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The 2026 change is that the Group of 6 bid now goes to the highest-ranked G6 team, even if it didn't win its conference. Several other format changes came with it.
What changed
In 2024 and 2025, there were no conference-specific bids. The five highest-ranked conference champions, from any conference, received automatic bids. That is how two G6 champions, Tulane and James Madison, reached the CFP last season.
For 2026, the field is still 12 teams, but the qualifiers are split up:- Power 4: The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC champions get automatic bids regardless of ranking.
- Group of 6: The highest-ranked team from the American, CUSA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, or Sun Belt gets an automatic bid, whether or not it is a conference champion.
- Notre Dame: If it is ranked inside the top 12, it also gets an automatic bid, which could push out a higher-ranked at-large team.
- Pac-12: The league is new to this group. It was formerly part of the Power 5 and is now counted among the Group of 6 conferences.
Where the rule came from, and the confusion over it
The rule comes from a memorandum of understanding signed in March 2024. When the CFP announced in January that the field would stay at 12, many outlets reported that the G6 bid would go to the top-ranked G6 champion. Front Office Sports was one of them. Chris Vannini of The Athletic then reported that the G6 qualifier does not have to be a conference champion. OutKick described G6 leaders as having misunderstood key playoff language in the 2024 MOU.
The G6 commissioners then planned to meet and consider changing the bid back to the top-ranked champion, to guarantee that at least one conference-title automatic qualifier would go to a G6 team. Any change would need Power 4 approval. I found no sign that a reversal happened. Coverage since then, including NCAA.com and Bleacher Report's August preseason format summary, treats the "highest-ranked team, champion or not" rule as the one in force.
What it means in practice
The G6 is now guaranteed only one spot. Under the old rules it could get two, as it did last year [Tulane and JMU]. A highly ranked G6 team can also lose its conference title game and still take the bid. For example, Memphis or Boise State could rank high enough to claim the G6 spot without winning their leagues. That shifts the weight toward non-conference results and how the committee ranks teams, and away from conference championship games.
Sources:- SI – CFP changes format for Group of Six representation
- Front Office Sports – G6 leaders may revisit AQ terms
- NCAA.com – How the 12-team CFP will work
- Bleacher Report – 2026 preseason CFP projections
- OutKick – G6 learns title isn't required
- Front Office Sports – CFP faces 3 big questions
*To get in, you have to pull off a Western [almost] Michigan [at FBS level] and every other game on the sched.
*Losing to USC [however lookin' great at times] won't cut it. The end zone pic was needed, the punt return for 6 was not needed, etc. You have to have a perfect season.
*And this is why we're seeing more talk around G6 rankings. It may actually put forward the best program of six conferences.
*And losing our AD to Mizzou was ___ too. Louisiana had its' own AD on the CFP selection committee for next 3 seasons. Not a game-changer by any means but definite progress in achieving our goals.
*Nothing is impossible. JMU had 26,000 people show up for College Gameday. Gameday has made it to three Belt Programs. 1. App State, 2. Coastal, 3. JMU. Any G6 making a genuine run at the Playoffs will probably register a chance of seeing ESPN roll up.
* What JMU has done, has never been done before. Its exactly what drives Programs to amazing success, great peers pulling off things that everyone said couldn't be done. And 26,000 people showing up for Gameday. The next biggest crowd was 18,000 at Mizzou in 2010.Comment
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Bon Bon be good good but they're even better after a WIN.Comment
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That is exactly what I said. I clearly pointed to the talent level we had under Napier. I was simply saying that when people try to say we have an 11 win roster, they are just not being reasonable because we don't and we haven't had that type of talent for a few years. I know we have the ability to bring in talent that can at least allow us to compete with some P4 teams but we don't currently have the staff that will do that.Comment
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2024 showed us that we are capable of double digit win seasons. I would say that we had the same potential in 2023 if we don't botch the endings to a few of the losses we had (ODU, Georgia State, Southern Miss, Jacksonville State).
I don't think we have as much of a talent problem as much as we do with the in-game decision making that has cost us. For example, last week should've never happened. When you're up by 12 with 4 minutes to play, you close the game out with a win. You don't sit on the ball in the final 3 drives that produces 7 yards of offense. The big issue is that it has become a pattern, and that starts at the top.
I'm a traditionalist. I believe the play caller should be the OC (Sean Payton, Andy Reid, Sean McVay are the exceptions). The head coach is more of the CEO. Play calling takes a lot of time to prepare for which then takes time away from other duties that come with the job. I personally think we win 2-3 more games if the play calling duties are given to another offensive coach (we have 3 offensive coaches on staff who are/were OC's). And the reality is that the sample size of blown games are growing now that we are in Year 5 of this coaching tenure. Hopefully, things either turn around or changes are made soon.Comment
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