that’s even if the CFP maintains this format. There’s already been discussions about expanding the field and altering rules related to the teams that make it as early as next year.
Should the Group of Five – or Group of Six next season – still earn a spot in the CFP? Even after these blowouts?
My argument there doesn’t change after Saturday’s results.
In the College Football Playoff era going into the week, the average margin of victory in the national championship was 19.3 points. There hasn’t been a one-score national championship since 2018. Five of the 11 championships have been decided by 21-plus points, six of those 11 have been three-score games. And none of those games included G5 teams.
In 2024, the first season with a 12-team field, the first round alone featured two games with large scoring discrepancies. Tennessee vs. Ohio State, the No. 9 seed playing the No. 8 seed in a matchup which should’ve been the closest on paper, was a 42-17 win for Ohio State.
So a blowout shouldn’t be the reason for making sweeping changes to the CFP or barring anyone from the field.
Beyond that, I believe the spirit of the sport hinges on the inclusion of a G5 team.
James Madison is the perfect example. The Dukes are the best story in the CFP. They made the FCS-to-FBS jump and became one of the best teams in the G5 almost instantly.
A sport like college football, which is different from the NFL because of its absurdities and traditions, should relish in the inclusion of a team like JMU. And the chance that one G5 team could do what JMU did keeps that entire subset of fandoms engaged in their teams as well as in what the rest of the country is doing because of the hope that it could do what JMU just did.
No matter the score, that’s worth fighting for.
