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Group of Five conferences

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This article is about a group of college football conferences. For the emerging economies group, see Group of Five. For other uses, see G5 (disambiguation).
A game between Hawai’i and Boise State in 2010; both teams are members of the Mountain West Conference

In college football, the Group of Five are five athletic conferences whose members are part of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The five conferences are the American Athletic Conference (American or AAC),[a] Conference USA (CUSA), Mid-American Conference (MAC), Mountain West Conference (MW)[b] and Sun Belt Conference (SBC).[c][1][2][3][4][5]

These conferences and their schools are generally considered less prestigious and generally have less political and financial influence over the sport and generate less overall revenue compared to Power Four conference schools. A 2016 ESPN analysis stating that the Athletic departments of the Group of 5 schools generated $2 billion in total revenue, which was a third of the $6 billion in revenue generated by the power conferences that year.[6] The group of five are also perceived to have lower quality of play compared to the Power Four conferences and their member schools, although numerous Group of Five teams have upset Power Four teams in regular-season and bowl games. In 2021, the Cincinnati Bearcats appeared in the four-team College Football Playoff as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

Beginning in the 2024 season, at least one Group of Five conference champion is guaranteed entry to the College Football Playoff, as the top five ranked conference champions automatically advance to the playoff.[7]

Division I football conferences

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The Group of Five conferences are five of the ten conferences in NCAA Division I FBS. Four of the other five FBS conferences are informally known as the Power Four,[1][2][3][5] and the Pac-12 Conference, stripped of all but two of its members in 2024 and will expand to 7 football-sponsoring teams plus one non-football member in 2026, is considered a de facto Group of Five equivalent.[8][9] In addition, a number of schools compete in FBS as independents in football.

The terms Group of Five and Power Four (Power Five before the collapse of the Pac-12) are not formally defined by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). However, each of the ten conferences is named in the NCAA's Division I manual.[10][11][12] A notable difference between the Group of Five and Power Four is the level of institutional autonomy granted to member institutions of the Power Four conferences.[13][14][15]

The Group of Five is often considered disadvantaged as compared to the Power Four, as its constituent members do not have similar access to New Year's Six or College Football Playoff bowls. Since the BCS era, this has been an ongoing area of contention among NCAA Division I schools.[3] In November 2012, an agreement was reached to guarantee a spot in one of the New Year's Six bowl games to a team from one of the Group of Five conferences, beginning with the 2014 football season.[5]

On December 5, 2021, Cincinnati became the first Group of Five team to gain entry into the College Football Playoff,[16] and the only team to do so in the original four-team format.

Beginning in the 2024 season at least one group of five conference champion will appear in the College Football Playoff as the 5 highest ranked conference champions receive an automatic birth to the playoff.

In sports other than football (mainly basketball), conferences outside of the Power Four are known as mid-major conferences.

Current conferences and teams

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The ten current FBS conferences are listed below. For the Group of Five, the football members of each conference are also listed.[d] Independent NCAA Division I FBS teams are listed in a third table.

Group of Five conferences (as of 2024 season)
American CUSA MAC Mountain West Sun Belt
Football Members Football Members Football Members Football Members West Division East Division
Army Rice FIU Middle Tennessee Akron Kent State Air Force New Mexico Arkansas State Appalachian State
Charlotte South Florida Jacksonville State New Mexico State Ball State Miami (OH) Boise State[e] San Diego State[f] Louisiana Coastal Carolina
East Carolina Temple Kennesaw State Sam Houston Bowling Green Northern Illinois Colorado State[g] San Jose State Louisiana–Monroe Georgia Southern
Florida Atlantic Tulane Liberty UTEP[h] Buffalo Ohio Fresno State[i] Utah State[j] South Alabama Georgia State
Memphis Tulsa Louisiana Tech Western Kentucky Central Michigan Toledo Hawaiʻi UNLV Southern Miss James Madison
Navy UAB [k] [l] Eastern Michigan Western Michigan Nevada Wyoming Texas State Marshall
North Texas UTSA [m] [h] Troy Old Dominion

Map of Group of Five teams

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2024 Map of Group of Five Teams
class=notpageimage|
This map shows Group of Five teams during the 2024 season. Colors indicate conference membership: The American (blue), CUSA (red), MAC (green), Mountain West (purple), Sun Belt (orange) and Group of Five independent (grey). Included in this map are the two members of the Pac-12[o] (black). Shown in the bottom map is Hawaii, a football-only member of the Mountain West.

