Inside the Wild Path to a Historic Two-Team G5 Playoff Berth

Since the expansion of the college football playoff to 12 teams, the group of five has guaranteed itself at least one spot in the field.

Last season, it was the four-seed Boise State Broncos who finished the regular season 11-1, winning their conference championship to push them to 12 wins before falling to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl.

This year, it has been slightly different.

No team has stuck out to be the clear group of five teams to make the playoffs, but there are some strong candidates. The first being the Tulane Green Wave.

Their path, at least from the committee's perspective, is the easiest. The committee has them as the group of five representative in their most recent bracket.

Led by Jon Sumrall, who will be departing Tulane at the end of the season to coach at the University of Florida, the Green Wave have a 10-2 record and are 7-1 in conference play.

Tulane is quarterbacked by one of the best dual-threat athletes in all of college football, Jake Retzlaff. He has thrown for over 2,700 yards with 14 passing touchdowns, as well as over 500 yards on the ground and 14 rushing touchdowns.

The reason they are the current front runner is that they have wins over Power four schools such as Duke and Northwestern.

So while their record may not be the strongest of the group of five candidates, their resume gives them the best chance to make the playoffs.

The next best team in the running is the James Madison Dukes. The Dukes are the clear best team in the Sun Belt, they have an 11-1 record and are an undefeated 8-0 in conference play.

Their lone loss came to Louisville in week two. The fact that they only have one loss is the biggest key to their playoff chances.

As long as they take care of business in the Sun Belt conference championship, they give themselves the best possible chance to make the playoffs.

The final team in contention is who one Tulane will be playing in the American Conference championship game, the North Texas Mean Green.

They are 11-1 and 7-1 in conference play and led by one of the best quarterbacks in all of college football, Drew Mestemaker who’s thrown for over 3,800 yards to go along with 29 touchdowns.

Leading the backfield for the Mean Green is Caleb Hawkins who has rushed for over 1,000 yards this season with a whopping 23 touchdowns.

North Texas’s path might be the simplest: beat Tulane, get in the playoff. This is where things get crazy.

What if I told you two of these teams can make the playoffs? Yes, it’s possible, and it’s not that unlikely.

When it comes to auto bids in the college football playoff, they go to the five highest-ranked teams, no matter the conference.

The ACC title game this year will be contested between Virginia and Duke. If Virginia wins, all is normal, and one group of five team will get in. But if Duke wins, chaos will ensue.

Due to their 7-5 record, the committee will never rank Duke higher than a team such as Tulane or James Madison.

Therefore, if Duke beats Virginia in the ACC conference championship, there will be two group of five representatives in the playoff.

Those would undoubtedly be the winners of Tulane versus North Texas and James Madison, assuming the Dukes take care of business in the Sun Belt championship game.

This weekend will answer lots of questions about the college football playoff and could be historic if Duke can pull off the upset.

Sawyer Bogaty is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email him at sgb5468@psu.edu.