 

Group of Five conferences (Hawaii)

Notes

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  1. ^ The American Athletic Conference does not identify itself with an acronym, preferring "The American". AAC should not be confused with ACC, the abbreviation for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
  2. ^ The Mountain West Conference itself uses "MW", as shown in its logo.
  3. ^ The Sun Belt Conference is commonly referred to as "Sun Belt", rather than by an initialism.
  4. ^ As of the 2024–25 school year, one Group of Five conference has a full member that does not have a football team, namely Wichita State in The American. In 2026–27, the Pac-12 will add Gonzaga as a full but non-football member.
  5. ^ Boise State will be joining the Pac-12 starting in the 2026 season.
  6. ^ San Diego State will be joining the Pac-12 starting in the 2026 season.
  7. ^ Colorado State will be joining the Pac-12 starting in the 2026 season.
  8. ^ a b UTEP will be joining the Mountain West starting in the 2026 season.
  9. ^ Fresno State will be joining the Pac-12 starting in the 2026 season.
  10. ^ Utah State will be joining the Pac-12 starting in the 2026 season.
  11. ^ Delaware will be joining Conference USA starting in the 2025 season.
  12. ^ Missouri State will be joining Conference USA starting in the 2025 season.
  13. ^ a b UMass will be joining the MAC starting in the 2025 season.
  14. ^ a b Notre Dame is the only independent that is not generally grouped with the Group of Five, instead being grouped with the power conferences. Since 2014, it has had a scheduling alliance with the ACC and previously had a unique clause among independent schools to allow for automatic qualification in the BCS playoff system. They normally compete as an independent in football, but for the 2020 season, they competed as an ACC member.
  15. ^ a b The Pac-12 Conference is included with the Group of Five conferences due to its scheduling alliance with the Mountain West as of the 2024 season.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b McMurphy, Brett (August 7, 2014). "Power Five coaches polled on games". ESPN. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  2. ^ a b McMurphy, Brett (December 29, 2016). "Group of 5 officials considering playoff for non-Power 5 teams". ESPN. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Solomon, Joe (January 2, 2017). "SEC commissioner explains why Group of Five should 'be careful' about playoff idea". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  4. ^ Walder, Seth; Sabin, Paul (October 4, 2019). "Which teams would reach a Group of 5 College Football Playoff?". ESPN. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Mandel, Stewart (November 12, 2012). "Big East, rest of 'Group of Five' score victory with six-bowl decision". SI.com. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  6. ^ "OTL: Power 5 schools made $6 billion last year". ESPN.com. 2016-09-02. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  7. ^ Ellison, Maya (February 20, 2024). "How the 12-team College Football Playoff will work: Teams, schedule, bids". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  8. ^ Mandel, Stewart (July 3, 2024). "Which college football teams are most helped — and hurt — by conference realignment?". The Athletic.
  9. ^ Vannini, Chris (September 13, 2024). "Why the Pac-12 poached the Mountain West and where both leagues go from here". The Athletic.
  10. ^ "4.2.1(a) Division I Board of Directors" (PDF). 2019–20 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2019. p. 21. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  11. ^ "4.2.1(a) Division I Board of Directors" (PDF). 2018–19 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2018. p. 21. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  12. ^ "4.2.1(a) Division I Board of Directors" (PDF). 2017–18 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2017. p. 21. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  13. ^ "5.3.2.1 Process for Areas of Autonomy" (PDF). 2019–20 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2019. p. 33. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  14. ^ "5.3.2.1 Process for Areas of Autonomy" (PDF). 2018–19 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2018. p. 33. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  15. ^ "5.3.2.1 Process for Areas of Autonomy" (PDF). 2017–18 NCAA Division I Manual. July 2017. p. 33. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  16. ^ "Bama, Michigan, UGA, Cincy to vie for CFP crown". ESPN.com. 2021-12-05. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  17. ^ "Mountain West Announces Football Scheduling Agreement With Oregon State and Washington State". themw.com. December 1, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
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